ZLW RADIO.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume IV, Issue 38, 24 January 1936, Page 3

ZLW RADIO.

A National Safety Service. | DOMINION’S LINK WITH PACIFIC ISLANDS S i Th e commanding sky-line feature of! the capital city is the steel mast of Ihe ■ commercial radio station /MV on Alt. | Etako, its top Llf.Oft above sea level. | The solid and compact stone building j visible on the ridge was completed m l 1912, but radio development since then | lias demanded considerably more space, ! with the result that the original st-ine | building is used solely to house the] transmission apparatus, while lower down ■ the hillside has appeared another build-1 ing larger in size which has just been j extended and now provides spacious and j comfortable accommodation for the j growing staff of the receiving and (raftic j clearing section of the station. ZLW is one of the three radio sta-j tion s maintained by (he New Zealand j Post Office as a. national safety service rather than a profit-making branch, i because a balance-sheet prepared on , commercial lines showed a loss in the last annual accounts of over £12,000. But against the monetary out idf ration is set the national service provided by j the station, one of the busiest telegraph- j ie centres of the Dominion although so j little Ls known of its work by the gen- j era! public. It is staffed throughout! the 24 hours of the day, and (be arrange- j ment of shifts closely resemble?; the j watches on shipboard. Regular contact | is maintained with the southern Pacific j Islands and Chatham Islands, the day’s j schedule providing for twenty-two fix-j ed times for calls, although no cnm.mer cial traffic may be offering at the mo- j ment. ! Apia, for instance, at eeven fixed j times from 8.15 a.m. till 11.45 p.m.,i exchanges signal s with Wellington and j New Zealand’s other Pacific interests, | Rarotonga, is similarly linked at four j regular times, while, our nearest Island j possession, the Chathams, makes daily j calls, except on Sundays, at 9.20 n,m.,j 11.20 a.m., 1.20 p.m., 5.50 p.m. and j 0.55 p.m. ;• Nukualofa,'the capital of Ton-"' Ims j three regular schedule calls. ' N ne Is- j land signals are received and acknow-j ledgecl at least twice a day and there | is also a schedule exchange of signals | with Papeete. : While-,this comprehen- | sive schedule of regular contracts, rang- j ing far into the Pacific, is being main- j tained, the 000-metre 11 toning service! for ships goes on without intermission j every minute of the 24 hours. i