RADIO NEWS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVII, Issue 21529, 16 December 1939, Page 2

RADIO NEWS

“Scrim and paper,” is the title conferred on a much-discussed radio session. The closure as a war measure of the Sydney shortwave station 2ME has I deprived listeners of a very popular i Sunday night programme. This A.W.A. | transmitter was remarkably efficient, and its numbers were skilfully selected to avoid heavy orchestral music which scrambles on the short-wave. The gusher which for a long time accompanied announcements from the 4YA studio is now pretty well under control, but there have been recurrences of another old trouble —a background provided by 4YO. Gladys Moncrief! was heard at her best on the Australian National programme on Sunday night last. ApparI ently she is receiving no encourageI ment to develop a Lotte Lehmann complex. Her numbers were real Moncrief! songs of “My Hero” type, supplemented by “When We Were Young.” Some of the rebroadcasts of the 8.8. C. bulletins lately have been rough —rougher even than atmospheric conditions seemed to warrant. After a period of patchy reception, listeners who were “on the ah'” late last Sunday night enjoyed one of those rare spells that seem almost too good to be true. 4YA was rebroadcasting 2YA direct, without the assistance of 3YA, and clarity was almost unbelievable. 2YA itself naturally was a full 100 per cent. Australians were clearer than had been the case for weeks, and Daventry seemed to be right at the speaker. “The soloist was Mr J. Robertson, Melbourne’s No. 1 trumpeter.” writes an Australian music critic. But they claimed Carbine too. "Recording, His Majesty's Voice.” Must have been thinking of Christmas Day. The United States still lead in the proportion of radio sets to population. Next in order come Denmark, New Zealand, Sweden, Great Britain, and Australia. Mr A. E. Munn, Australian news commentator under the nom de mike “The Watchman,” has issued a writ claiming for £5OOO for alleged libel against the publishers of “The Listenin,” Melbourne. He alleges that he was libelled in a letter signed “Nazi Business.” Radio commentators say hard things about other people, but . . . The Australian Broadcasting Commission has been pilloriied lately for its alleged neglect of home artists, and a preference for imported musicians. The balance sheet for last year shows that the number of performers was 13,220, of which the importations numbered seven.

Australian listeners are given no more information regarding broadcasting finance than is vouchsafed to license-payers in New Zealand. A line in the profit and loss account of the A.B.C. reads: "Artists’ fees and programme expenses, £473,606." Most illuminating. Reception generally has been streaky during the last fortnight, on all bands. A fair amount of static, and at other times weak signals, have been noticeable on broadcast stations; while shortwave has varied between strong and clear and very weak and rough. No doubt these conditions were local, and due to weather vagaries. A popular Neew Zealand announcer recently confided that the hardest thing in a night’s work was to try to introduce Eb and Zeb, whom he abhors, with a smile in his voice. Then there is another who detests crooners and hill-billies, and feels like pulverises the record every time she is compelled to put them over. The Armstrong system of frequency modulation, or staticless radio stations, described in some detail earlier in the week, has no practical intereest to New Zealanders. All that is claimed for it is that it is expected to cover an area within a hundred miles radious, and any national system would require a multitude of relay units. Most of the receiving sets at present in general use would become obsolete if the Armstrong system came into universal operation. The most interesting point is the statement that tests have demonstrated that elevation endows a station with great advantages. It is asserted that on top of Mount Washington (6300 feet), a transmitter with 5000 watts would be as effective as one of 50,000 watts at an elevation of 2000 feet, and as powerful as one of 200.000 watts at 1000 feet These comparisons apply, of course, only to the staticless apparatus. A transmitter of ordinary type using 50.000 watts would not have a limit of one hundred miles. “She shall have music wherever she goes” has come true —by radio. The car set has been so greatly improved that it has progressed far beyond the stunt stage and is worthy of being called a receiver. Just as much advance has been made in the portable type. An earth is not practicable, and the aerial is of the built-in loop design. As many as five valves are used in the more expensive portables, and it goes without saying that a “five” gives more volume and greater sensitivity than a “three,” and that it makes a heavier drain on the battery. Most portables are straight broadcast receivers, the built-in aerial being unsuitable for short-wave reception, but some of the five-vslvers give surprisingly good results on the dual waves. The modern portable operates on a single battery, and 1.4 volt valves ensure this a comparatively long life. Some makers claim that their sets show operating costs as low as three-farthings an hour, and a penny per hour seems to be about the average for current.

Radio will relieve the tedium for soldiers on service in this war. A daily broadcast for British troops in France was introduced into the 8.8.C.’s home programmes recently. Given in the morning, it consists of a short summary of the day’s programmes, and has been designed in the hope that it will enable troops using battery-oper-ated receiving sets to save current by selecting only those programme items that appeal to them.