History of wireless telegraphy and broadcasting in Australia/Topical/Publications/Australasian Radio World/Issues/1937 05

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Front Cover
The Australasian Radio World

MAY 1, 1937; Vol. 2 - No. 1; Price, 1/-

Registered at the G.P.O., Sydney, for transmission by post as a periodical

Cover Photo: Photo of Dr. G. Builder, manager AWA Laboratory, Ashfield (See Page 8)

Highlighted Contents: 1937 Amateur Radio Show Review: More About the "International": The "1937 Empire All-Wave Three": Inverse Feedback Conquers Pentode Tone: Latest Shortwave News.

P.02 - Editorial Notes
'''Editorial Notes. . .'''

In a news release recently to hand from the States, Mr. Alfred A. Ghirardi, noted radio writer, states that one important trend in radio today lies in the rapidly growing use by servicemen of the cathode ray oscillograph. Undoubtedly this new device is destined for a very important future in the radio service field. As a tool in the hand of a capable serviceman, its applications are almost endless, while just as important as its flexibility is its value as a time saver. In servicing as in any other profession, time means money, and any device that can locate faults in half an hour that otherwise might take half a day to find is a far more than worthwhile investment. According to Mr. Ghirardi, servicemen in the States are, as could be expected, using oscillographs chiefly for alignment work. However, other common uses include the measuring of capacity and inductance, testing overall receiver sensitivity and overall audio fidelity, localising audio distortion, and checking receivers for intermittent reception. Several progressive manufacturers of test equipment in this country have recently marketed oscillographs designed for service work. The price factor, often a problem with servicemen, has in one case at least been taken care of by the use of the latest type 913 1-inch cathode ray tube. This makes possible the marketing of a complete oscillograph for around £20 -a figure well within the means of most servicemen who regard the purchase of equipment of this type not as an expense, but an investment that will mean increased and more profitable business. Further trends in the radio industry that were noted by Mr. Ghirardi during a nation-wide trip include the new interest in progressive merchandising and business promotion methods by even small radio dealers, and the rapid growth of the use of public address and intercommunication systems, particularly for retail stores. Finally, Mr. Ghirardi also comments on the prevalence of parts departments in radio stores throughout the country, indicating renewed interest and activity on the part of experimenters.

P.02 - Contents Banner
The Australasian Radio World

Incorporating the

All-Wave All-World DX News

Managing Editor - A. Earl Read, B.Sc.

Vol. 2. - MAY, 1937 - No. 1.

P.02 - Contents
CONTENTS:

"Radio World" Guide To The Show. . . . 3

The 1937 Empire All-Wave Three. . . . 6

Assembling, Wiring And Aligning The 1937 International All-Wave Six. . . . 10

Radio Ramblings. . . . 14

The Story Of Television (5). . . . 18

Breaking Into The Amateur Game. . . . 20

Keeping In Touch With Darwin. . . . 23

25 Years In Amateur Radio (1). . . . 24

Seven-Valve Dual-Waver Gives Excellent Results. . . . 26

Inverse Feedback Conquers "Pentode Tone"! . . . . 28

Image Frequency Interference On The Short Waves. . . . 30

Round The N.Z. "B" Stations (3). . . . 32

Latest Radiokes Tri-Colour Dial A Striking Success. . . . 35

The A.T.R.S. Bulletin. . . . 36

Radio Step By Step (8). . . . 38

"Keep Up The Good Work". . . . 40

All-Wave All-World DX News. . . . 41

All-Continent Hook-Up In 15 Minutes. . . . 42

Leaves From A Dxer's Log Book. . . . 43

DX Notes And News. . . . 45

North Suburban Radio Club News. . . . 47

What's New In Radio. . . . 48

P.02 - Publication Notes
The "Australasian Radio World" is published monthly by Trade Publications Proprietary, Ltd. Editorial offices, 214 George Street, Sydney, N.S.W. Telephone BW6577. Cable address: "Repress," Sydney. Advertisers please note that copy should reach office of publication by 15th of month preceding that specified for insertion.

Subscription rates: 1/- per copy, 10/6 per year (12 issues) post free to Australia and New Zealand. Subscribers in New Zealand can remit by Postal Note or Money Order.

Printed by Bridge Printery, 214 George Street, Sydney, N.S.W., for the proprietors of the "Australasian Radio World," 214 George St., Sydney (Footnote P.48)

P.24 - 25 Years In Amateur Radio (1)
25 Years In Amateur Radio (1)

In this biographical review of the growth of radio, the author takes readers back over twenty-five years, to the time when to every radio enthusiast a slider-tuned crystal set represented the last word in receiving equipment. By '''DON. B. KNOCK (VK2NO)''' (Radio Editor "The Bulletin")

IN a recent "Radio World" issue "W.J.P." says that the old timers are reticent; ageing oysters in their barnacle-encrusted shells, or words to that effect. Probably the old timer who has lived with, by, and for radio for a literal lifetime is inclined to become blase, but that doesn't mean to say, if he is a genuine "matured in the bottle" ham, that he has lost interest - far from it.

Admittedly some old timers have given up the game, but careful enquiry will reveal that it is always by force of circumstances; for business and other reasons, and after all the shiny metal that makes the world go round and feeds the junior Op. really must come first.

I suppose I can class myself as one of the very fortunate old timers of radio in that I have been able to keep myself lined up alongside it, with a few unavoidable digressions, ever since I introduced myself to the art. Circumstances again? Maybe, to some extent, but if a man sets his heart on something, he can usually find ways and means of keeping next to the thing he likes best. Which is one way of saying to the newcomer to radio.- "If you like it well enough, stick to it by hook or by crook. If you try hard enough and work hard enough, you can do just as well as the next man."

Radio is only a baby yet, and the world is only on the fringe of discovery. Supposing for instance there occurs some enormous cosmic upheaval in the near future. How do we know that by some agency the whole scheme of radio communication may not be reversed? By some freak of the universe, long waves may become "quasioptical" and the ultra-shorts may show entirely different reflective properties. Fantastic? Maybe, but nothing is impossible. Therefore a profound interest in ultra-short-wave experimentation might prove very useful some day.

First Radio Crystal Set. My experiences in radio go back to the adolescent period, when at the tender age of eleven, as a schoolboy in my Lancashire home town, I was attracted by an article in a boy's paper showing how to construct "The Boy's Own Wireless." It seemed simple. A wooden rolling pin (coaxed from the household kitchen), a piece of iron pyrites (from the school lab.), some bell wire and an ear piece, plus a condenser made from glass plates and foil from chocolate boxes, etc., constituted the parts.

Where the headphone came from I cannot recollect, but l do know that I sat for hours, weeks, and months with that old Bell telephone receiver fastened to my head, and an imposing looking twin spreader aerial of some kind fastened to the chimney, without hearing a sound – not even a crackle when lightning was around! And no wonder. The ear piece was of the 60-ohm variety, the detector was about as useful as a piece of cheese and a penknife, and the single slide tuning coil was a hit or miss affair.

This, be it understood, was in 1910-1911, when crystal detectors of any kind were a new development, and the magnetic and electrolytic detectors held full sway for commercial work.

A year went by, and interest flagged a little. Then providence intervened. Away on holiday in the South of England with the family, this small boy met a much older one who was no less than a wireless expert and an electrical engineer apprentice. An invitation to see his "den" followed.

First sight to gladden the eyes was a massive white painted mast in a garden, with a veritable maze of guys and insulated wires. Explanation revealed that this was an "umbrella" aerial. Inside the "shack" the amount of wonderful apparatus was breath-taking. Huge drain-pipe tuning coils wound with shiny black wire reached nearly to the ceiling. Bright copper helixes glittered entrancingly; and knobs and big glass plate condensers were everywhere. To top it all off, an intriguing rotary arrangement in a corner sporting a number of projections on the big disc introduced itself as a synchronous gap.

First Signal Heard From Eiffel Tower. While I looked and marvelled my new-found mentor put a pair of dinky little headphones over my ears, and looking at a clock said, "Now three minutes to eight. At 8 p.m. you will hear FL start sending his press."

As the city town hall clock boomed away on the last stroke, I heard what was to me the most beautiful sound I ever recall, my first radio signal. It was the old Eiffel Tower in Paris with his peculiar bugle note, blaring out the evening press.

And how that signal came through! Knobs were shifted a little, handles moving tuning condensers of the inter-leaved glass plate variety were jiggled a bit, and tuning coil sliders were adjusted, until the signal sounded very strong – about R6 in present day rating.

I saw, looked, and listened, and the radio bug bit deeper and deeper. It culminated in a still bigger thrill in the form of a raucous bellowing signal which was described to me as being from another amateur across the town.

Then this god-like person pulled switches, the rotary gap sprang into life, and I jumped with apprehension as the blue flame bit around the disc point with a deafening crescendo of morse code as he "went after" that other fellow.

That settled it. Whatever passing interest I had had in that futile boyish effort of a year previous was enhanced a thousandfold. I determined to be a wireless amateur by fair means or foul. After describing my poor efforts, I was presented with a nice sparkly piece of carborundum, an old but good pair of high resistance Sullivan phones, and a few odds and ends. That boy I had visited became in later years one of the Marconi Company's most prominent engineers.

Returning north, I proceeded to make the house unbearable with the smell of melting paraffin wax and shellac varnish, and conceived a weird and wonderful array of gear with the pretensions of a "wireless." I had no idea of wavelengths; I couldn't read morse more than about three words per, but I had plenty of confidence. Months went by again, and nothing happened, but presto – when thunderstorms abounded, I could distinctly hear the lightning flashes, and that was something at least!

Success At Last. And then, on a Sunday morning at 11 a.m., the unexpected happened. After moving sliders up and down along the 6-inch diameter coil with its miles of enamelled wire, and juggling around with the pressure of a steel point on the carborundum, the gods suddenly smiled. It was the old Eiffel Tower at last – I could recognise that spluttering note so well engraved upon my memory. Dashing up from the table to run downstairs and call the family to hear the miracle, I forgot, alas, that I still wore the headphones. With a clatter the small table came over and everything with it, and the entire family came running upstairs to see if I had been electrocuted or something. The parental scorn was withering, and believe it or not I couldn't for the life of me find those adjustments again in a hurry.

Meanwhile FL had finished his morning time signals, for such they were, and silence reigned supreme. It was the next week-end before I put things where I thought they had been, and sure enough, there were those dashes and ticks again. This time, the phones were laid gingerly aside and my victory over former scorn was complete.

With bated breath the detector was covered with a glass jam-jar and attention confined to moving sliders. Gradually I became aware of other sounds, buzzing high pitched whines, deep throaty roars, harsh scratchy sputtering. Although I didn't know it then, these were ships along the coast on the 600 metre range.

The Next Step. Gradually things got better and I studied and thought about the morse code. It lived with me, and I began to master it. Soon I could identify the call-sign of one of those stations, the most outstanding. It was GLV, the Liverpool coastal station. Then followed the realisation of the call-letters of the station GLV would be calling. In a year or so I could even identify prominent ships by the characteristic sound of the spark.

Meanwhile the multi-wire spreader aerial over the house was the subject of much comment and an object of wonder. It increased in size; so did the loading coils in my room, and then I was blessed with the achievement of being able to copy that old station of stations, Poldhu (MPD) in Cornwall. It was later when the war came, that an amateur wrote in the old "Wireless World" a poem that began with "Alas Poldhu, gone is thy blaring bugle note," for then the Post Office people descended and dismantled all amateur stations. But that is a story I will include in the next instalment of this biography.

Photo - 2NO in 1912
The author in 1912 – a schoolboy fired by the romance of radio communication.

Photo - 2NO at 16yo
VK2NO at 16 – "the guv'nor thought wireless a new-fangled contraption, and so I had to carry on as an engineer's apprentice."

Photo - Car radio in 1916
The latest in car radio – in 1916. During the war radio engineers spent much time developing mobile wireless equipment for use behind the lines, and this photograph shows an experimental radio-equipped car.

P.32 - Round The N.Z. "B" Stations (3)
'''Round the N.Z. "B" Stations. . . . 3'''

2ZO Palmerston North. The third of a series of articles on New Zealand "B" stations, written for the "Radio World" by "THE SOUTHLANDER" ("The Southlander" was Merv Branks, then of Winton, later Invercargill - Ed.)

STATION 2ZO, Palmerston North, which was designed and built by its owner, Mr. J. V. Kyle, is unique among "B" class stations in New Zealand, inasmuch as it has always been operated by its owner entirely as a hobby. It has never transmitted sponsored programmes or advertising matter, while everyone connected with 2ZO gives his or her services in a purely voluntary capacity. Commenced Operations In 1930. 2ZO owes its existence to the many interested listeners who, after hearing Mr. Kyle operating his shortwave station ZL2AX, suggested that he should apply for a broadcast band license. Thus 2ZO came on the air in November 1930, transmitting on very low power until the arrival of higher-powered equipment and valves from overseas. These duly came to hand and the opening night was fixed for February 3, 1931. Strangely this happened to be the very day of the disastrous earthquake in the Hawkes Bay province, which adjoins the Palmerston North district. Immediately Mr. Kyle offered the use of his short-wave station to the authorities, and ZL2AX was kept in constant use for two days, sending and receiving messages to and from the afflicted area. The official opening had to be postponed in this emergency, but a most successful initial programme from the new transmitter took place on March 3. Listeners' Association Provides The Programmes. Associated with 2ZO today is a Listeners' Association of over 2,000 members, who provide the programmes for transmission and pay the running costs of the station. The power supply to the transmitter is from a 1,500-watt motor generator, direct coupled to a 3-phase 3 h.p. motor, with a separate exciter, also direct coupled. This apparatus, which is electrically shielded, is situated some distance from the transmitting room to eliminate any mechanical noise being picked up by the microphones. The power reaches the power control panel (the left hand panel shown in photo) and is smoothed out and filtered before being applied to the valves. Transmitter Is Crystal Controlled. The station was recently remodelled, incorporating crystal control and 100 per cent modulation. The oscillator panel is seen second from the left in the photograph, and the modulator panel, third from the left. Next is the speech amplifier cabinet with control panel in front. An electric turntable is used for records and there are two microphones, one a double-button type and the other a condenser mike. The power is 100 watts to the aerial. The antenna system is somewhat different to that of most stations, only one mast 51 feet high being used. The aerial is an umbrella type with a four-wire fan as centrepoise (sic, counterpoise). The station has two studios, one located beside the actual transmitting room and used for individual artists. The other, approximately a mile away, is situated in the Messrs. C. Ross Coy's. Buildings in The Square. Well furnished and fully equipped, this studio is large enough to accommodate a full orchestra as well as a large audience, and all concerts, etc. are broadcast from there. The whole station reflects credit on Mr. Kyle, who is one of the earliest amateurs in New Zealand, his radio experience dating back to 1911. 2ZO is also official publicity station for the New Zealand Amateur Transmitters' Association. The station is a dual one, in that by changing three coils and two radio frequency chokes, a changeover from b.c. to s.w., or vice versa, can be made in three minutes. Mr. Kyle has received reports of correct reception from Australia, over a distance of 1,450 miles, while the area effectively served is the lower half of the North Island and the upper portion of the South Island. (Note: Transmission times given in the accompanying panel are A.E.S.T.)

Photo of 2ZO
(Start Photo Caption) A general view of station 2ZO, Palmerston North, which is operated by its owner purely as a hobby. (End Photo Caption)

Main Features of 2ZO
CALL AND LOCATION: 2ZO, 50 Waldegrave Street, Pa1merston North, New Zealand. OWNER AND OPERATOR: J. V. Kyle. ANNOUNCERS: D. Spring, E. A. Shackleton, and owner. FREQUENCY: 1,400 k.c. POWER: 100 watts aerial rating. TRANSMISSION TIMES: Tuesday, 5-8.30 p.m.; Thursday, 6-8.30 p.m.; Sunday, 8.30-11 a.m. TYPE OF TRANSMITTER: 3-stage crystal M.O.P.A. ANTENNA: Umbrella type and counterpoise. RELIABLE RANGE OF DAY TRANSMISSION: 200 miles. AREA SERVED: Lower half North Island and upper half South Island. LONGEST DISTANCE VERIFIED REPORT: 1,450 miles. VALUE OF EQUIPMENT: £1,075.