MISUNDERSTANDING AND COMPLAINT from 1926

MISUNDERSTANDING AND COMPLAINT.

From the Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 203, 27 August 1926, Page 12.

A correspondent, “D.X.” writes as follows: “If people are to be interested in radio, then the local station will have to be sharpened up a bit, so that it can be cut out at will, instead of coming in all over the dials, as is now the case. It is done in other countries, so why cannot New Zealand do it with the radio expert who supervised the installing of the apparatus, which is supposed to be the last word in transmitting gear? Had we not had Australia to fall back on during our very long wait for the big New Zealand stations to start, there would not be so many sets in operation here to-day; and now that we have one of these stations in operation, why allow it to cut out those Aussie stations which have helped us so in the past? In the first place, it is hardly a compliment to Australia; and in the second place, if Australia can be tuned in while our local station is operating, it will be a further inducement for people to buy sets, and will thus be to the benefit of New Zealand broadcasting.”

I think “D.X.” is labouring under some misapprehension regarding the broadness of tuning in the local station. It is confidently asserted that the tuning of 1YA is quite sharp. Experience elsewhere has shown it to be necessary that the coils of a receiving set should be adequately shielded if distant reception is desired by a listener living in close proximity to a high-powered station. It would be interesting to hear of the results that have been achieved by shielding from others who have adopted this device.