THE RADIO WORLD

Southland Times, Issue 20228, 13 July 1927, Page 2

THE RADIO WORLD

NEWS AND NOTES (Conducted by “Reflex.”) SCL Adelaide has been coming across at greater volume recently. 7ZL Hobart is now taking quite a prominent part as a source of trans-Tasmanian entertainment. Two American stations heard at fairly good strength lately are KFON, of Longbeach (from 6 to 7 p.m.) and KFVD, of Venice, California. The Dutch station, PCJJ, as well as the American 2XAF and 2XAD, have been keeping the ether busy lately; not only on their short wave, but also on re-broad-casts via 4QG, 2BL, 3LO and 2FC. Other short-wave broadcast stations to enter the international programme field are WLW, Cincinnati, on 52 metres, and the Grebe station, WABC, of Richmond Hill, New York, on 64 metres. The Government has announced its intention of granting free licensee for institutions where the blind are cared for and also for invalids in certain cases. :: ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. R.C. (Invercargill) asks: Would you advise substituting a standard three-circuit tuner for honeycomb coils?—Yes. W.E. writes: Would the fact that telephone wires run near my aerial account for weakness in signals?—'Very probably. To reduce the trouble to a minimum, erect the aerial at right angles, or as nearly as possible at right angles, to the telephone wires. Presumably you have tested the set, aerial and earth to make sure the cause is not there. I.L. writes: Crackling noises in the receiver lead me' to believe that the trouble is in + “A” or “B” batteries. How can I determine which? —Most probably the fault is in the “B” battery, which may be partially run down. Use a volt-meter to test. “A” batteries of 45 volts are unsatisfactory when the voltage drops to about 30. “HOWLERS AGAIN ” Although we have never been free from the “howler,” there are times when he is more in evidence. Unfortunately for us he has suffered another spasm of late and we have been greatly annoyed by very bad disturbances. This is caused perhaps by a few selfish persons who no doubt are experimenting on small cheap machines. Is it a fair proposition that those persons should spoil countless persons’ enjoyment as many own expensive sets and look forward to some enjoyable hours? Advice seems- to be thrown away on these nuisances but we venture the following: If every set owner will use care when tuning, there should be no “howling” valves; turn the dials slowly, do not twist them like opening a door in a hurry; in fact, it is not necessary when tuning to turn up the filament control excessively; this only aggravates the position. It is far better to tune in with little volume and add the volume afterwards. Allowing a set to oscillate violently is a cruel thing for your neighbours. Don’t tune in on a loudspeaker—this is distinctly wrong. UNCLE JACK’S RESIGNATION A storm of protest has been raised, throughout the Dominion by the resignation of “Uncle Jack” Prentice. Demands have been made to ascertain why he has resigned and up to the present the only satisfaction that has been given to the general public has been the announcement that a difference of opinion between Mr Prentice and the Broadcasting Company on matters of policy was the cause of his resignation. An unconfirmed report states that he is to take up an appointment with 2BL Sydney. The matter is ventilated in the following official statement by the Broadcasting Company which has been forwarded to us for publication. The statement reads:— “Mr J. M. Prentice was engaged by the Radio Broadcasting Company as Chief Announcer under conditions negotiated by him prior to his departure from Australia. In that capacity he rendered satisfactory service, so much so that the Company voluntarily gave him, three months after his arrival, an increase in salary not due until after 12 months’ service. In terms of his own conditions Mr Prentice was stationed at Auckland and also freed from all responsibility in respect to programmes, and any amplification of his position as Chief Announcer has been made through no official statement of the Company. “In April last, on his own statement that rightly or wrongly he was accepted by the Press and the public of New Zealand as being responsible for the ultimate success of the stations, and on other points which he characterised as ‘ infinitesimal,’ Mr Prentice demanded recognition in relation to staff routine, business administration and personal treatment quite foreign to his contract and outside his duties, and offered his resignation as the alternative to their acceptance.

‘The non-acceptance of the terms laid down by Mr Prentice resulted in his voluntarily resigning his position, which resignation was duly accepted by the Company. Subsequently, on June 8, it became advisable to relieve Mr Prentice from further attendance at the studio, this being necessary because of the tension created within the organisation and the nature of the publicity entered upon in connection with this matter. “On June 15 Mr Prentice further wrote the Company stating that if re-co-operation was impossible he would ask the Company to pay him to the end of his contract at once so that he could immediately go back to his work in Australia. On June 18 the Company complied with Mr Prentice’s wishes in this respect and forwarded him a cheque for the unexpired period of the notice given by him. “The public and listeners may rest assured that there has been no change in the policy of the Broadcasting Company; that policy is, and always has been, to give service to the public to the limit of the capacity of the Company’s situation and its stage of development. Mr Prentice’s departure, for personal and not for policy reasons, will not affect that policy, and from the Company’s point of view, now that the necessary foundation work is nearing completion, it will be possible to attain the standard of service desired by the Company from the outset.”

THH NEW WAVE LENGTH. NEW ZEALAND STATIONS. The new wave lengths allotted to the New Zealand stations show a little more care in their selection than the previous attempt in this direction. It is characteristic that after Mr Harris’s statement in Wellington that the new 2YA was designed to operate at its greatest efficiency on 300 metres that it should be allotted 420 metres. The following table gives the positions of the Australian and New Zealand stations after the changes are made in the order of wave length:— Metres. 2KY, Sydney 280 3YA, Christchurch 306 2GB, Sydney 326 IYA, Auckland 333 2BL, Sydney 353 3LO, Melbourne .... .. 371 4QG, Brisbane 385 SCL, Adelaide 395 2YA, Wellington . 420 2FC, Sydney .. 442 4YA, Dunedin 463 3AR, Melbourne 484 7ZL, Hobart 525 This provides a separation of 50 kilocycles between 2BL, Sydney, and IYA; 50 kilocycles between IYA and 2GB, Sydney, and 80 kilocycles between the Auckland and Christchurch stations This allocation should give fairly even spacing round the dials of your receiver.