Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), Thursday 26 January 1928, page 6


FIRE ALARMS BY RADIO.

EMERGENCY EQUIPMENT. Portable Sets in Readiness.

Though it plays no part in the fire-fighting operations, radio has been used by the fire brigade as a means of communicating with the suburban stations in an emer-gency. Under a plan which has been evolved by officials and electricians of the brigade at Eastern Hill headquarters, the isolation of an} station oiling to a break donn in the Usual means of communication can be o\ croome in a fe« minutes

Since a broadcasting licence n is c,i anted to the bugadc some time ago the electrical department lias carried out c\peiiincnts «?til tno lo« potter I ceci ung and trans nutting sets st h eli «ere coustiuctcd in the brigade «-oikshops \m breakdown m the telephone sistcm the chicl olliccr (llr J 1 Wilkins) esplamed is a calamit) to us «hen it isolates one or more of our outer! stotiona Jiciul* eommuuiea tion with our souiccs of supph of li remen and equipment is essential Its importance cannot be oser estimated, especial!} «hen it is remembered th it the loss of a few minutes in getting equipment to a Ino rats be attended «ltii disastrous lesults As part of our plan for establishing commuin cation bl ladio «e hate constiutted i number of portable «ncloss sets both for transmitting and for icceiwnL, When a subutban station is isolated on rat, to a bicakdonn in the telephone cables for in stance «e immediate!} scud one of these sets by car to the station affected The sets are being constant!} tested so that the} are in order «hen needed Ne ba\e tried the si stem thoroughl} and find that it «orks well We found it impracticable to keep sets at all the suburban stations as they noulri probabl} deteriorate owing to lack of use and faults might deielop that «otild uot be noticed until the set «as needed To safcguaid against this we re tam all the portable sets at the head stn tion «here our electrical statî can keep them in ordci

To maintain the plant nt Kästeln Hill in working order, progi amines are broadcast fioni thnt station every Sunday afternoon and evening, and letters nie frequently re-ceived fi omi amateurs who have heartl the piogiamnics a« far nwjy ns Queensland and South Australia. Commenting oil the sug-i gestion that some section ol the brigade equipment might be fitted with wireless to give the ollicers at a fire a quick means of communication with head station. .Mr. Wil-kins said that this was not needed. "Apart fiom other means which mny be available at the scene of n file." he added,'"it is always possible to telephone headquarters from the nearest fue alarm." On the other hand, if the head station wishes to communlcnte with the ofliecis at a fire, it ia possible to ring through to the file alarm box itself." '