Wireless Broadcast

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17244, 10 January 1924, Page 2

Wireless Broadcast

Contributed br

“Aerial.”

On Saturrjfry evening a merry little party of thirteen local “ hams ” gathered together at station “ 30M ” in Spreydon, as a sort of little send-off evening to a popular member of the Radio Society of Christchurch, Mr W. G. Edwards, who is perhaps better known as “ Tim.” Those present passed away the evening playing cards and other games. At about midnight Mr J*\ Vincent, in a short speech, referred to the good qualities of Mr Edwards. The R.S.C. loses another valuable member in the departure of Mr Edwards. The fun ended with a fireworks display, the idea of Mr F. Vincent, who surprised the party by bringing to light a bag full of noisemakers. Mr Edwards left on Tuesday night’s boat for Wellington, en route to Shannon, to which place he has been transferred. Soom we may expect to hear his station on the air again, working under a new csftl. I am informed that the broadcasting station in the “ Dominion ” buildings, Wellington, will not, after all, use high power. It was originally intended to use a 500-watt set, but the experiments on the low-power set have not proved very successful, the six valves used to date only giving an aerial current of slightly under one ampere. The modulation was * very poor also. So very soon Station 2YK will be off the air leaving all Wellington work to Wellington Broadcasters, Ltd., who run 2YB on the Ford Building. This station, by the way, has a set similar to the one in use »t 3AC at Christchurch. The Auckland B.C Station IYA is operated bv Mr R. G. White, an amateur of the northern city. Mr White also runs a private amateur station, his home call being IAO. Low-power transmission is hi 6 pet hobby, and ho gets his speech to all points in New Zealand using less than five watts input power. Messrs R. J. Patty 2AE, P. Stevens 2AD, and J. O’Meara 2AC, all of Gisborne, have not been on the air much lately. 1 am told that these three “ ’.hams ” hold a permit tc work a half-kilowatt broadcasting station in Gisborne, and at present are very busy getting the station into working order. They should be on the air very soon, using a 335-metre wave-length. A Christchurch amateur who signs 3AB reports hearing American 6CGW T strongly on 1 C.W. on Sunday evening. At first ihe mistook him for a New Zealand “ chopper set,” but got a big surprise when he heard the sta-* tion calling 4FT and signing 6CGW. If anyone hears a call, the first letter of which is not A, be sure it comes from overseas, ns all New Zealand amateur calls hav'e the letter A following the first figure. The recent gales have picked out a lot of badly-built aerial systems. A large number of masts were lowered by tho strong winds, and many aerials have been hopelessly ruined. Moral; If a thing's worth doing, it’s worth doing well; so next time put up h “L ” mast, and stay it properly. 3AB’s aerial is an exception. “ Tinny ” says it stayed upon its reputation. This can’t be expected of every aerial, however. Now that the amateur stations of different countries are working twoway communication, something must be done to let listeners know what country a transmitting station is lo-

rated in. Tne American Radio Relay League seems to have hit on the bestidea so far. The universal intermediate signal is ‘‘ de/’ but now it means practically nothing. For inatance, sup-

pose we hear tho call oZA de 2CM. That is how it ia sent. But anyone hearing it cannot tel] whether these two stations are in America. Australia or Timbuctoo. The A.R.R.L. idea referred to is to use the initials of the countries in question. Suppose SZA is in U.S.A. and 2CM in Austiuiia (as the% really are), the idea is to send it this way., oZA AC 2CM. Anyone hearing the call would knowthen tlhat Australian 2CM was calling Yank 6ZA. If xhe American was calling Australia, the intermediate sign between the two calls would be CA. The following signs have been suggested by the American Radio Relay League;— A—Australia. C—Canada. F—France. G—Great Britain. I—ltaly. M—Mexico. N—Netherlands. O—South Africa P—Portugal. Q—Cuba. L—United States R—Argentina. S—Spain. Z—New Zealand. This constitutes a simple system that can be understood by everybody. T don’t know what our Government thinks of it. as the New Zealand regulation Bays that the intermediate signal shall be “de.” The British authorities, at present, will not sanction the change, but it is hoped to bring it about soon. At any rate. I notice that the following New Zealand stations are using the letter “ Z ” in place ot “de"’ lately. 3AF, 3AM, 4A A. 2XA. 2AP. 2AI aud lAA. The old way here was to use “ de ” as usual and then sign N.Z. after making your own call. Tho ■ new way is much quicker and easier and causes less inteiference, since less time is required to send a call. I recently had the opportunity of looking over one of the new Marconi 2 kw. Quenched Discharger Transmitters. which in the better class ships have replaced the ‘ steam-rcller ** spark set. The set is beautifully arranged on a panel within easy reach of the operator's right hand. The motor and 500-cye!e alternator are in a sound-proof compartment under the operating table, and the old-fashioned ‘‘silence chamber” that used to be is entirely dispensed with. A good thing, too, as this chamber as a rule occupies a considerable portion of the operating room, leaving space for little else. In the new “ Q.G." set Hat spiral inductances are used and on the front panel is the spark gap. radiation ammeter and wave-change switch. To change the transmitting wave-length in the old type it was necessary to open the door of the “silence chamber” and juggle three pings, in addition to changing the main condenser, from series to parallel or vice verra. In the new set, without rising from his chair, the operator simnlv throws.one switch, thus in one quick movement altering both the closed and open circuits without any loss of time. The operator told me that when a change of wave-length is necessary he can send Q.S.Y. 800, then throw the wavelength switch, and lie transmitting on 800 metres, before the receiving operator can shift his tuner from the wave he was listening or. This particular ship station was in communication with Y.L.C. (Chatham Islands) when four thousand miles aw«v. Work like this was rarelv with the old tvpe of apparatus. The receiver on tho ship was a crystal set. with a valve

panel also. The valve is used either a sa separate oscillator or a high fro quency amplifier. Howling valves are 6till spoiling the local concerts. All of the nuisance must not be put down to receiving sets, however, as a well-known local amateur (name suppressed) told me that he heard a, lovely howl that kept going for some time on Sunday night. It turned out to he a distant transmitter, however, who had been “ sitting on his key.” All the same, the howling receivers are more than a pest and it is up to every owner of a valvo •receiver to make sure he is not causing the trouble.