Listen In!

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 77, Issue 222, 19 September 1934, Page 10

Listen In!

□ .w.".Qu-..w. W x. w .. H NOTES AND PROGRAMMES «

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R.W.W., Oliingaiti.— Letter follow* ing. See paragraph '‘Why Dial Numbers Vary.” Over 135,000 licences have been issued in* New Zealand this year. Lack of Enterprise. Broadcasting in this country needs livening up. In spite oli occasional mild stunts from both the national ami B stations, there is practically no sign of real radio enterprise in the Dominion. It is perhaps optimistic to expect bright ideas from a broadcasting board, the personnel of which does not include one man with any experience of public, entertaining, but it is worth while considering what has been done in other countries. World Affairs. Dr. Guy Scholefield’s talks on world affairs, from 2YA on Wednesday evenings, are always worth listening to. He is a clear and interesting speaker, with an enormous fund of information—as he should have, having the Parliamentary Library at the. back of him. Of their kind, there is nothing better in New Zealand than these weekly talks. Lightning Arresters. A tip worth knowing, ami which many listeners are ignorant, consists of connecting the lightning arrester to a different earth from that used for the set. It is usual for the set and lightning arrester to be both connected to the same earth, but it will be found that the change will result in increased volume on distant stations. Radio Sketch is Born. Here’s the story of how the “Japanese Houseboy and His Employer” series of broadcasts were born. Reginald Sharland—he was in New Zealand with “The Girl Friend” and “Hit the Deck”—went over to America some years ago to look over the theatrical possibilities. One night he met Edmund Holden, of San Francisco, who had a radio character, that of “Frank Watanabe,” the comical Japanese valet, formulated in his mind. The two men laid their heads together—the Japanese houseboy and his employer came into being —and the pair haven’t been off the air since. 5000 Visitors. Anticipatiug a large number of country visitors to his large and modern Friendly Road studios in the centre of Queen Street during the recent school holidays, “Uncle Scrim,” director of IZB, Auckland, decided to take a tally of those who called. He was astounded at the total, for over 5000 country folk, including many children, visited the station during the two weeks’ recess. Europeans Audible. Two of the most powerful European stations can be heard in Wanganui at present. These aro Milan (814 k.c.) ami Moscow (832 k.c.). Both these stations can be brought in distinctly at about 7 a.m. Breaking New Ground. 3YA, Christchurch, broke new ground recently by relaying a description of the final of fhe women’s hockey championships. Ten Years Ago. The following is taken from the “Chronicle” radio notes on April 2f 1924: “The Grid”’ learns that a local amateur, Mr. O. Chamberlain, of Somme Parade, was successful in picking up portions of a test transmission from the Chicago Tribune Office. Mr. Chamberlain is one of the original members of the Wanganui Radio Club and has been an extremely keen amateur for many years. It was at his station several years ago that the first known spark signals heard in Wanganui bn the crystal were received, and some time after this the first long wave messages heard in Wanganui were received by him on Ten Years—Still Going! “Detector” acknowledges a letter from Mr. John H. Daniels, of Castlecliff, re the paragraph taken from the “Chronicle” ten years ago. Mr. Daniels is still a keen listener, and informs us that he has still got his original 3-coil circuit single valve set. Congratulations. By the way, “The Grid” would like to hear from you again. A lino dropped to this office would be handed on. Christchurch Pirates. Seventy-four cases concerned with failure to take out radio licences were dealt with at the Magistrate’s Court, Christchurch, last week, and fines totalling £67 wore imposed. The defendants included one dealer who was fined £7, and the addition of £37 8s in costs brought the result of the proceedings up to £lO4 Bs. Evidence was given that in a number of cases the inspectors carried out their inspections in the 1 evening, when they had not, apparently, been expected. Why Dial Numbers Vary. Theoretically, stations should come iu on the same dial numbers on all machines, but in practice this is not the case. There are two reasons for this. The first is that the dial can be fitted to the tuning condensers in practically any position thereby changing the relation between the dial numbers ami the opening of the condenser plates. Next the effective induction of the coilsvaries with the number of turns and there is no standard coil winding. Another factor is the varying designs of tuning condensers, especially in the shape of the plates. Value of Headphones. Many short-wave listeners who are anxious to tune in the whole world, do not seem to appreciate -he help that a good pair of headphones can give them. More and more all-wave and “straight” short-wave receivers are being equipped with ’phone packs, which should be made use of. Signals that are completely lost in a jumble of noise in the loudspeaker can sometimes be "brought in at uncomfortably loud volume with ’phones, and can be identified very definitely. Headphones are among the most sensitive of all electrical indicating devices, and will register on the most minute currents.

“Detector.”)

All Blacks' -Tour. It would be interesting to know if the Broadcasting Board has anything up its sleeve in connection with next year's visit of the All Blacks to England. The time of the day at which the matches will be played makes it most unlikely that listeners would be eager to listen to any but the most important of them; but if the Broadcasting Board undertook to broadcast synthetic accounts of the four test matches, on the lines of the recent test cricket broadcasts, listeners would undoubtedly appreciate the innovation. The cost, however, is likely to be a barrier. It costs 4d a word to cable stuff to New Zealand and many thousands of words would be necessary to make a synthetic broadcast realistic. Do You Know? Ra« lio waves are estimated to travel a. million times faster than light and hundreds of millions of times faster than sound. As a result of this people in New Zealand hear the chimes of the Sydney town clock before, the sound reaches people in Sydney streets. Wavelength Reshuffle. There will be a reshuffle of frequencies when seven 74 to 10 kilowatt relay stations come on the air in Australia next year, if official promises are carried out.

Still Going Strong. Paul Cullen is still going strong from 2YA, and his weekly session at the Wurlitzer is undoubtedly one of the Wellington station’s most popular fea tures. 2YA has an enormous audience The populous character of the provin cial districts immediately north of Wei lington gives it a tremendous circle oi listeners. With the bulk of these, Pau Cullen’s sentimental ditties, relayec from the De Luxe Theatre, Wellington every Saturday, are a standing delight Short Wave Jottings. The following interesting notes or short-wave doings are contributed bj “H.M. ” of Aramoho:— Reception on the shorter waves dur ing the past week or two has been er ratic. One day the world can b( brought in, while the next only one oi two of the more powerful stations car be heard. VK2ME, Sydney, will be dedicating a special transmission to New Zealami listeners on September 30 from 4.1 f p.m. till 7 p.m. (New Zealand time), Mr. L. J. Schmidt, New Zealand Tour ist and Trade Commissioner in Sydney will give a very interesting lecture at approximately 4.15 p.m. (New Zealand time). The above announcement came from VK2ME on Sunday. A very good programme is broadcast daily from PMY, Java, on 58 metres. Recordings were coining in at good strength at 10 p.m. on September 16. This station is on every night from 9 p.m. Another short wave station that has improved is WBXK, Pittsburg, on 25.2 metres and 48.86 metres. This station can be relied upon as it comes in at full speaker strength with vocal items and recordings. They put over shortwave and broadcast tips every Sunday at 4 p.m. (New Zealand time). Special broadcast from MU AG, Nebraska:—The above station, which operates on 1060 k.c., with a power of 1 kilowatt, will transmit a special programme from 5.30 to 7.30 to-da.y (Wed nesday), New Zealand time. A Portable Transmitter. The Oxford-Cambridge boat race was described by an eye-witness who fol lowed in a launch the two “eights” as they stroked down river. Aboard the launch was a small, dry battery shortwave transmitter no larger than a suitcase. This miniature station, which has i reliable range of a good many miles, was “received” by a temporary ‘shore” station and relayed by landline to Broadcasting House, from where it was put on the air through all stations. A similar short-wave portable transmitter would prove exceedingly handy in this country in making possible descriptions of boat races and of ather events at inaccessible positions, ft would, moreover, avoid the necessity for special land-lines to localities where broadcasts rarely originate. Broadcasts Not to Blame. Wrestling matches in Auckland dur lug the past few weeks have been very poorly attended, and there are some people associated with the mat game who consider that the broadcasting of contests is the cause of the trouble. But this is not at all correct. The trouble has been that so many of the contests have been so poor and full of showmanship of the weak variety, with little good wrestling, that the crowd will not go along. The match between Tony Felice and Dr. F. Meyer was the worst ever seen in Auckland, and both daily papers plainly said so. Nothing else but sheer tomfoolery and mislabelled wrestling was inflicted upon those few who paid to see the match. They expressed their disgust by hoots, jeers and countings-out and the throwing of coins on the mat. Buffoonry, as provided bv Meyer and Felice, was an insult to the intelligence of the public. New Recorded Series. The long-awaited second series of 8.8. C. special recorded programmes is at; last either on route or in the Dominion. The board announces that the first one. “The Fifth Form at St. Pontefract’s,” will be broadcast within a week or two. It is a musical burlesque on school life, for which the English papers have much praise for its clever buffoonry. American Exports. In February, 1934, no less than 36,335 radio receivers were exported from the United States to various countries Spain headed the list of importing countries, while New Zealand was responsible for 1041 of the total. Compared with the same month of the pre vious year the American exports increased by the remarkable percentage of 138. The exports for February to New Zealand were but 200 in excess of those of the same period in 1933, but this increase was more or less commensurate with the growth of the licence figures at that time of the year.

Finding Popular Items. Dr. Hopkins has invented what he terms a “voting machine” for attachment to the home electric-wiring. The machine enables householders to vote “yes” or “no” by merely pressing one of two buttons, the total vote being indicated by current recordings at the power distribution centre. This invention has been proved to be practicable, but it is not likely to have widespread use. Several of the American broadcasting stations have, however, recently arranged for listeners approving of their programmes to switch on an additional electric light in their homes at the conclusion of items found to be enjoyable. By observing the graphs of the varying number of units distributed at the power-house the broadcasting authorities have formed a really valuable idea of the popularity of the different items. Radio Repair Service. Make use of our Radio Repair Service. Radio is our specialty, 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 and Co., Avenue.* Up With the Times. Fear of the ever-growing interest in foreign short-wave reception on the part of American listeners has resulted j in the National Broadcasting Company of America arranging commeif ially sponsored broadcasts of programmes originating in England and Germany. These transmissions come to the United States by transatlantic telephone and are put on the air on the regular broadcast wave-lengths. The first of this series was a variety programme, including such artists as Gertrude Lawrence. John Tilley, Danny Malone, Carrol Gibbons, Lucienne Boyer and the Welsh Guards Band. Programmes from the , Paris studios of Radio Coloniale, better known here as the short-wave station FYA, have also been sent to the United States by the regular telephone link- and put an the ether by the stations connected with the N.B.C. Huge Profits. The two private companies controlling national broadcasting in the United States have announced their total net profits as averaging £2,800,000 during the past two years. Widespread exception is being taken in the United States to the fact that these companies enjoy, without paying a single cent, a monopoly of air channels, which, it is claimed, should be the inalienable property of the people. A clamour has arisen for the adoption of a similar system of broadcasting control to that of the 8.8. C. Prior to the formation of the 8.8.C'. electrical manufacturers largely controlled broadcasting in Britain and British listeners found commercial control as unsatisfactory as the Americans are now finding it. The American listener is reacting strongly against sponsored advertising programmes and the private control for profit of a public utility.

TO-DAY’S PROGRAMMES

Following arc the programmes of Australian and New Zealand stations scheduled for today. In the case of Australian stations Australian time is given in each instance, which is hours behind that of New Zealand: — IYA. AUCKLAND. (650 Kilocycles). 7.0: Breakfast session. 8.30: Close down. 10.0: Devotional service. 10.15: Selected recordings. 12.0: Lunch music. 2.0: Selected recordings. 2.30: Classical hour. 3.15: Sports results. 3.30: Light musical programme.. 4.30: Sports results. 5.0: Children's hour.

6.0: Dinner music. 7.0: News and reports. 7.40: Recorded talk. 8.0: Chimes. Introducing the Capet. String Quartet. 8.33: Recording. Alexandra Trianti (soprano). 8.40; Beatrice Harrison and Gerald Moore ('cello and piano). 9.0: Weather report and station notices. 9.2: Talk. 9.20: Dance music. 11.0: Close down. IYX—Auckland. (880 Kilocycles.) 5.0: Light musical programme. 6.0: Close down. 7.0: After dinner music. 8.0: Alternative conceit programme. 10.6: Close iown. 2YA, WELLINGTON. (570 Kilocycles). 7.0 to 8.30: Breakfast session. 10.0: 3himes. Selected recordings. 10.30: Devotional service. 12.0: Lunch music. 12.30: Community singing from the De Luxe Theatre. 2.0: Classical hour. 3.0: Sports results. Light musical programme. 4.0: Sports results. 5.0: Children’s hour. 6.0: Dinner music. 7.0: News and reports. 7.30: Talk. Our Gardening Expert. 8.0: Chimes. Berlin State Opera House Orchestra. 8.10: Heinrich Schlusnus (baritone). 8.14: Erica Morini (violin). 8.18: Essie Ackland (contralto), with orchestra and 8.22: Orchestra le I’Association de Concerts Lamoureux. 8.40: Talk. 9.0: Weather report and station notices. 9.2: Relay ringside description of wrestling match from the Winter Show Building. 10.0: Music, mirth and melody. 10.30: Dance programme. 2YC, WELLINGTON. <K4(> Kilocycles.) 5.0: Light musical programme. 6.0: Close down. 7.0: After dinner music. 8.0: Alternative concert programme. 10.0: Close down. 3YA. CHRISTCHURCH. (720 Kilocycles). 7.0: Breakfast session. 8.30: Close down. 10.0: Devotional service. 10.15: Selected recordings. 11.0: Talk. 11.15: Selected recordngs. 12.0: Lunch music. 2.0 Selected recordings. 2.30: Talk. 3.0: Classical music. 4.0: Light musical programme. 4.30: Sports results. 5.0: Children’s hour. 6.0: Dinner music. 7-.0: News and reports. 7.35: Addington stock market reports. 8.0: Chimes. 3YA Orchestra. 8.9: Recording. John McCormack (tenojJ. 8.15: 3YA Orchestra. 8.25: Recording, Paul Robeson (bass). 8.28: 3YA Orchestra. 8.35: Madame Margherita Zelanda (New Zealand’s own colatura soprand). 8.50: 3YA Orchestra. 9.0: Weather forecast and station notices. 9.’0: “Superstition.” 9.35: Recordings, Harry Hemsley (child impressionist). 9.42: John Drinkwater, reading his own poems. 9.52: Will Hay and his Scholars (sketch). 10.0: Dance music. 11.0: Close down. 3YL, Christchurch. (1200 Kilocycles). 5.0: Light musical programme. 6.0: Close down. 7.0: After-dinner music. 8.0: Alternative concert programme. 10.0: Close down. 4YA, DUNEDIN. (790 Kilocycles). 7.0: Breakfast session. 8.30: Close down. 10.0: Selected recordings. 10.15: Devotional service. 12.0: Lunch music. 2.0: Selected recordings. 3.30: Classical music. 3.45: Sports results. 4.30: Light musical programme. 4.45: Sporta results. 5.0: Children's hour. 6.0: Dinner music. 7»0: News anl reports. 8.0: Chimes. Programme by the Concert Orchestra. March. 8.14: M. Raoul Gilles (tenor). 8.20: The Orchestra, Ballet Suite. 8.36: Recording. Berlin Mandolin and Lute Orchestra 8.39: TTie Orchestra. 8.50: Recording, AdeleKern (soprano). 8.53: The Orchestra. 9.0: Weather report and station notices. 9.2: Talk. 9.20: Recording, Impersonations by Beryl Orde. 9.26: Paul Godwin’s Orchestra. 9.29: Miss E. M. Holland and Mr. D. E. Dall. 9.44: Recording. Jasper Maskelyn. 9.50: Recording. The Bohemians. 9.53: Recording, Gertrude Lawrence and Noel Coward. 10.0: Favourites, old and new. 10,30: Dance music. 11.0: Close down. 4YO. DUNEDIN. (1140 Kilocycles). 5.0: Light musical programme. 6.0: Close down. 7.0: After dinner music. 8.0: Alternative concert programme. 10.0: Close down. 4QG. BRISBANE. (760 Kilocycles). 6 p.m.: Music; shipping news, etc. 6.15: Children's session. 6.45: Music and weather reports. 7.0: Studio music. 7.23: News ser-