East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1906-03-07
LARGEST STATION
FOR WIRELESS
PACIFIC OCEAN
SPAWNED BY CURRENTS.
Highest Tower Ever Built for Wire
less Telegraphy Now Being Installed
on Mt. Tamalpais, Near San Fran
cisco-Two Towers 800 Feet In
Height-Capacity VIII Be 100000
Volts.

The Scientific American gives the
following highly entertaining account
of the largest wireless telegraph sta
tion In the world which is now being
built on the summit of Mt. Tamalpais
15 miles from San Francisco:
About the time this reaches our
readers service will be inaugurated
between the Pacific coast and Homo
lulu by means of the largest wireless
telegraph station ever built. The
work has been done by a local COM
pany, which already has connected
some Is coast points by wireless sys-
TEN.
This new station is built on the top
of Mt. Tamalpais. 1900 feet above the
sea, and 15 miles from San Francisco.
The station includes two towers, each
800 feet high, triangular structures
tapering from 20 feet at the base to
feet at the top. The towers are of
Oregon pine and oak. resting on a
cement base and guyed with steel ca
bles. Six hundred tons of rock were
blasted away to make the platform.
The towers were first built at sea
level, then taken down and shipped
by rail to the summit and set up again.
Three thousand pounds of copper wire
are stretched between the towers. The
largest induction coil ever built is in
stalled in the station.
Two thousand miles of No. 80 silk
insulated copper wire, wound on a
core 16 feet long, was used, the COM
ulatad coil waipbinu four tone nrn-
ducing a spark Is feet long and as
large as a mans arm. Its capacity is
expected to be 100000 voles. More
than a ton of specially prepared bees
wax paper was used in insulating.
The station is expected to be able
to pick up vessels on the Pacific with
in a range od $500 miles, and as soon
as similar stations are completed at
Honolulu, Philippine islands and the
coast OF China, the Pacific ocean gap
will be filled While private enter
prise is busy the government has not
been idle.
Very recently the United States gov
ernment has authorized the erection
of lofty wireless telegraph towers at
several important points on the Pa
cifkc coast-notably at Mare island
navy yard, at the naval training school
on Goat island at Benecia barracks.
California, and at Bremerton naval
station, Washington. The new wire
less system is to be very generally
used in the future by the war depart
ment
Pacific coast army officers are
greatly interested In the announce
ment of General Greeley, chief U. S.
signal officer, that, as a result of ex-
haustive experiments, receivers have
been perfected that will enable the
army to intercept and read the mes
sages sent by any system of wireless
telegraphy now in use. With the re-
ceivers in question the United States
signal corps claims to have placed Its
code OF secret accommodation
ahead OF that OF the naval system.
The invention is absolutely secret, and
is to remain so.
At the present time the United
States navy uses three systems of
wireless telegraphy, viz: the Fessen-
den. the Arco-Slaby and the De For
rest. With the new invention of the
army signal corps, the messages sent
by any of the warships can be inter-
cepted and used. 1t Is understood that