RADIO TRANSMITTER BEING INSTALLED ON BASTIA HILL TOWER

Wanganui Chronicle, 15 December 1949, Page 4

RADIO TRANSMITTER BEING INSTALLED ON BASTIA HILL TOWER

Technicians of the Post and Telegraph Department are at present installing the transmitting unit and [ aerial mast for the two-way radio installation on the Bastia Hill water :> tower which will provide radio com- ; munication for a Wanganui taxi firm, and later other city services, such as Fire Brigade, police and ambulance, ' if required. In the taxi office there will be a • | loudspeaker for incoming calls from • I taxis operating in various parts of • the city and a small hand microphone • for outgoing calls, but these will not . be transmitted direct from the office, t That will be the function of the ■ transmitting unit on the Bastia Hill , tower, which will be connected by , land line with the taxi office and any others wishing to use the service. The massive reinforced concrete tower was built in 1927 to nrovk’e J gravity for Durie Hill’s water service. - Arrangements for the installation of ’ radio equipment there have been • made with the Wanganui City Coun- • ciJ. 1 The transmitter box, lightly con- • structed of steel, \,as hauled to the top landing of the tower by block and tackle. A telephone line will connect it. with the Wanganui exchange. The transmitter will operate at a very high frequency and its broadcasts will be audible as far as the line of sight from the height at. which it is situj at cd. j The transmissions will not interfere . with ordinary radio sets, nor will they ’ interfere with the Wanganui broadcasting station. The aerial, a steel rod about 7ft ’ long, will be lilted to a 10ft wooden ■ pole which will be lilted to the top ot ! the dome. ! Long telephone and power leads • stretch upwards al an angle of about 45 degrees from posts on th? ground to the upper platform. The manager of the taxi linn which | is installing radio equipment in it-: j ears said that the gear, which has' been imported from England, would . arrive in Wan/anui on Monday. Each . ] set costs well over £lOO.