Radio Reception.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 364, 4 March 1932, Page 5

Radio Reception.

To the Editor. Dear Sir,—While sincerely sympathising with Power Off,” I think he has been a trifle hard on the radio inspector. On three occasions, in response to a ’phone call, the radio inspector has come out to my place at night to look for interference. On one occasion he arrived during a heavy rainstorm and was wet through. May I suggest that “ Power Off ” should try an aerial at right angles to power lines or a condenser in series with his present aerial. This is often beneficial. It is often possible, too, that what is thought to be power interference is a broken strand in an aerial or earth wire. This can cause an unholy crackle.

As far as reception goes, it is impossible to bring in Australian stations at this time of the year with any degree of satisfaction. And it is quite true that the Government inspectors do not interest themselves about interference on out-of-New Zealand stations. It would be unreasonable to expect them to be out night and day, simply because listeners cannot get Australia. If this were so, I would be entitled to have the radio inspector along every time my short-wave set misses on America. In conclusion: A good idea is to examine the set before you chase the radio inspector. As a certificated radio operator and amateur with seven years of radio behind me, I definitely say that least a third of so-called “ interference ” is due to faulty aerials and tinkering with good sets—l am, etc., S.O.S