Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-10-13
Wonderful Results Accomplished in
Wireless Telegraphy.
%
RADICAL CHANGES IN METHOD
Recent Improvements Do Away
With the Lofty Masts.
GREAT PRACTICAL VALUE


Probably the most important step in the
| advance of wireless telegraphy toward
practical is that which has just been
made by Marconi. Only those who have
| followed the new telegraphy in It's develop
| ment can realize what this latest success
| means to the world. What has been done
In wireless communication previous to this
fall is pretty generally known. The old
| system-for II may be called old. now that
| an entirely new one has replaced it-con-
| sisted of elaborate set of instruments
and apparatus, the chief external evidence
OF which was an aerial wire suspended from
tail mast. 1t in the height of the
mast that the virtue of the system was
supposed to exist Marconi discovered
early in his career and yet only a few
years ago, that if he doubled the height of
his mast he could send messages four times
as far. 1t was the so-called law of squares
Tor ether wave effect. For example, he
round that he could telegraph one hun
dred miles If his aerial wires were $50 feet
| nigh at the terminals. 1t was easy to com
| pute the height required for crossing the
Atlantic with ether waves-a wire sus-
pended I5o feet above the transmitting sta
tlon would, according to the calculation.
send a message 1900 nliles-and eXtrava-
| CANT predictions were made, based upon
| the possibility of establishing the invisible
| communication between the Eiffel tower In
Paris and a huge structure in New York
| or " ashington. Some thought that, IL the
| average height of the two aerial wires were
100 feet. messages could be exchanged This
was the theory of number of German and
English scientistS-and thus working plan
! seemed possible between the Eiffel tower
| and the Washington monument. But, alas
| for scientific prediction that is not based
| on experiment! No one tried the proposed
| plan, not even MarcOni. who succeeded in
proving the law of squares In every at
tempt he made, but 1t may have been no.
| ticed that Marconi was not one of those
VINO made the Atlantic crossing prediction.
The New System.
Now all this has been changed. The
| aerial wire and the tall masts are done
| away with, just as static electricity
replaced by chemical electricity and chem
| tcal by electro-ma gnetic. MarConi has al
| ready telegraphed sixty miles with cylin-
| der four feet high instead of mast and
| wire 10 fest high. And we may be
that If Marconi lets the world know that
ne mas telegraphed sixty miles with a four
! foot cylinder he has done more than that,
! for Marconi is a man who never let's the
public catch quite up to him.
AS long ago as last January. MarcOui be-
gan to work on the cylinder plan. The ex-
peFifnents began in his laboratory at Poole
Hdrbor first from room to room with re-
celVers only One-one-thousandth part as
sensitive as the one he used for regular
work between France and England: then
he took his apparatus out of doors and for
several weeks along the beach, he went
through hundreds of experiments with the
utmost patience, gradually annroxImatinp
the proper relation between receiver and
transmitter until perfect messages were
| finally sent cross to the Isle of Wight
| eighteen miles away. He did not tell out
SiderS OF this success, because he felt that
he must first perfect his apparatus and
plans, and demonstrate conclIrsIvelv that
the new system was better than the old
The Changed Method
the cylinders plan is not greatly different
from that OF the aerial wire The trans
hitting instruments are practically the
same, a battery. induction coil, earth wire.
etc, the only change in this part of the ap-
paratus being the Introduction of resist
ance coils where needed and an arrange
ment FOR sending tuned messages (Which
may be explained later. But on the out
side OF the room which contains these moth
ing is TO be seen. The cylinder stands
close at hand, upon a table. 1t may be- in
sulated from any earth connection exceut
through the transmitting instruments when
In action The receiving station presents
the same appearance; indeed, the stations
are all alike, being fitted TO send and re-
ceiVe messages in the same room When a
message is being received, the wire leading
to the cylinder is disconnected from the
tansmitter and attached to the receiver
Ih1S arrangement is used, of course ONLY
when single installation is in operation.
With the apparatus for differentiating be-
tween messages. a number of Installation
may be working together in the same room
or building, and then 1t is possible TO send
and receive just many different SETS of
messages as there are Instruments differ
| ing in capacity. But this is a further step.
and, just now, Marconi is busy with the
perfection of the cylinder plan on one in
stalIation The duplex and rnutiplex svs-
TENS are as sure to come as they have in
the case of ordinary wire and cable svs-
TENS.
Some Scientific Problems
Just how the messages are sent Is more
of puzzle now than ever. Formerly no
one doubted the statement that ether waves
constituted the element of communication
Now this is being questioned Why not
earth currents? suggest some and the in
quiry is not easily answered. The produc-
ton of these high tension impulses might
easily disturb the electric equilibrium of
the earth, 1t would seem, and the very
sensitive receiver in electric harmony 80 TO
speak with the transmitter would record
this disturbance just as it occurs-in long
or short impulses in dots and dashes
as they appear the recording instru-
ment. OF course, II this be true any prom
erly arranged receiver can take the mes
sage, provided it IS within range but the
same fact is evident in the old system.
That difficulty is obvated however. by the
syntomic apparatus. which makes 1t i'm
with the transmitter to receive the
messages sent. One may judge of
the difficulty In finding the right
electric time when one realizes that
these high tension vibrations vary from
millions OF vibrations to trlllions per sec
ond. 1t Is interesting to note that 400 bill
lion vibrations in the ether per second pro-
duce light and some trlllions per second
produce the X ray. To the theory that
this wireless telegraphy Is carried on
through the earth. that is, by disturbing the
earth's electric equilibrium, the objection
arises HAT such disturbance would affect
near atihana wire or cable telegraph sys-
TENS, dynamo power houses and all sorts of
electric operations. Not so, necessarily.
Sound waves and light waves do not con-
fict because their rates of vibration are
different These high tension vibrations of
millionS per second should not disturb vi
bra tons which are lower, are telephone
vibrations. for example, or light vibrations,
which are higher. 1t Is true that any dis
turbance of the earth's electric equilibrium
will to an extent affect electric operations
on theheartfl's surface. but this is not a
large factor and the difficulties prob
ably bes easily overcome.
other Schemes.
But it is not best to be too as TO the
nature OF the operation. Marconi has given