HC Deb 24 May 1928 vol 217 cc2090-1W
Sir N. GRATTAN-DOYLE

asked the Postmaster-General what is the nature of the transmission from the long-distance wireless station at Rugby; for how many hours out of the 24 is the station transmitting; and what is the normal average speed of transmission in words per minute?

Sir W. MITCHELL-THOMSON

The Rugby telegraph transmitter is employed for about eight hours spread over the whole day, the telephone transmitter is employed for 14½ hours a day from 11.30 a.m. to 2 a.m. The telegraph transmissions cover:

  1. (i) British Official News Bulletins three times a day.
  2. (ii) Wireless Press Copyright News messages twice daily.
  3. (iii) Telegrams to ships at sea at scheduled times daily.
  4. (iv) Greenwich Observatory British official time signals twice daily.

The speed of transmission is limited to the rate at which reception.is possible and is about 20 words a minute. The station is capable of transmitting at a rate of over 80 words a minute. The telephone transmitter carries speech from Great Britain and from several countries on the Continent of Europe to the United States of America, Canada and Cuba.