RADIO NOTES

Stratford Evening Post, Issue 63, 24 October 1928, Page 3

RADIO NOTES

(By “GRID LEAK.)

an anxious enquirer. “Anxious” writes “Grid Leak” as follows: A dealer has installed a set in niy hous e and the aerial is only a small, single wire, no lightning arrester or no lead-in tube. The aerial pole is tied round my chimney. Would you advise me to pay for the set cn these conditions? “Grid Leak’s” advice is: Do not pay a penny. If the dealer agreed to instal your set in accordance with the regulations, see that the aerial has 7-stranded copper wire (7/029) guage, an efficient lightning arrested, a proper insulated lead-in tube, and that all wires inside the

house are insulated with the same guage wire as the aerial. Aerial poles attached to chimneys are strictly forbidden, also see that your ground wire is of large guage wire and properly attached by an earth clamp. Thanks for your kind expressions regarding the weekly radio notes in these columns. XXX STATIC BAD. King Static has been hard at practically all the past week. Sunday night was very bad, and the usual relay of church services was very ■hard to hear, Monday evening it appeared to be worse, and it was a case of close down for the evening. XXX DREARY LABOUR DAY. Last Monday afternoon’s session from the Wellington Station was most amusing. During the sessions the gramophon e records consisted mostly of drab hymns and cold piano solos interspersed with the latest race results from Trentham and elsewhere. “Grid Leak” was wondering if the programme for Sunday had been substituted for Monday and vice versa, or was the ■ Monday’s programme put on the air as a lament for the broadcasting ban bn racing. XXX

POLICE MAKE HAUL. The police in New South Wales ■ hav e been reaping a big harvest at ■ the expense of unlicensed listners in that State. In a fortnight no less than 1176 of this class were hailed before the courts, and mulcted in .fines and costs of £2922. XXX BAD COLD. Radio announcers are not immune from colds, which in their case must be serious handicaps. It was evi- ■ dent on Tuesday night that all was not well wtih Mr Clive Drummond’s throat, though the 2YA announcer did very good work under the handicap. XXX N.Z. ARTIST.

Mrs Birch-Johnston, better known in New Zealand amateur theatrical circles as Miss Winnie Birch, will be heard from 2BL to-night. Mrs Johnston was a well known performer in Taranaki and has appeared before the Stratford public on rfferal occasions. XXX

40,000 LISTENERS-IN. There are 40,000 licensed receivers in the Dominion. Great progress is being made and it is expected to •.reach the fifthy thousand mark before the end of this year. XXX , PICTURE TRANSMISSION IN s BRITAIN, v It is now fairly certain that the 8.8. C. will this autumn start the transmission of still pictures receivable in the home. This must not be confused with television, or the transmission and reception by wirefc?s of moving pictures. , The' Tostmastpr-General has indicated that in the opinion of his officers, television is still in the experimental stage, and the 8.8. C. has no immediate experiments in view with reference to it. On the other hand, important experiments hav e already taken place m the broadcasting from SXX, the senior Daventry, of photographs and drawings. Thes e may be reproduced on apparatus with a small rotating cylinder on which the picture is traced. To overcome the prohlcfti cf syn- |

chronisation at the transmitting and receiving ends it seems probable that 1 the apparatus used will be one that is started and stopped by the broadcast signals.

The tests carried out so far by the 8.8. C. hav e been after broadcasting hours, and ordinary listeners will have heard only a series of strange sounds. It is probable that any experimental service started will likewise be after the usual broadcast programmes of the vast majority of listeners. The 8.8. C. will have to consider the kind of picture that is likely to be popular with the average wireless set owner. Possibly the pictures will be largely of topical interest. '