WIRELESS WORLD.

Taranaki Daily News, 8 March 1924, Page 16

WIRELESS WORLD.

THE WORK OF AMATEURS. SOME SPLENDID RESULTS. (By ‘‘Honeycomb.*’) The New Zealand listener-in has no cause to complain of a scarcity of programmes or the quality of them. Almost every night in the week there are at least three or four stations broadcasting tip-top concerts. To quote an instance: The writer, listening in on Sunday night last, logged the following stations:—From 6.30 p.m. to 7 p.rn.. American amateur stations heard were: CQ de 6BCZ; SJL de 6BVF (also heard calling other stations); CQ de 7TQ; CQ de 9CZN (ako working 7TQ); CQ de 6ZBT; CQ de SKR; CQ de 6BKF; CQ de ICMP. All these stations came in very clearIy4 and were easily copied, some of them being as loud as the New Zealand etationi. The only difficulty in copying these stations is that there are so many transmitting at the same time that it is sometimes hard to pick out any one station. Morse signals transmitted* from station IAA, which is owned by Mr. Edwards, of Auckland, came in so strong as to be heard all over the house.

Following the recaption of thes e amateur stations, broadcast from 2YK (Wellington) was tuned in. and a dozen' or more items listened to, after which IYB (Auckland! was brought in for a few items, and then for the rest z of the evening 2BL (Sydney Broadcasters) was listened to. The broadcast from each of these stations consisted of some excellent items, and the volume with which the New Zealand stations came in was deafening at times.

Other New Zealand amateur stations logged during the week are: 3AD, 2AC (calling 2FA), 2AP, 2AM, 4AA, 3AB. all coining in with good strength. Station 3BM, of Victoria, Australia, and another station working 2YI, were logged on Wednesday night last, also some station calling 4INT, who was probably an American.

On Saturday night, broadcast from 2AH (Wanganui Amateur Society) came in well. This is the first time that the writer has heard this station, and he hopes it will not be the last. 2AH’s transmission is a credit to the society. His wave length is 220 metres. AMERICA PICKED UP. Later, on the same evening, 2BL (Sydney Broadcasters) was picked up just in time to hear the commencement of “Merrie England." Firstly a brief description of the piece was given, followed by the cast of characters. The items were marred to a certain extent by strong static'interruptions. Other New Zealand broadcasting stations heard during the week were; IYA, 2YB, and IAM. IY’A mentioned that he has been experiencing trouble with his transmitter for the last couple of Weeks, and that it was proving a difficult task to ' locate the fault. How'ever, he hopes to overcome the trouble shortly and have

the transmission back to its usual standard. -Apparently the fault is not a bad one, as the writer has enjoyed some fine programmes from IYA recently, the only noticeable defect being fading, and even this was not by any means bad. An American amateur station which is noted for its strong signals is 6CGW, operated by Mr. K. L. Riedman, of Long Beach, California. On Thursday, February 28, the writer heard this station calling WNP. His signals were • strength 9, and every word was easily ’ read. WNP is the code call of the ship Bowdoin, which is at present on an 1 expedition to the Arctic regions. The 1 operator on board this vessel is a memi ber of the American Relay League. So. ’ far as is known at present 60GW and 1 a Canadian station are the only two ‘ amateurs who have been able to keep in continuous touch with WNP during ■ this vessel’s voyage. It goes tto prove 1 the advanced stage reached wireless > telegraphy when an amateur here in ’ New Plymouth can listei). in at night to good clear signals, transmitted across ' 7000 odd miles of space, from amateurs in the United States of America, and the wonderful part of it is that the • power used to send these signals such a big distance would not be sufficient to 1 light an ordinary electric light bulb. It 1 seems almost incredible, yet it is being done almost every night in the week. A Rahotu amateur reports having logged the following long wave stations: HZE de KIE (also calling KET); PFQ >deHZ A; WQL de LPZ. He also received quite a lot of interesting information from VLD regarding the salvaging of the Port Lincoln, and heard the latter working his coil ferr several nights after the wreck. Mr. E. G-. Van Eyck, a well-known man in commercial radio circles in the United States, was recently in Auckland, after having paid a visit to Australia. From his remarks, the sealed receiving set required by Government regulations on the other side of the Tasman is proving far from satisfactory, and he notes favourably that its introduction is not contemplated here. With the sealed set, tuning in over long distances is proving too difficult for the ordinary user, who finds even a three valve outfit inefficient beyond a range of about 100 miles. From Mr. Van Eyck’s observations it • would appear that the carefully compiled and much discussed regulations framed for Australia will probably become a dead letter. There is already a growing tendency to ignore the sealing requirements, which tie the receiving sets down to fixed wave lengths, and to carry on with unrestricted tuning in. There is evidently a knotty problem facing the New South Wales* radio inspectors, in particular. AN EFFICIENT STATION. The following is a description of a very efficient amateur station owned and operated by Mr. Richard Bates, of New Plymouth:—The aerial is a single wire suspended from a tree about 40 feet high and sloping to a small pole on the roof, a distance of about 100 feet. The set is entirely home-made, even to the carbon rheostat which once formed part of a battery carbon, but which nevertheless is as noiseless and efficient as a factory-made one. The panels were cut from old hard rubber battery cases and look very neat. The coils made are home-made honeycomb and splendid 'for short waves, while a series of basket coils, also home-made, give satisfaction on long waves. For regeneration a variometer is used up to 600 metres. Its coils may be used in either series or parallel, thus enabling the amateur transmissions to be tuned in with ease. One stage of audio amplification completes the set, but this latter is used only when volume of sound is desired for the purpose of entertain- ( ing friends with broadcast. All DX work is done on a single valve, a Radio-

■tron. This set has put up some remarkable performances in the reception of American amateurs and broadcasters. The following is the log 'for the week-end from Friday, February 29: Faint music from "Yank” broadcaster at 6.30 p.m. From then on the following stations (amateur) were heard at intervals of a few minutes: BHA from "EM; 7RCU from 7EM; CQ from 7AD; CQ from 6CKR; CQ from 7SF; 6ACA from 7SF; CQ from 7TQ; CQNZ from 2ZN (Aussie); 9DM from 7TY; 9CCM from 7TY; 2CDM, on ’phone. This station is that of Maclurcan, on the Tahiti. Saturday, March 1: Long waves—The time signals from Bordeaux were picked up at 7.30 in the morning. Short waves—ln the evening the following amateur stations were heard, 6RN, 6CGW. OPE, 6LW. 7FY, 6BUY.

Sunday, March 2: The American broadcaster KGO, Oakland, California, came in pretty well. The following amateur stations were heard: 7TQ. 9BP (this is a Canadian station), 6POS, BASF, SCLQ, 9AW, 6CNG. SCLQ was Jieard’ working WNP, the Bowdoin with the Arctic expedition.