RADIOS

        Radios have played a major role in world history. When I was a lad they were rare.

   We had one of the first long-range radio sets in Hawkes Bay.

        Uncle Len Beasley was building sets with another man in a garage in Wellington. They started a company called AWA.

        The set he built for our family was very large and was powered with a car battery. It contained a number of glass valves.

        In the early days serial programmes were imported from overseas. My favourite programme was call ‘Khyber!’, a 1935 Australian radio serial set in the north west frontier of India.  Based roughly on the adventures of Edmund Barclays father.

        It was reported the most successful serials ever broadcasted in Australia, or in any part of the world.

        I am not sure what the introductory music was but whenever I hear it I always call out ‘Khyerr!’

        Other series I were permitted to listen to – if I had finished my school homework were,  ‘The Japanese Houseboy’, and ‘Dad and Dave from Snakes Gully’ – all Australian productions.

BUILD YOUR OWN

        Most young lads in my days purchased parts and tried to build a crystal set. Parts were cheap. Some succeeded many failed. At least it taught them how to join wires together using a soldering iron.

        Unless you had a long aerial you had little range with a crystal set. The main advantage of  crystal set was  no power was needed – you didn’t need a battery.

SHARING INFORMATION

        Both radio and television are powerful tools for informing and persuading people. Radio is ideally suited for urgent messages and breaking news while television being a visual medium is used more for entertainment.  

        Radio is often the best medium for getting to a wide audience quickly. It has a sense of immediacy, its strength lies in its intimacy.

        A radio broadcast should be a one-to-one conversation. When you are talking on radio visualise a friend and pretend you are chatting to them.

Geoffrey Moss (mossassociates.co.nz)

“There are no strangers in today’s world of telecommunications.”