DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS FOR 1931 



139 



personnel to the districts, thus placing radio operators on practically the same 

 footing as other members of the fire-ranging staffs. The present arrangement 

 still holds the Head Office section solely responsible for the development, design, 

 purchase and general maintenance of departmental radio equipment and also 

 for approval of district appointees' technical qualifications. 



The original radio sets, specially designed for tower use, were produced 

 for hand starting. With equipment on the ground and a reasonably close 

 schedule, anything like thorough observation from the tower cabin proved to 

 be almost a physical impossibility. During the season therefore, a trial set using 

 an electric starting motor and storage battery was assembled and given a series 

 of short tests. Unfortunately the only assembly immediately available for 

 test, would not stand up under continuous operation. Equipment of this kind 

 is almost essential at certain tower sites and if constructed with suitably designed 

 units will give entire satisfaction. 



The need of communication at inaccessible fire-fighting operations of any 

 size is well established. Present equipment designed for this purpose and used 

 last season at the Garden Lake fire was again given a chance to demonstrate its 

 usefulness during the present year on a fire-fighting operation in the Sault 

 District. The chief problem for use of this type of apparatus is one of personnel. 

 It can be met in a variety of ways by various district organizations. 



The Branch aircraft transmitter was redesigned and completely recon- 

 structed during February and March of the current season. Unfortunately, 

 winter flying from the Sault was not available so that installation in the machine 

 had to be postponed until summer flying. As flying was at a premium in the 

 Sault district during the past season, there was no opportunity of testing the 

 equipment until late summer. 



During the autumn, however, successful installation was completed and a 

 successful series of tests covering the patrol area of the Sault Inspectorate 

 carried out. This equipment is now ready for installation in any bonded De 

 Havilland Moth. The total weight of the transmitter is 36 pounds. 



A tabular statement of radio traffic and a comparison with previous seasons 

 is shown below: 



Traffic Records Summarized 



(Number of Words) 



Totals for Districts, 1931 

 District Total, 1931 



Hudson 452,612 



Kenora 44,944 



Western 50,336 



Cochrane 24,354 



Sault Ste. Marie 29,170 



North Bay 60,990 



Total 662,406 



Comparison with Previous Years 



Year Total Traffic 



1927 58,239 



1928" 233,855 



1929" 545,983 



i93o: ::::::::;;;;;;;;: 500,134 



1931 662,406 



Total 2,000,667 



