RADIO

Taranaki Daily News, 17 October 1931, Page 15 (Supplement)

RADIO

RECEPTION EXCELLENT ‘ < GERMAN STATION LOGGED. J 1 AUSTRALIAN EXPERIMENTS. ‘ ______ < ’ . t Although the days are lengthening re- 5 ception conditions are still excellent both 1 for local and distant reception- A New < Plymouth enthusiast recently logged a I German station in the early bom's of the morning, and United States stations can be heard every evening at good strength. D.X. enthusiasts should be grateful that although their receivers bring in foreign programmes, these at least cannot be taxed or affected by K tariffs. < During the week 2YA Wellington had ' a serious breakdown and was off the 1 air for some hours. The trouble is un- 1 derstood to have been caused by ths 5 burning out. of the high voltage trans- f former. The trouble was rectified at a late hour and tests were made. i Practical experimental work in the ’ vicinity of stations 2BL and 2FC, Syd- ‘ ney, was done recently to determine • the relative effects of locality upon re- f ception. A sensitive superhet was used ' and results calculated in millivolts per 1 metre, the recognised method of measuring the field strength of signals. One volt at 100 metres would be the same as one-tenth of a volt at 1000 metres. Some instructive data were collected. At Lakemba the signal strength was almost 2000 times as strong as at Broke (on 2BL), this being the greatest disparity. Taken right through, the shorter wavelength gave better signals than those received from the longer wave-length station. HUMAN VOICE CREATED DRAWING PICTURES OF SOUND. UNEMOTIONAL VOICE OF ROBOT. For many years the human voice has been recorded and reproduced by artificial means • but it is only in the past few weeks that E. A. Humphris, London, has succeeded in actually making a voice, says an English writer. In other words, for the first time words which never left the throat of a human being have been pronounced by a mechanism. The method of creating this voice is simple and depends upon the principle used in talking film work. Here we find that sound waves are represented by a wavy black contour which has the stylo of the pulsating groove of the ordinary phonograph record. In the English language there are about 36 broad, typical sounds,. and, of course, numerous graduations according to dialect locality. Having plenty of sound films at our disposal, it is evident that we are able to isolate the series of sounds which, by proper combination, can be used in the formation of words, sentences, and, finally in dialogue. Mr. ’Humphris has already done this and has succeeded in actually drawing a sound track on a. large sheet of paper suitably reproduced upon celluloid film Which "afterwards is photographed and aud run through a camera, projector in the normal manner. The first words made up were “all of a tremble” and they took some 100 hours in construction. Once these values are known, it is clearly possible to construct by measurement a new sound track, in which we can either change the pitch or increase it or decrease it in loudness- If this be drawn, say, fifty times full size on paper, it can be reduced by photography so to eliminate the minor errors of construction. For vocal sounds the question is distinctly more complicated. (Examination shows that the photographic soundwave consists of a series of major peaks on top of which are super-imposed smaller wavy variations, the large peaks constituting what are , known as fundamental frequencies while the smaller waves are known as harmonics; the latter giviiin- characteristics to speech which enable one voice to be distinguished from another. While, therefore, it is comparatively easy to produce a robot voice containing only fundamentals, it will be a much more difficult matter to furnish it with suitable harmonics in the shape of tiny peaks on the major waves. The fundamental frequencies of ordinary speech range, roughly, from 80 to 1200 cycles, while the harmonics may come as high at 10,000. The robot voice possesses few harmonics and is truly speech shorn of all emotion and feeling, as a robot should be. What commerce will do to this new invention in the future is difficult to imagine, but it is possible to conceive a machine which by simple pressure of the proper phonetic keys, will produce a voice record. It would even be possible to develop both fundamentals ■and harmonics of a great singer and incorporate these as the keys of our gigantic voice typewriter. An opeiator would then be able to produce records of songs which a prima donna never sang.

DIRECTING RADIATED ENERGY EXPERIMENTS AT PITTSBURG. HIGH-POWER AND SHORT-WAVE. ' With a view to collecting' data on the operation of high-power stations, KDK A Pittsburg has erected two experimental transmitters of 400 kw each, one for the normal wave band, and one for the short-wave band. The aerial system of this new transmitter is what is known as the “spray” type, specially designed to attenuate the field strength in the vicinity of the station- This allows the radiated energy to be used for reaching distant points with greater steadiness, as less energy is absorbed by objects in the neighbourhood of the station, lhe complete station covers an area of about 130 acres, and the long-wave aerial consists of a circular arrangement of poles 300 ft high, enclosing an area of about eight acres. A cage top joins the top of each pole? to form a complete circle, and there is a vertical down-lead to each pole. . The increase in the ratio of space to ground-wave radiation is obtained by supplying this systfem of vertical aerials with currents which differ slightly in phase, and which are fed through horizontal lines, which ijpdiate from the centre of the circle of poles. In this way interference between the wa.ves from different sections of the aerial reduces the horizontal component of the radiated energy compared to the vertical component. Bf "'arying the phase relation of the currents 'm the' feeder lines, the radiated energy can be sent out at any angle of elevation. Thus, It is hoped that VftjyjPS daylight

and darkness, the season of the year or other causes can be offset. The station is really an experimental one, built with the. object of finding out by actual experience how such a highpower station can be operated safely and economically. Although the scheme of directing the radiated energy from the aerial is not entirely new (as it has been employed in commercial stations), KDKA is the first high-powcr broadcasting station to tackle this particular problem. THE WORLD’S WIRELESS SETS. About 10,000,000 homes in the United States are equipped with radio sets, according to the census bureau, New' York. In the first quarter of this year 70.000 new American radio sets were marketed abroad, as compared with 41,000 in the same period last year. About 23,000,000 sets are in service all ever the world. Great Britain and Germany have about 2.500,000 receiving sets each, France has about 1,250,000- The United States, with S 3 sets for each 1000 of population, is the largest radio user. Denmark, with 63 sets for each WOO, is second; and Sweden, with 60 sets for each 1000, is third. TO-DAY’S PROGRAMMES NEW ZEALAND STATIONS2YIB New Plymouth. •6.30 to 7.30 p.m.: Children’** session conducted by Uncle Ted. 7.30 to B"p.m.: Sports news and information session. 8 to 10 p.m.: Studio concert. International Overseas Programme No. 10: Oripandy Salon Orchestra; International Singers; Abroad With the Loekharte; Ormandy Salon Orchestra; Ambassadors of Melodyland; Hywide and Handsome; dance programme -by Nat Brusiloff and hi#. Lido Venice Orchestra. IYA, Auckland. "Afternoon session: 3.0, selected, recordings; 3.15, talk, literary selection; '5.0, children’® cession; 6.0, dinner music; 7.0, news and market reports; 7.40, talk, under the auspices of the Auckland Horticultural Society, in conjunction with the New’ Zealand Institute of Horticulture, ‘’Dahlias,” Mr. F. ■S. Roper. ■Evening session: 8.0, relay from the Town Hall of a concert by the Municipal Choir; 10.0, programme of dance music; 11.0, sporting summary; 11.10, God Save the King. 2YA, Wellington.

Afternoon session: 3.0, selected recordings; 3-30 and 4.30, sporting results; 5.0, children’s hour; 6.0, dinner music; 7.0, news, market reports and sports results; 7.40, lecturette, Mr. F. L. Coombs, M.A., “Logic and Emotion in Human Life.”

Evening session: S.O, selection, Arthur Roseberry's (Band; tenor, Mr. Chas. Williams; quartet, The Lyric, with violin obbligato; overture, 2YA Salon Orchestra; songs at the piano, Miss Florence Penney; saxophone, Rene Dumont with Jazz 'Band; tenor, Mr. W. Roy Hill, with orchestral accompaniment; quartet, The Lyric; selection, 2YA Salon Orchestra; dialogue, John Henry and Gladys Horridge; weather report and station notices; songs at the piano, Mifis Florence Penney; instrumental, ,2YA Salon Orchestra; baritone, Mr. 'WiQI Goudie; castanets with orchestra, La Argentina; bass, Mr. M. Binet -Brown, with orchestral accompaniment; suite. 2YA Salon Orchestra; mixed Choir, The 'Sie'ber Choir; instrumental, 2YA Salon Orchestra; 1O.(). special old-time dance programme; 11.0, sporting summary; 11.10, God Save the King. 3YA, Christchurch. / A/ternoou session: 3.0, selected recordings; 4.25, sports results; 5.0, children's hour; 6.0, dinner music; 7.0, news; 7.’30, sports results. Evening session: >B.O, relay of Maori pageant and concert from Civic Theatre, including addresses of welcome; first half of programme 'by Kaiapohia Entertainers; . weather forecast and station notices; orchestral, Christchurch Salon Orchestra; baritone, Mr. Leslie Fleming; orchestral, Christchurch Salon Orchestra; ,mezzo-cbntral-to, Miss Belle Renaut, with orchestral accompaniment; humour in song and story, Mr. George Titchener; orchestral, Christchurch Salon Orchestra; baritone, Mr. Leslie Fleming; mezzocontralto, Miss Belle Renaut, with orchestral accompaniment; 'humour in song and story, Mr. George Titchener; orchestral, Salon Orchestra;- 'lO.O, dance music; 11.8, God. Save the King. 4YA Dunedin. Afternoon session: 3.0, selected recordings; 4.2'5, results of the South Canterbury Jockey Club’s meeting; 5.0, children's hour; 6.0. dinner music; 7.0, news; 7.40, talk. Mr. H. Begg. Evening session: 8.0, relay of vaudeville programme ..from 3YA, Christchurch; 10.0, dance session; 11.0, God ■Save the King. TO-MORROW’S PROGRAMMES. ■ 2MB New Plymouth. 6 to 6.45 p.m.: Children’s session conducted by Uncle David. 7 p.m.: Relay service from Baptist Church, preacher, Rev. C. C,, Sedgwick, soloists. Miss Ivy Campbell and Mr. Roy J. Deare. 8.1'5 to 10 p.m.: ' Studio concert: “Rienzi” overture; vocal quartet, “Shepherd of Souls"; pianoforte solo, Mrs. H. Weller;- orchestral, “La Serenata”; contralto solo. Mrs. J. J. Powell; ’cello solos, (a) “Cradle Song,” (b) “Songs M.y Mother Taught Me’’; soprano solo, Mrs. Patrick;. grand organ, “Serenade”; violin solo, “Caprice Viennois”; baritone solo, Mr. Basil Hirnt; orchestral, “Druids’ Prayer”; soprano, Mies D. Burgess; trombone solo, i»ir. H. Kay; ’cello, “Jocelyn” Berceuse; contralto, “The Lost Chord”; pianoforte solo. Mrs. H. Weller; vocal quartet, “The Rosary.” soprano solo, Mrs. Patrick; violin, “Humoreske”; contralto, Mrs. J. J. Powell; orchestral, “Etspanita’’; baritone solo, Mr. Basil Hirst; grand organ, “Intermezzo"; ’cello. “Hungarianßhapsody”; contralto, “Ombra Mai Fit”; trombone solo, Mr. H. Kay; cello, “Evening Song”; orchestral. “Faust”; aeeompaniste, Mrs. H. Weller. IYA, Auckland. 3.0: 'Selected recordings and relay of portion of organ recital from the Auckland Town Hall by the city organitst; 6.0, children's song service; 7.0. relay of service from the Pitt Street Methodist Church. Preacher, The Rev. W. Walker; 8.30, concert by the Auckland Municipal Band. 2YA, Wellington. 3.0: Selected recordings; 6.0. children’s song service, assisted by the chil-

dren’s choir from 'St. Matthew’s Anglican Church; 7.0, relay of evening service from the Viviian Street Baptist Church. Preacher, Rev. L. J. Boulton Smith; '8.1'5, (approx.), relay of concert by the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Band from the De Luxe Theatre. 3YA, Christchurch. 3.0: Gramophone recital; 5.30. children's song service 'by the children of Methodist Sunday Schools; 6.30, relay of evening service from East Belt Methodist Church, Fitzgerald Avenue. Preacher, Rev. E. Drake; 7.45 (approx.), selected recordings; 8.15' (approx.). relay from Dominion Theatre, Temuka, of concert 'by Tenruka Municipall Band. 4YA Dunedin. 3.0: Selected recordings; 5.30, children's song service; 6.15, instrumental recordings; 6.30, relay of evening service from Moray Place Congregational Church. Preacher, Rev. A. Mead, M.A.; 7.45, selected recordings; 8.1'5, relay from Temuka of a concert by the Temuka Municipal Band.