History of wireless telegraphy and broadcasting in Australia/Topical/Publications/Australasian Radio World/Issues/1937 10

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Front Cover
The Australasian Radio World

OCTOBER 1, 1937; Vol. 2 - No. 6; Price, 1/-

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

Cover Photo: Photo of 2SM's new AWA transmitter (See Page 8)

Highlighted Contents: "1937 Outdoor Portable Four": More about the "Tom Thumb Two": A.C./D.C. Superhet: Radiokes "Advance Dual-Wave Five": Latest Official List of VK Amateur Transmitters.

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

Nil

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. - OCTOBER, 1937 - No. 6.

P.02 - Contents
CONTENTS:

The "1937 Outdoor Portable Four". . . . 3

Assembling And Wiring The "Tom Thumb Two". . . . 8

Latest Radiokes Kit-Set Is The "Advance 1937". . . . 10

Radio Ramblings. . . . 12

Radio Club Caters For Transmitters And S.W. Listeners. . . . 16

25 Years In Amateur Radio. . . . 18

VK Amateur Calls. . . . 21

A.C./D.C. Receiver Uses New Radiotron Barretter. . . . 32

Breaking Into The Amateur Game (9). . . . 34

Nine-Channel Ultra S. W. Radio Telephone Link. . . . 38

What's New In Radio. . . . 40

A.T.R.S. Institute — Queensland Branch. . . . 42

Radio Step By Step (11). . . . 44

All-Wave All-World DX News. . . . 45

Shortwave Review. . . . 46

DX News And Views. . . . 49

Zero Beat Radio Club Notes. . . . 50

Round The Shacks (3). . . . 51

Shortwave Station Addresses. . . . 52

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 14th 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 Pty. Ltd., 214 George Street, Sydney, N.S.W., for the proprietors of the "Australasian Radio World," 214 George St., Sydney (Footnote P.52)

P.18 - 25 Years In Amateur Radio (6)
'''25 Years In Amateur Radio. . . (6)'''

The sixth instalment of a biography covering the early days of radio, written for the "Radio World". . . By DON B. KNOCK

THE "All Empire" receiver as introduced in 1928 was the first to use the newly-developed screengrid valve as R.F. amplifier for the short waves, and it worked so well that at least two Sydney radio dealers "made hay while the sun shone." Also, a boom in aluminium followed, for after this the familiar wooden baseboard and bakelite panel were "out."

Radio On Trans-Pacific Flight. It was with the original "All Empire" receiver that I had one of the greatest thrills of my life. Hardly was it completed when news came of the start of the most magnificent trans-ocean flight of all in the history of aviation. The late Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, then relatively unknown to the general public, had pulled the old "Southern Cross" into the air from Oakland airport, U.S.A., with full tanks, and with his co-pilot, Charles Ulm, navigator Lyons and wireless operator Warner, was heading for Australia via Honolulu and Fiji.

In those days the shortwave bands were not so congested with the vast number of commercial stations as now, and a few hours after leaving Oakland, the I.C.W. signal from KHAB, the "Southern Cross," was heard giving flying conditions and position reports. KHAB carried a special T.P.T.G. transmitter of 50 watts rating, designed by Heintz and Kaufman, and the signal was received consistently in Sydney throughout the whole of the flying time to Australia.

One could visualise the 'plane forging through bad weather as the signal varied owing to the swing of the trailing aerial. On several occasions the signal was picked up and re-broadcast by 2BL, Sydney, and it was amusing to hear subsequent opinions of listeners to the effect that they "could distinctly hear the roar of the engines." What they heard was the rise and fall in pitch of the wind-driven alternator.

Getting Out On "10". It was around 1928 that Australian amateurs began to take a serious interest in 10 metres, and several made a start with transmitters of sorts. In Sydney, Clive St. John (VK2RX) co-operated with myself, and together we succeeded in putting signals between Rockdale and Randwick. Nothing was heard of interstate stations until 1929, when 4th, 5th and 3rd districts began to break through, followed by New Zealanders, Hawaiians, and finally Americans. Contacts speedily followed.

The great turning point in amateur radio affairs had also arrived about this time, when the rulings of the 1927 Washington Conference came into action. It was good-bye to 32 metres, the most useful band amateurs had ever enjoyed, or are ever likely to. The big advantage of 32 metres, apart from its wonderful DX capabilities, was the fact that one could chat to overseas fellows with little or no QRM. Most overseas stations, with the exception of a few favoured Englishmen and Europeans, were on 45 metres, or 39 to 42 metres.

Australians and New Zealanders enjoyed immunity from congestion, and QSO's were rarely of the "73 CUL OM" variety. The rag-chews were long and interesting. To give up 32 metres and wedge into 7,000-7,300 k.c. was quite a blow, but the amateur has a habit of clearing obstacles, and with "QST" showing the way, transmitters and receivers were cleaned up to meet the new conditions. We still had 20 metres, however, and that band has since proved to be the band of bands for easy DX.

In 1930 an opportunity presented itself to undertake radio communication work in the "wide open spaces," and so I accepted an appointment at Wyndham Meatworks, North-West Australia, to install and maintain a system of shortwave radio telephone communication. The scheme was to link up cattle-drafting centres and stations with the works. The apparatus was constructed in Sydney, and consisted of a 100-watt key and 'phone station, signing VIX on 55 metres, a launch station (VJQX), and a mobile station (6JU) for inland testing.

Static "One Continuous Roar." Arriving at Wyndham in early March, I got an inkling of the hopelessness of radio reception there during the rainy season. I had heard static before, but never anything like that. It was one continuous roar. The receiver was stowed away until such time as the weather gods relented and the blaze of lightning around the sky disappeared.

Before leaving the East, I had arranged for an amateur call-sign, which was granted as VK6NK. How useful this was to prove I little realised at the time. During the bad weather the station VIX was connected up and tested, and aerials erected. The receiver was modelled on the lines of the faithful "All Empire," and proved very sensitive, so sensitive that a bad snag was encountered from the start.

It had been necessary to site the station in a large store quite close to the works power house. When the two 100 k.w. D.C. generators about 150 feet distant were in action, the din can be well imagined! Something had to be done about it, and for certain reasons the station could not be moved. Came a headachy period of testing special receiving aerials. With a vertical aerial consisting of lead-covered cable, with the sheathing earthed, it was possible to hear the stronger amateurs on 40 metres.

Doublet Solves The Problem. During a contact with VK6MO, he described to me in detail particulars of a doublet referred to in "QST," using twisted flex feeders, and suggested I try it. This was erected, with one half of the doublet vertical and the other half directly underneath and horizontally in the form of a circle. The results were amazing. The din from the generators subsided to a low level, and R4 signals could be heard on 40 metres. On 20, results were even better. No wonder that in recent years radio journals have popularised the transposed feeder doublet as an aid to overcoming radio-inductive QRM.

The transmitter for VK6NK consisted of a T.P.T.G. oscillator using a Philips MB1/50, power being taken from a rotary converter running from the works 230 volts D.C. supply. When not engaged in working with VIX and the other stations, VK6NK practically lived on the air on 20 and 40 metres, using a 40 metre "Zepp" with series and parallel tuned 50-foot feeders.

Reception conditions were peculiar at this location, for right behind Wyndham Meatworks is the vast hill known as the Bastion. On lower frequencies, this huge mass of ironstone effectively blocks off all signals from the south in a direct line. So complete is the cut-off that ships approaching Wyndham are able to hear southern broadcasters quite well until within 200 yards of the jetty, when signals completely disappear.

One refrigeration engineer, owner of a very fine American all-wave receiver which he used for entertainment in his cabin, came to me in perplexity to find out what was wrong with the receiver. All he could hear when tied up at the jetty were Japs, Chinese, and the Philippinos. Short waves, however, are no respecters of hills, and have a habit of leaping them, and so 20 metres proved the stepping stone to Sydney for amateur contacts from VK6NK.

Toward the end of April that year I was informed by VK2RX on 20 metres that a Ryan monoplane, "City of Sydney," was leaving Mascot aerodrome on a flight to England via Wyndham, and that she carried radio. Would I look out for signals? A request like that gives added interest to radio, and so the receiver went into action with long periods of searching for VMZAB, known to be somewhere around 34 metres.

Signals Fade Out. One day, about noon, I picked up a strong carrier wave, varying somewhat. Then it was interrupted to slowly sign "VMZAB," with information to the effect that the 'plane had left Newcastle Waters and was heading for Wyndham. The signal was held strongly for two hours or more, when suddenly it decreased in strength and at the same time crept along the dial slowly. Eventually it faded completely out. What had happened?

Some intuition warned me that the 'plane had made a landing, and that the weakening of the signal, plus the variation of frequency, was due to the increasing proximity of the earth as she came down. An hour elapsed, and then came the weak but certain "SOS de VMZAB" repeated several times. The signal was obviously in the "skip" area for reception at my location, but fortunately, at this lunch time period for the works, much of the machinery closed down for an hour or so.

Eventually the text following the SOS calls was deciphered, and was to the effect that "we have been forced down with a broken camshaft. Believe somewhere near Rosewood. Not far from a river."

That was enough for action. Hurriedly putting VK6NK on the air on 20, an "SOS Sydney" call was sent out and was immediately answered by VK2NS in Bathurst. Details were passed on and Evans telephoned Mascot aerodrome. At this stage it became necessary to keep in touch both with the signals from VMZAB and the 20-metre band, so two receivers were used, with one headphone from each, and connected to separate aerials.

Meanwhile, the attention of VK2JP in Sydney had been attracted, and a lengthy period of emergency traffic commenced. The works officials were notified, and local police and bushmen studied maps in an endeavour to place the possible location of the 'plane.

Photo of 2NO and station, Wyndham 1930
The author in the radio room at Wyndham, North-West Australia, in 1930.

Another Photo of 2NO and station, Wyndham 1930
Another view of the author and his radio shack at Wyndham.