1. 90 years ago on July 23, 1927, the Bombay Presidency Radio Club started broadcasting over Indian airwaves. This was the start of radio in India. It was later taken over by the government, which led to the eventual formation of All India Radio. What is the service known, since 1956, as which literally describes what it is in Sanskrit?
2. The oldest radio station in Asia started in 1923, just three years after the BBC started broadcasting. The service had excellent reception in India and at one time they even employed future Bollywood star Sunil Dutt as an announcer. Known for capturing the golden age of Hindi film music, what was the name of this service, which changed its name in 1972 because of political reasons?
3. The origin of the term ‘broadcast’ is in dispute. It was either coined by a station manager Frank Conrad or by RCA historian George Clark, around 1920 to distinguish this new activity of ‘one-to-many’ communication; a single radio station transmitting to multiple listeners. But before the invention of the Radio the verb ‘to broadcast’ had already been in use since 1800s. From which field did we get the term ‘to broadcast’ from?
4. There are various theories as to why this particular term is used in Radio terminology but none backed by solid proof. One theory is that inexperienced radio enthusiasts who had used vehicle ignition coils would use it hard with a ___ fist. Another theory is that these new operators were allowed only certain frequencies which were sandwiched in between official frequencies. One theory states it is a reference to the three physicists whose work led to the invention of the radio—Heinrich Hertz, Edwin Armstrong and Guglielmo Marconi. What term is this and who does it apply to?
5. FM is Frequency Modulation and AM is Amplitude Modulation which are both forms of transmitting information via a radio carrier wave. Much before either form, information was transmitted using Morse Code over a form called ‘CW’. CW has constant amplitude and frequency (no modulation). Information is carried in the varying duration of the on and off periods of the signal. What does CW stand for?
6. On June 30, 1948, the transistor was successfully demonstrated, allowing radios to become compact, with the smallest ones able to fit in a shirt pocket. The research company that demonstrated it, The Volta Laboratory, had been started by a Scottish innovator using money from one of his inventions. Today owned by Nokia, the company came to be known by the innovators family name. Who started the company and what invention financed its start up?
7. The rod antenna is almost universally used in portable transistor broadcast receivers. An antenna consists of small-diameter insulated copper wire wound around a core of a particular electromagnetic material. The antenna operates using the high permeability of the material and in its basic form this may be thought of as ‘concentrating’ the magnetic component of the radio waves. What electromagnetic allotrope of iron is this material?
8. Radio waves naturally travel in straight lines. Because of the curvature of the earth, no ground-based radio station transmits farther than 30 or 40 miles. AM bands though, are broadcast straight up and travel hundreds of miles at night. This is because of the difference the sun makes to a particular layer in our atmosphere. This layer reflects certain frequencies of radio waves and at night this reflection increases many fold which leads to clearer signals. Which layer is this, found 50 km straight up?
9. Following the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 the ‘Act to regulate Radio Communication’ came into effect, banning all amateurs from broadcasting without licensing and having official call signs. Radio Mercur was a Danish offshore commercial radio station which broadcast from 1958 to 1962. Radio Mercur used the fact that radio transmitting in international waters was only regulated by international agreements; these didn’t take into account the possibility to transmit regularly from an anchored ship. What term was coined by Danish Press to refer to this situation?
10. This pop icon was born ‘Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta’. She now goes by a name that has become synonymous with her contemporary unconventional pop performances. She got that name, thanks to her then boyfriend who pointed out that her voice and style reminded him of an iconic song by the British band, Queen, which was a commentary on television overtaking radio’s popularity. Give the artist and the song by Queen.
Answers
1. Aakashvani—‘Voice from the sky’
2. Radio Ceylon—Now Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation
3. Agriculture—in reference to the spreading of seed in the field
4. HAM—For amateur radio users
5. Continuous Wave
6. Alexander Graham Bell—Bell Labs—The telephone
7. Ferrite
8. Ionosphere
9. Pirate Radio
10. Lady Gaga—Radio Gaga ( All we hear is …. *clap clap*)
A molecular biologist from Madurai, our quizmaster enjoys trivia and music, and is working on a rock ballad called ‘Coffee is a Drink, Kaapi is an Emotion’. @bertyashley
