BROADCASTING

Waipa Post, Volume XXIV, Issue 1680, 31 October 1925, Page 5

BROADCASTING

WESTERN ELECTRIC EQUIPMENT ORDERED* ■ FIRST TWO PLANTS DUB IN FEBRUARY. According to a statement handed to the Press, orders have been placed with overseas manufacturers for the world’s best broadcasting equipment in furtherance of the scheme recently embarked upon by the Radio Broadcasting Co. of New Zealand, Ltd. The first two plants are expected to arrive in Auckland and Christchurch in February next. The following is the statement, which was released through Mr A. Markman, secretary of the Post Office, Wellington. In his first official statement concerning the operations of the Radio Broadcasting Company of New Zealand, Limited, a company formed under arrangement with the Post and Telegraph Department for the purpose of developing community broadcasting in New Zealand. Mr W. Goodfellow director of the company, states that the negotiations with the Government for the Dominion proposa s commenced in June of this year, and after the proposals of another' company could not be finalised. A trustees •agreement was entered into, dated August 1 last, the details of which have already been made public through the Press by the Postmaster-General. On August 26, the present company was incorporated under memorandum .of agreement, and articles of association stipulated by the Postmaster-General. The object of the company is solely to provide radio broadcasting in Nelw Zealand. , WELLINGTON STATION IN ABEYANCE..

Immediately the agreement was signed, arrangements were made for ordering entirely new and up-to-date plants, and for the purchase of the four subsidised stations already , m operation. In regard to the latter, the prices to be paid for the Dunedin, Christchurch, and Auckland stations, have been amicably settled between the parties, but Wellington station is still in abeyance pending the owner s decision to accept the Broadcasting Company’s price, or the chief telegraph engineer’s valuation. In making arrangements for new and larger stations, four proposals made to the company have been considered—the remodelling of the existing plants, the purchase of outfits from the Amalgamated 1 Wireless, the construction in N§w Zealand of new equipment, and the importation ot Western Electric equipment from England. As improvements m radio apparatus are of almost daily occurrence, the first two proposals were deferred pending the possibility of! importing under equitable conditions the latest improved equipments. In the Amalgamated Wireless proposals the conditions of sale were not acceptable, neither was the plant consideied suitable. “MOST MODERN IN THE WORLD. Subject to certain conditions, orders for Western Electric equipment were placed, and have now been 'accepted by the manufacturers. The first two plants are expected to arrive m Auckland and Christchurch in February next. We are advised that atus to bet supplied, although&igh a first cost, is the outcome of exper ience in more than 40 of the best known broadcasting stations overseas, and is considered the most modern and efficient radio equipment m the world to-day.. Furthermore, improved speech circuits, the reduction of harmonics, a quieter carrier wave, and better facilities for monitoring an control, make it capable of even higher quality of transmission than that of the former equipment. The plant is designed to deliver 500 watts of radio frequency power to the aerial system, and the electrical power required is approximately: Plate potential, 1600 volts; total plate current 9 ampere; filament potential, 14.3 *». Si filament current 29 31 amperes. The station at Auckland will be i stalled on Messrs G. Court and Sons big new building in Karangahap Road. ‘The aerial will consist of two lattice steel towers spanning 220 ft. and over 100 ft. above the roof. w hmh is in turn 80ft. above the street, and the operating room, also situated on the roof and directly under the aerial, will measure 20ft!. by 30ft. Plans are now in hand for building a special studio with efficient acoustic properties so far as to obtain the maximum effelet from the first-class talent it -is the intention of the company to broadcast. Similar arrangements are m hand in Christchurch, and it is expected that both the new stations will commence broadcasting within a few weeks of each other. Wellington and Dunedin conditions are also being investigated with a view of proceeding with the installation of stations mediately the Auckland and Christchurch plants are in operation. STUDIOS AND PROGRAMMES. Now that them atter of delivery of the very latest and most modern broadcasting equipment has been finalised, the company will concentrate on providing th© best and latest studio accommodation, and when that is more, advanced the. company will turn its attention to the programmes to be broadcasted. In this statement it will take! too long to amplify the mass of detail that has been considered in the proposals now coming into effect. The fact remains, however, that the, proposals for Dominion broadcasting have been submitted to one of the most prominent authorities in teh world, and from mailed information just received from England, we are advised that after examination of these proposals, it is considered that the scheme as defined by the Government is the best solution to the problems of national broadcasting in New Zealand—“in fact, no alternative proposition to that submitted was required.”