AGAINST THE LAW.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20285, 20 April 1934, Page 1

AGAINST THE LAW.

Radio Interference Banned in Franee. POSITION IN AUSTRALIA. MELBOURNE, April 12. The French Parliament has passed a law that manufacturers of electrical appliances, including lifts, vacuum cleaners and electric signs, must fit devices which will prevent interference with wireless, reception. The British Post Office received 100,000 complaints in a year from listeners whose reception had been affected by electrical interference. The Postmaster-General (Sir Kingsley Wood) hinted that legislative protection for listeners might be necesThe Commonwealth Postmaster-Gen-eral’s Department stated to-day that no legislation of the kind enacted in France was in force in Australia to-day, but it was admitted that many wireless listeners in the cities suffered serious interference from trams, lifts, and other electrical machinery. If the British Post Office decides on protective legislation the Commonwealth will probably follow suit. Wireless experts in Melbourne pointed °N. t to *day that with the growing sensitivity of wireless sets, listeners in big cities and all crowded areas were finding it increasingly difficult to obtain reception without electrical interference additional to ordinary static. Position in Australia. The wider use of electricity ‘ in domestic appliances accentuated the trouble, vacuum cleaners, and even electric toasters, being capable of spoiling reception. In America manufacturers of electrical appliances had patented devices to prevent interference, but in Australia the position urgently demanded remedy, non-users of wireless being the chief offenders and often ruining the enjoyment of their neighbours. An example of the way in which electrical appliances interfered with wireless reception was to be found in the decision of the police authorities to make South Melbourne their receiving headquarters for wireless messages from patrol cars. The recentlyinstalled diathermic machines at the Melbourne Hospital had “ jammed ” the Russell Street station.