Radio Van Prints "Stop Press" News
Page 47
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FITTED with a V.H.F. radio transmitter receiver manufactured by the General Electric Co., Ltd., Kingsway, London, W.C.2, a trailer caravan has recently been put into service b y the Wolverhampton "Express and Star" as a triple-purpose branch office on wheels.
Apart from the radio installation, the caravan is equipped with a Bush stencilling machine, so that sports results can be stencilled into the stoppress column of pre-printed newspapers, and a fully equipped dark room is provided at the rear of the vehicle. By means of the transmitter-receiver, news can be received from or transmitted to the head office and the news editor can be advised as to what photographs will be available from the function or event which the vehicle is attending, On such occasions it is often a general inquiry office for any matter which might be referred to the paper by the public. The outfit has proved to have substantial prestige value.
The radio equipment is interesting in that it can also be used as a publicaddress system, and announcements can
be made without the use of a special amplifier. Frequency modulation is used for the set, and interference is said to be almost non-existent.
No technical knowledge is required to operate the set, for the hand set is simply picked up and used as an ordinary telephone. The control box contains a small loudspeaker, so that the station can be called when the hand set is hanging up. Its nominal range is 15 miles, but when used on high ground this distance can be greatly exceeded. Power is drawn from batteries carried in the caravan, and they can be charged from the dynamo of the towing vehicle.