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Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 72, Issue 234, 2 October 1929, Page 14

Listed In

V NOTES AND PROGRAMMES

(By

tf Detector. ”)

2YA, Wellington will relay a description from Athletic Park to-day of the All Blacks v. N.Z. Maoris football match.

Progress reports of the TimaruChristchurch cycling event will be broadcast by 3YA on Saturday afternoon next.

The next concert of Mr Leon de Manny’s Wellington Symphony Orchestra is fixed for October 31 and will be broadcast by 2YA.

The play “Belinda” will be broadcast from IYA, Auckland to-night.

All space for the Auckland Radio Exhibition, which is to be opened at 7.30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 30, is now booked up; it will be a full house. During the four days and evenings, most if not all of the IYA programmes will be presented on the stage of the Town Hall, and relayed thence to the station.

6WF, the Perth broadcasting station, passed under the control of the A.B.C. last month. This station has now come down in wavelength on to the ordinary broadcast band.

The New Zealand broadcasting service was under fire for a brief period last week in Parliament. Mr Clyde Carr, M.P., for Timaru, and formerly announcer at 3YA, ought to know something of the programme end of broadcasting, and he appealed for the Minister’s influence in brightening up programmes. Mr Nash, of Palmerston North, championed the Broadcasting Company, but urged a reduction of fees for the crystal user, and the establishment of the long-promised advisory board.

The recent relay from Waitomo Caves, although very successful, was for some unknown reason cut very short. One might guess that the cold and damp were too much for the artists.

Arrangements are being made by the Broadcasting Company for a short-wave description of some of the more important races at Randwick on Saturday, October 5, and the following Monday, including the Derby, Epsom and Metropolitan, in which New Zealand horses will bo running.

One unexpected effect of the coming of the screen-grid valve has been to popularise frame aerial circuits which formerly were not satisfactory on account of troublesome H.F. amplification.

News comes from Sydney that the new transmitting' plant for 2BL is now under construction. This will give 2BL an aerial power equal to that of 2YA, namely, 5000 watts, which means an increase of nearly three times thg present power of that station.

The Byrd Expedition carries with it no less than 500 wireless valves. 387 of these are for reception, whilfe the majority of the remainder are for transmission. They have material for the construction of over 100 complete wireless receiving sets. Besides this apparatus, the expedition carries much material for experimental purposes.

When a 6-volt A battery has just been received from the charging station it should read approximately 6.3 volts, while a 4-volt battery should show about 4.2.

The air has lately been full of politics from Australia. 4QG and 2FC often being heard broadcasting political speeches. New Z.ealanders can congratulate themselves on the fact that politics are taboo so far as the N.Z. stations are concerned.

The latest social vogue of Sunday night listening-in parties has certainly caught on in Australia and threatens to sweep through the community just as ping-pong did in the days of old. These parties are a very easy way out for hostesses, as Sunday nights have always presented many difficulties in the entertainment of guests, and the new vogue seems to fill the bill. Of course, there is a definite reason for the success of the parties. The programmes are specially arranged by the Australian Broadcasting Company for the occasion, and containing as they do plenty of variety with quick changes, and being always bright, they have a distinct appeal to listeners.

Later on in the month listeners will be. to a certain extent deprived of a considerable amount of entertainment they enjoy from the Australian stations, due to the fact that daylightsaving will put New Zealand clocks back half an hour. This coupled with the lengthened days will make’ a marked difference to general reception here in New Zealand.

A good deal of static was experienced last week, and at times it was intense enough to spoil reception somewhat from the Australian stations.

On Wednesday, October 16, Station 4YA Dunedin, will move to new premises. From that date the studio and transmitting plant will be located on the top floor of the Evening Star building. Here, the most modern transmitting equipment and studios and offices, whose appointments are up to date in every respect, will be found. The new station will be one of which Dunedin will be proud. It will be the most modern of the New Zealand chain, and will have the distinction of being the only station where transmitting plant and studios are situated on the one floor.

So great have been the sales of radios and radio apparatus in America that many gramophone and piano manufacturers in the States are now producing radio sets.

Victoria, with a drop of 457, is thjb only State in which the number of broadcast listeners’ licenses decreased during July. In all Australia, the new license issues exceed cancellations by 1993, leaving a total still in force' of 303,192. Of the cancellations 3307 were in Victoria. Small Sections. When it is not possible to have a long length of aerial, due perhaps to the above reasons, or else because of physical conditions, it will be satisfacItory to adopt the following plan: Instead of taking the lead from the house end of the horizontal it should be taken off the far end. This alone will add to the natural capacity of an aerial system, whose value may be raised still higher by suspending from it at intervals “trees” made by arranging any heavy guago wire in the form bunches of wire like a stem and branches. From three to five of these should be used. Another plan is to suspend wire netting right along the horizontal, and still another is to lace together two lengths of 7-22, each twelve inches or so apart. These methods can stand a lot of fexperimenting, and should the user care to write to the writer, giving a note of the results secured, he will be pleased to publish them.

There are many amongst us who have not yet realised how obsolete the battery operated set has become in the last few months. It is not until we hear such sets as the new Majestic electric set that we realise what a marked difference in tonfe there really is. It is a revelation, a»d all who have not already done so should endeavour to hear it at the showrooms oi the agents, D. A. Morrison and Co., in the Avenue.*

Many people in comfortable circumstances in our midst still hold aloof from radio under the misapprehension that it requires a certain amount of technical knowledge. They have not been sufficiently interested to visit radio Exhibitions, where they would perceive that the modern A.C. set is easier to manipulate than a gramophone. It is thirty-three years since Marconi demonstrated in England the first practical system of wireless telegraph communication, and broadcast receiving sets have now reached a parallel stage of perfection to that of the motor-car. Traders should concentrate on the manifest simplicity of the A.C. s'e.t, more than ever.

No mercy is to be shown to unlicensed transmitters in Australia. According to the latest regulations issued by the Commonwealth PostmasterGeneral, the penalty for conducting illicit transmission will be a fine of £5OO, with or without a term of hard labour not exceeding five years.

A Tremendous Output. A message from Chicago on August 3 states: —The Grigsby-Gurnow plants here are now operating at capacity, turning out 5000 all-electric radio sets daily and 30.000 radio valves, according to a statement by Mr William C. Grunow. < ‘Within the next two months production will be increased to 6500 sets daily and a daily output of 100,000 valves,” he states. “We are doing the greatest volume of business in our history.” The firm employs over 1300 “inspectors” alone in their plants. The Grigsby-Grunow firm are thfe makers of the well-known ‘‘Majestic” receiver. :: :: it “Jaaz or Music?” “It is expected that jazz will be brined by all Australian broadcasting sta tions, following the appointment of Professor Bernard Heinze, Melbourne University, as director-general of wireless music of the company which has secured the contract for programmes in all States,” states an exchange. “Professor Heinze’s first act was to abolish the jazz band at 3L0.” When will broadcasting authorities realise that people usually instal a receiver and pay a license fee for the purpose of being amused, not educated It is time, the writer considers, that there were a few normal human beings to assist in counteracting these musical technicians and contortionists. If the public ask for jazz why not give them jazz? They pay for it. One would imagine that with the experience in the show world that the Australian Broadcasting Company has it would not revert so soon to this fatal mistake of trying to educate the public. :: :: :: The Latest in Radio. At the Drill Hall this week the Wanganui firm of Radio Specialties have arranged to demonstrate that new wonder the Atwater-Kent Screen-grid Radio and Gramophone combination. Many music lovers hold it against radio, that they are not permitted to choose their own programmes. Their grudge is met by this combination, which, at a moment’s notice can either bo used as a radio receiver or a gramophone, and produces music of a tonal quality which cannot be surpassed. Assembled by local experts and madjg from parts that are wholly British these beautiful consoles give all that is claimed for them in the matter of performance. That is why Radio Specialties Ltd., are not diffident in arranging the severest tests for these machines. The Atwater-Kent Radio-Gramophone produces the goods and it is on its merits that it makes a sure appeal. Thfe' cabinets, which are of solid walnut are made in Wanganui by a master craftsman, and compare with the best imported article. The screen-grid valves which are incorporated in the receiver are absolutely the latest, and besides being efficient, are no more expensive than the ordinary A.C. valves. Apart from its utilitarian value the machine is attractive in design and is a pleasing addition to the best furnishings. It looks what it is—quality throughout. 9 THE SCREEN-GRID VALVE The fact that the screen-grid tube is the tube par excellency for radio-fre-quency sockets, and that it can be used as a detector, coupled with the general use of single-stage a.f. amplifiers, leads ns to wondfer if the a.c. screen-grid tube will not become the general purpose tube of the future. As a detector of the C-bias type, the 322type tub§ is about three tithes as sensitive as the 327-type tube, and the 324 is about 10 times as sensitive as the familiar heater-type three-element tubes now employed in the detector socket of all a.c. receivers. Data now at hand indicate that an audio-fre-quency output of sufficient voltage to load up a 171 or 245 type tube may be obtained with an r.f. input of from 2 to 3 volts. Such a tube will have to be coupled to the grid of th® following tube either through a resistance or a choke because of its own very high plate resistance. A 500-henry

choke of a 200,000-ohm resistor could be used, but the! latter would make it necessary to supply more voltage to the ground end of the coupling resistor than is used in the power tubes—which wo shall assume will bo the 245 type, for it appears to be the power tube for nearly all home receivers. It would then appear as though the screen-grid detector must be coupled to the following power tube through a fairly low-resistance high-inductancfe choke of low distributed capacity. If shunted by a 250,000-ohm resistor and by a capacity of not over 100 mmf<l., a 500-henry choke would provide a characteristic as good as many of the best a.f. amplifiers now being pul into commercial radio receivers. The disadvantage of resistance or choke coupling would be the fact that a push-pull amplifier could not be used, and it seems to be the tendency at the present time to make the final stage push-pull. If, then, another a.f. stage were inserted between the screen-grid detector and the power tube, a lot of a.f. gain would have to be thrown away in order to fenjoy the advantage of push-pull, namely, freedom from hum on a.c. operation, cheapness of output transformer, and freedom from

overloading difficulties. With one or two screen-grid tubes as r.f. amplifiers a screen-grid detector, and a power tube, with pre-selecting ahead of the r.f. amplifier, the prospective setowner ought to have a pretty economical set to build, operate, and keep in order. We Are Equipped for Service. Make use of our Radio Repair Service. Radio is our speciality, therefore bring your repairs to the firm who specialise in this work. All and any classes of sets repaired. Valves may be the cause of poor reception, so bring them in, and we will test them free. — D. A. Morrison & Co. Avenue.* TO-DAY’S PROGRAMMES IYA. AUCKLAND. (900 Kilocycles, 333 Metres.) 8 p.m.: Afternoon session—Selected studio items. 4.0: Literary selection by the announcer. 4.8: Studio items. 4.25: Sports results to hand. 4.30: Close down. 6.0: Children’s I session, conducted by Uncle Tom. 6.0: Din|ner session—gramophone music. 7.0: News land market reports. 7.40: Talk—-Madame (Mabel Milne, “Health and Diet.” 8.0: iChimes. 8.1: Suite —Plaza Theatre Orchestra. ‘Gipsy Suite.” 8.9: Presentation of the three-act comedy. “Belinda,” under the di--1 r'ection of Mr J. M. Clark. 10.0: Close down.

iYA. WELLINGTOW. (720 Kilocycles; 420 Metre*.) 3.0: Relay description of football match from Athletic Park —All Blacks versus New Zealand Maoris. Close down. 3YA, CHRISTCHURCH <9BO Kilocycles; 306 Metres). 3 p.m.: Rebroadcast of 2YA —Description of All Blacks v. Maoris Rugby Match from Athletic Park. 5.0: Children’s session, conducted by Mother Hubbard and Uncle Frank. 6.0: Dinner session—gramophone music. 7.0: News session. 7.30: Addington stock market reports. 8.0: Chimes. Special studic programme featuring the Christchurch Orchestral Society, under the conductorshlp ol Professor Orddone Savini. 8.1: Overture — Christchurch Orchestral Society, assisted b’ the Woolston Band, under the conductorship of Mr R. J. Estall, "1812.” Symphony—Orchestra, "Symphony in D—First Movement.” Selection —Orchestra. “Dance of the Hours.** Violin solo with orchestral accompaniment— Mr T. B. Riordan and Orchestra, "Reverie.” Instrumental —Orchestra, “Whispering of the Flowers.” Suite—Orchestra, “Peer Cyx# Suite No. i. March—Orchestra, y MarCn <x the Heroes.” Vocal solo with orchestral accompaniment—“l Pagliacci—Prologue.” Close down. 4TA, DUNEDIN. <650 Kilocycles: 463 Metres). 3.0: Town Hall chimes. 3.1: Selected gramophone items. 4.25: Sports results to hand. 4.30: Close down. 6.0: Children’s session, conducted by Aunt Anita. 7.0: News session. 8.0: Town Hall chimes. 8.1: Special entertainment provided by the "Four Aces’’ Concert Party. 9.30: Dance programme—Gramophone records. 11.0: Close