Listen In!

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19920, 16 August 1927, Page 10

Listen In!

« NOTES AND PROGRAMMES

(By

‘‘Daeaor.")

On Thursday evening 4QG. will rolay from the Exhibition 'Hall, Brisbane, a selection played by an orchestra of 1000 violins. The time of the relay has not as yet been stated.

A schoolboy "howler” from Popular VTireless, London: — "Negative is the oppositive to affirmative and is therefore positive. Batteries have Loth of these and are marked in algebra to show which is which and which is not, to avoid confusion."

With a single cone type of loud speaker different results are obtainable, according to whether the pointed or hollow siie of the cone is nearest the listener.

All ]isteners-in are invited to attend the committee meeting of the Wanganui Wireless League, to be held at Silk, Haworth and Co’s offices, 44 Maria Place, to-morrow night (Wednesday) at 8 p.m. 3LO, Melbourne will shortly be staging on the ether quite a novelty in the way of fine singing. Under the direction of Mr Henry Thomas, a member of the teaching staff at the University <'onservatorium, a very efficient quartet of four voices has been engaged to sing Song Cycles of a most enjoyable yet popular character. There are at present five broadcasting stations in Japan. These are: JOAK. Tok io, 370 metres; JODK, Keijo, 345 metres; JOBK, Osaka, 385 metres; JOCK. Nagoya, 360 metres; JQAK, Dairen (Manchuria) 395 metres. An interesting announcement was made that many listeners to a recent transmission from PCJJ had reported an echo effect. No echo was present in the studio, said the announcer, and it was thought the effect might be due to the fact that signals were travelling once or twice round the earth. Through the courtesy of Mr D. A. Morrison, "Detector" had the pleasure of testing out a two-valve receiver—the Polar Twin—last evening. 2YA, Wellington came through at really good loud-speaker strength and with wonderful clearness. One recent tests the Wellington station has been heard to better advantage on a set employing one or two valves than on a multi-valve combination. It was announced from 2FC, Sydney last Friday evening that on Wednesday, August 17 (to-morrow evening) after all other stations had closed down 2FC would be heard under unique and novel circumstances. The time for this transmission was given as 11.30 to 1.10, which will be 1 to 2.40 a.m. Thursday New Zealand time. Same Old Story. The fisherman (who has taken up radio): I got America last night and you should have heard the stations that got away. No matter what make your set or where you purchased it. if it is not giving complete satisfaction, Emmetts, Radio Specialists, Se.lwyn Buildings, Victoria Avenue, are at your service. You will enjoy a visit to their "Sound Box. ’ ’* Week-End Reception. The dance session at IYA. on Saturday, came through very well indeed, as also did the concert on Sunday evening, but as usual from this station fading was troublesome. 2GB. Sydney was at excellent strength with transmission very steady. Static, of the frying-pan variety was in evidence. SKA. Adelaide, was at fair strength, but with plenty of noise in the background. The tuning is very sharp on this station. 4QG. Brisbane was out on its own late on Saturday. The motor cycle races—or, rather the description of them—were wonderful. Studio items also came in clearly and well. Wrestling took up the greater part of 3LO’s programme on Saturday evening. For those interested in this sport it must have been thrilling. Transmission was clear and at fair strength, with fading at times.

SCL, Adelaide, has also got the wrestling craze. Good concert on Sunday. Transmission steady and clear. Volume fair. Plenty of Morse interference.

Very good volume from KFON. and KGO early on Saturday evening. Plenty of noise about. On Sunday evening KFON was excellent. Brought him in at good loud speaker strength at 4.25 and held him for an hour.

By the way, who was the local enthusiast who swears he held KFON from 6.30 to 11.30 on Friday night?

Morse interference came in on all wavelengths during the week-end, at times drowning out all trace of music. It is rumoured that the cause of the trouble is our new tug—the Kahanui.

Station 2YA is keeping up a good standard in its evening concerts. What was heard of Saturday’s was very fine. Best results were obtained when the set was slightly detuned. One or two howlers strolled across occasionally.

2FC and 2BL, Sydney were the best of the Aussies during the week-end. Both had interesting programmes and transmission was steady and wonderfully clear.

The B class Aussie stations, SDN, Adealide, and 3DB, Melbourne, were at fair volume on Saturday, but extremely fine tuning was necessary to bring them in so as to be enjoyable.

Have you been troubled with "howlers" lately? If so attend the Wanganui Listeners’ League meeting tomorrow night, and tell them your troubles. Strong pressure may have to be Drought to bear upon the Post and Telegraph Department to take drastic action to overcome this nuisance, and it is only through co-operation amongst listeners that this can be done.

KDKA, the U.S.A, station, uses 10,000 watts for its valve filaments alone, at 50 amperes.

The early evening sessions of 2FG have been on the weak side of late. The station is rarely heard at its best before 9.30 p.m.

One feature of Australian broadcasting which is very noticeable is the accurate timing of relayed items. When 2BL announces that it is passing over to a relay programme there is no delay. This cannot bo said of our stations!

The Crosley Radio Corporation have placed on the market at a very reasonable price a short wave attachment to use in conjunction with any standard flvalve sets . This should prove of interest to local enthusiasts wishing to pick up the many long distance stations working on the short waves.*

The private broadcasting station, Z.2AX, which is operated by Mr J. V. Kyle, 50 Waldegrave St., Palmerston North was on the air again on Sunday afternoon for the usual weekly transmission. The first few items given ("Valencia,’’ "Little Spanish Town,’’ etc), came in at fair loud-speaker strength and with good modulation, but later bad spells of fading and Morse interfered considerably with reception. Tried him again just before 5 p.m. and everything was OK. The closing remarks by the announcer were heard very clearly and distinctly. The power used by this station is only 4 watts.

Although officials of 3LO, Melbourne, are disinclined to make any statements in the matter, it is known that efforts are being made to arrange for Dame Nellie Melba to broadcast from that station, and as she has already broadcast from 4QG, Brisbane, it is thought likely she will also be heard broadcasting in Melbourne. It is interesting to recall that Dame Melba permitted her farewell opera performance to be broadcast from 3LO on the day that station was opened.

A radio set operated off a loop aerial does make listening-in possible on a bad night of static, whereas using an outside aerial on the same night, reception would be impossible. The 7Valve Rauland Forte is operated off either, and when using the loop, requires no earth or aerial wires, thus the machine can be moved from room to room, which is a great convenience, and is greatly appreciated by Rauland owners. Whitehead and Stone will demonstrate on request.* Some Aerial. The new Japanese Morse radio station at Fukuoka-mura, which was opened on April 1 last boasts of an aerial 10J miles in length. It is of the single straight line type. In Australia there are now 215,139 licenses—equal to one in thirty of the population. Victoria heads the list with 118,965 listeners. Taking the number of licenses in New Zealand at about 20,000, and the population at one and a-half millions, the proportion, of listeners-in in the Dominion is at present one to seventy-five. Thursday night of each week is set aside by SCL, Adelaide, as a novelty programme. A special Chinese night will be held shortly. Recently listeners were taken for an imaginary trip to the moon in a rocket, and to add to the effect a gigantic rocket was released over the city. Crystal reception of 2YA, Wellington is said to be easily obtainable in Wanganui. Three or four amateurs with the crystal report fairly good reception. A noisy short-wave receiver is an abomination, and no pains should be spared to remove the causes of this trouble. They may mostly be traced by putting the set into oscillation with aerial and earth removed. Faulty condenser bearings should always be suspected; a pig-tail connection to the moving plate is generally preferable to a rubbing contact. The accumulation of dust between condenser vanes is often responsible for noises. The set should be mounted in a case, while dust may be removed with the aid of a bicycle pump or a Bunsen gas flame. Any listener-in with any suggestion with reference to improving broadcasting, or complaint against the Company, should join the Wanganui Listeners’ League, and make his suggestion or complaint through the League. Committee meetings are to be held at least once a month, and all listeners-in are cordially invited to attend and bring forward any matters that they wish the committee to discuss. Although a listener may be quite satisfied with the present broadcasting conditions, he should not hesitate to join the Wanganui Listeners’ League. There is no doubt that the formation of listeners’ leagues throughout the Dominion has had a marked effect for good on the Broadcasting Company, as it will be generally admitted that during the last month the programmes not only from 2YA, but from both IYA and 3YA, are a big improvement on what we were getting three months ago. They study their business and they study the quality of the goods they offer. Every article they sell is the best value procurable. The more you buy from Emmetts, Radio and Gramophone Dealers, Selwyn Buildings, Victoria Avenue, the better you will like them.* An average of three calls a day from England is being maintained on the trans-Atlantic telephony service to America, according to a recent statement of the British Postmaster-Gener-al. From the American side there is a daily average of four calls. Asked whether there had not been a very considerable loss on the service, the Postmaster-General said, "No, the working expenses are covered."

SHORT WAVE SETS POPULAR

WORLD-WIDE TRANSMISSIONS

In many homes now the ornate broadcast receiving set has a companion. It is the short wave set, home-built in all probability, and far from neat or finished in appearance. Yet it lias a certain businesslike air about it—an appearance that suggests possibilities unthought of, capabilities one never suspects. And in its fascination and wizardry it will undoubtedly go a long way in outrivalling the staid and conventual broadcast set.

This brother of the big set, built for round-the-world reception, very soon will be a necessity to the fully equipped radio enthusiast. And, although it can never supplant the set intended for longer wave and comparatively local reception, it is inevitable that it will become a valuable asset to the larger outfit. It will be, as it were, the speedy roadster of the ether while the heavier and regular work will be left to the four and five-valve'" tourer. ” World-wide broadcasting, from being a mere phrase, has indeed become a fact, of interest not only to the man in the laboratory, or the experimenter with expensive gear at his disposal, but to every listener who cares to make or procure a "short-wave outfit," and is willing to expend a little time and patience—and occasionally rise at an hour for which the high calling of radio, and nothing else, could be responsible. This discrepancy in the hours of night and day is one of the disabilities in Empire broadcasting which will need attention before programmes can reach any great regularity. To leave a warm bed at 3 a.m. is well worth-while occasionally, but as a regular practice it has its disadvantages. And unfortunately the artists and those conducting the station on .the other side of the globe hold very much the same opinion. American programmes, of course, do not present quite the same difficulty, but'even in this case, a special arrangement, apart from the American stations’ regular broadcasting times is essential. When Stations Fade Interwoven with the question of suitable hours at both transmitting and receiving ends is the suitability of the time for the wave length used, for below 100 metres the transmission requires a certain percentage of darkness along its track, in spite of the fact that waves of this length are more impervious to daylight than those of the usual broadcasting band.

That is why, when listening, to American stations such as WGY, KDKA, or KFI, the stations fade unaccountably—the sun has risen in America, and as the daylight zone spreads towards New Zealand, it overcomes the signals. On the other hand, when PCJJ fades, it is due to the coming of daylight, at this end; as the day breaks the signals become weaker, and a host of amateurs, failing to see the poetry in rosy fingered dawn, give it up, for the time, as a bad job. Less Expensive Contrary to the impression of many, the short wave set, built on "low-loss" principles, is actually a simpler, less expensive outfit than the average set. Of course, not many listeners take great account of the tone or quality of the reception, and many receive it at headphone strength only, but as the actual reception becomes more a matter of course, the refinements and controls for perfect reproduction will, follow. Perhaps, too, the combined short wave and broadcast set will become popular, but at present this arrangement is not practicable, although many amateurs appear to have the impression that it is a feasible proposition. The ideal long distance set, built for the wave bands below 100 metres, can only be made as< a special unit, if it is to be as efficient and responsive as conditions demand.

Static and fading have a very big effect on reception of this -sort, and there can be no margin for those little inefficiencies which, in a receiver designed for work on stations even as comparatively close as Melbourne or Brisbane, inevitably creep in. Fine tuning is essential, on the part of both operator and receiver, and a plentiful reserve of that invaluable quality of the long distance listener—patience. Still, many have set up their short wave outfits, preferring a few bars of music from 12,000 miles away to a complete programme from a station a few hundred miles distant.