"To the Editor of the "Nonri-Cuta Day News"
SmI have noticed various comments on the relative merits of the, German and British short-wave broadcasts in the columns of your paper. What has impressed" me. mostly about these is that while most of the statements were true, they nevertheless indicated avery, slight knowledge of the whole broad~ casting situation. The writer knows nothing about the technical side of radio, but having become the unofl~ dal news-gatherer of the isolated West Chind group of foreigners, it has been his self-appointed task to listen in every night of the year to French, British and German news broadcasts. Consequently we are at last familiar with what results can bbe obtained all year round from the various transmissions and have hundreds of pages of closely typewrllten "manuscript to show—the actual fruits of such labour. Here are certain conclusions derived from burning much midnight all, There is an old saying, that "Every dog has his day." This is strangely true in radio, The BBC, broadcasts fare' not. primarily intended for China. The wave lengths are chosen and timed for other areas. Consequently they are nearly always their best at the most unholy hours. For many months of the year, the writer has had to walt up til id= night (1am, Shanghai) to get Daventry with clarity. "I have found that in summer the strongest trans mission is from Radio Coloniale on the 19-metre band, In winter time from Zeesen on the Si-metre band But in summer time you don't get much out of Zeesen (Germany) and in winter time you don't get much out of Paris. And if you average country against country for the whole year round, you will get more out of Daventry than from either of Ite competitors, "I have always been able to get news transmission from Daventry provided I were willing to stay up to some incon venient hour, But there have been many times when I could get neither a French of a German transmission in the night, They were off season! But T could still got Daventry it T pald the price! At the present time, can eta news broadcast from Daventry at 445 pin. local time (645 pin. Shanghal)'on GSE 25 tres, With me this news broadcast ig badly marred by a wireless (prob: ably Chinese military), but i may not affect you. At 845 pin. T get another news transmission on GSB metres. At 1130 pin. T ca again get the news broadcast on GSB and GSA 3} and 50 metres, respec tively. T can't get it that often on the French or the Germans—in fact, the last week or two the French news broadcast has not come through though in summer time it wipes up al competitors, Just now the German broadcast is coming through with power, But I can well imagine that May, June and July German Usteners were writing indignant letters to their national short wave sta. lon and asking them why they did not put up as good, a service as Daventry or Paris. "Every dog has his day." 1 would, therefore, advise that our eritlelsm of the BBC. be directed towards securing suitable wave length for suitable hours for people in the Far East and that they be urged to remember that a great many British listeners live outside of the Empire, Study the times and seasons, bum a little more midnight all, and you will usually get Daventry at some time all the year round, which is more than you can say for any of the others. Tt would take too long and be uninteresting to your average reader, or we would into the matter of the various Daventry transmissions and mention the time of year that each one can be best heard. The writer has written some indignant letters to the BBC, but all with the same general tenor-unsuitable hours and unsuitable wavelengths for China, Chengtu, West China, Nov. 14.
*e+Sinieus ts correct as regards unsuitable hours and. unsuitable lengths, but it is seldom that ood reception of Daventry occur
or radio dealer "may say. Zeesen Shanghatsdexpite what the enusiast DIA '(G1 metres) on the other hand is often practically "perfect, while last Winter" DIB (19 "metres) could Reard quite nicely in the afternoons. 138 to 3 pin. Shanghai time (Sinicus folia to mention (his. larier). Ger many, however, transmits on a direc Monat aerial tg the Far East, while Daventry is ubtortunately only con cerned with directional aerials to. the Empire." Recently the "North-China Dally" Nows" published a story from a home paper in which i} was stated That -attempls "are, to de. made. to' improve. transmissions for "the benefit of Hongkong and Shanghai: "in what direction the attempts are' fo" be made was not tated. Sinicus te several hundred files nearer "Europe than Shanghai
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.