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-Ar
Position of Goulburn
THAT RELAY STATION
:Mr. W. Young gave an informa
tive address before 'the Rotary
,Club on the subject of rad'o. He
briefly touched on many aspects
of this modern science.
"A peculiar . phen'omenon -'noiced
whell short waves are. used," tii.d the
neakrer .."is that 'at certain tines' of
the .23thour..day they goa: round the
world i:In ait east-west 'direction `'and'
'it other ltines .in tlehe iopposi te:diie'e-.
it; w?s 'foutid t'te, tlherays?'1 of thue
s'L: :liii.e :- definite infiuenee;~ ahid
ei:irlesi.:waves. prefe ..tlie rote iv'ithi
:the giette?st 'tiaot, of dailkiess Long
ago ?iiHeavisid'e" discovered. that' itlhei
sun acted on tile:,ulppei layersi of' tlie
ether sibout 100 miles fiirom thie earth's
surfade p .ioducng:l u. ' effect c.lled
ionis'ation; w htch cause'd:thee ;radio
waves to be aOisorled: Tlus=:hi.day
lighit they did :.iliot get' very .far-:l
Acctually ionised mir is a ,conductors of
e? etricity, ?vhilst 'ordinai' hy iisi' fa.
insulatoir: At nigt, iotnisoa'tioii lhaviig
ceased, .this ' uppei 'layei becomes an'
iisinlator :and ,the naves are iefleil(ed
bak, to:earth .at dififerent a-igles,' aiid
sogo .'bouncinig up and down as ?thiey
move along.-'.::
"It. is .tor this :reson:n thatli . adi
signals 'trailvel so ':'ud? fuithe ?:by
IRREGULAR .AND .MOVING?
"This :uppe rlayer; tile-.:: Heliviside
layer, "is :not :even :1orhstvtioriai y;;, coin
sequentlyv :lthe arigles.s of retlection
vmaly ..: This ,.fact; 'comnbii'ed' witli ahi
othier. phenomiiienon noticeablea'b p;ar
ticulaily.i ) ,li ?ie?'broadcast .:band orsi
mediumn,:wave biand;romi 20'0 1t'?i600
meties, pi o.duces -hother .effects?: In
this banid 'two waves arie rIadiated, the
earth wave .dii tihe ethei ,wave.'; Ini
day:ight .thei ether wave is absorbed
by bthe' Heavisile :layei? aiid' onlly tihe
easrth wave, whichs follows the' curva
ture of tulie eartl .is received. '"This
wave rapidly attenuates; ori in-i other:
words, loses r` ower owing 'to bsorp':
tion.: by the earth, ltrees' -:mountrains:
,linerals, etc.. Thus ,on the b0roadcast
wave band daylight. range is :limited.'
But" at. night 'the.. etliei. wave "comes
into play anid;., unfortunatelsy, owing
to 'the unevenness?of the .Heaviside
layer, it is reflected :b.ack? at :varying
angles and:: thus gets o'ut of '"phase
with the '-earth aave.'W:Vheinthis hap.
pens, phase. :neutralisaition docurs,
awhich is',the"cause of .fading and dis
tortion.: It, also happen:s 'thsat this 'dis
turbance 'betweeni the two waves ,oc
curs most .violent'y: and frequentitly a:t
distances' of from 75 to 175 miles from
a broadcasting station. :'.'".:
LONG -WAVE'
"Thus we ..came to ':the long ve,
1000 metres anid. higliher,aot in? tse .in
Australia.' The long -wave is purely.
an eartlibound-. wave' and h:does not" a;t
tenuate so. rapidly, tchus 'haviii? g : uch
longer range.- Not 'being aoiiied?'w-ithl
a varying refleldted ,ether wave,': theare
is no'neutralisiig 'and' thus' no fading
or distortion' 'eithei: day :i "nigliht ;:
"Australia .is the only, .greait:
country not :'using long w:-!aves,
and Australia' is the very: country,
where- long waves .should' be,:
tutilised.
"But. I amý,i:faid vestedi interests
l;ave dmu.chi ,to u do :th it.
e'Anotlielr 'sadi featured, about 'jdio?
in Australia. is'; 'that' our national
transmitters' aie 'far too" low? poweiesed
and years behirid' in :'construction.
"Mode. n. transniitters, with' a 'po weri
of it least s150 k: avatt, and ''ielay
stations aof 50 :-k.w. 'ae absolutely es
sential 'to provide 'afirst-class seri:
vice. At present 'it our ,pigmy `old
fashioned ,machiines, only . 'the- capital
cities receive such service.: We also
want one- Ihighb-power, 'long i\wave
stition in each. State but as long' us
'the 'technical side- is5 in the. hand.s of
the C?vernment saidtlie. prog.ramme
-""vice renlainss in the' lhands .of'. a
.c'.r ssion,' so -lbong sliallF?'we have: to
suffer. :The ivho;e of tile services
should .:be lhanded-ov.er to 'the d'om
mis,.ion: and`sfreed .fiomn red tape' and)
paoliical secntirol ,i iOih the 'samne liies
as 'the:: B:B.C;: 'iThen, "indl' .then only
Swill weliave'.ean efficien.t.service:'Not
thait 'the: rtechnicials 'employed :by tihe
Governifeirt t. do not ksilow. their "jobl
but if f:t.hevlisave, nlot. the materi l. to
work'. willi 'Jthey :h ncn only :i make.: the
hes:t of ,tlia't available, and that thliey:
T' day? tiioiisands of pounids' fom!
yours license,:.fees, which slhould :be.
spent on new transmitters, ihave been'
diverted :to eonsolidated. revenu'e;, nd:
you, knoia :wha'th thatn means..
"Anothei' -point wtihich :requires' :lok-i
ing into .is tihe licensing.:of :asdiio'
dealers aind par'ticularluy, mechanics.:
Radio is "- scientiflc 'profession;: yet
any one can sell rsadid receiveirs anil
employ :so-called :nechanics Wvli.o hlave
no kinowledge of',.radio' tleosiy or, pric
tice,' and could;- iot evenm give you tlie
simp'est equation 'of Ohim's Law. B :
"Thile ..:autlioritieis'equire an elec
triciali to pass:. his' :exoamina . ti'ans 'of
knovledge' a iplumberi'mist liinb.w his
job' a~d: obtaih:liisli'cence"of ?froficil,
ency; : litkeilse':'the "' chemitst,: :the.
doetior:and .thelaswyer. Radio science
ran is iibot :iess: as' a piofessioinfl';call
ing.;: Tii;e .'oner', legislati6n; is' passed
to 'clea ia·mavy .'all "thi pseudo.,adio
englinee'rs,- tlie' sooneir ' ma~ y of 'the
radio troubles vil,.be cleared ius.? I
could instance .many cases:, where
three so-called mechani.cs ihave done
damage to receivers w?sehic cost' the
owners considerable sums.
RELAY STATION
"I stress the necessoty for a relay
sttaitoi ina 'this distriot. Goulburn.
geoglaphically, is situated in' a most
unfavourable position, being right in
the distortion urea with 'respect to
Sydney stations. 2FC and 2BL are
prastically impossible after dusck.
Interstate stations are not So badly
distorted, 'but, ow'ing to their distance
and their pigmy power, ,reception is
su:bjeot .to 'bad fading, some of the
tiansmissicons fa'ding right 'out for
considerable periods. Listeners in
this district, which is, taking the
many towns su'rrounding us, fairly
denset'y ropulasted, lhave a 'right to de
manl 100 per cent service from the
nationial stations. They pay the 'full
license fee, just 'thie same as the city
dtwellers, who get 'tint 100 per cent
service. A national relay station
would mean that you could 'receive a
nIational programme free from fading
and atirrsphe:'ics. The request is a
reascnable one, and if piresenied with
'hle full force of all listeners in say,
Gou"lburn, Croolkwell, Queanbeyanl
Canbe's-a and othri'r 'towns witilinl a
iadius 'of say 60 miles, the authorities
would require to take .cognisance. A
vigorous press campaign.and demands
to the Federal mnember 'would assist
the scheme.
"Coupled with this request we
should also press for control of the
w:hole of .services, technical and pro
lan'rimes, by the A.B.C., who should
have the right to place stations where
they desire, without reference to the
P;M.. .'q Departrrent. All the P.M.G.
should have 'to do is to control wave
!eng'hs and see ,that stations do not
wander from their allotted freoauencies.
"The newly fo"med Listeners'
League is very active, and already
motors representing some 60 horse
power have been filtered. As soon as
this work has been completed the
question of a relay station will be at
tacked."
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