The Washington herald., 1912-07-21
GREAT WIRELESS TOWERS AT ARLINGTON
ARE RAPIDLY NEARING COMPLETION
United States viii Be In Talking
Distance Of the Entire WorId
Within Month Other
Stations Planned.
BY r.. w. BENTON.


Within a month the worlds largest
and most powerful wireless station. To-
Gated across the Potomac on the heights
of Arlington, will be in operation Time
and space viii be annihilated with the
completion OF the big station. and the
Navy Department in this city win be
in constant communication with stations
inside of radius of 900 miles.
The range of the Arlington station win
cover the entire Atlantic coast Of North
America. Daily communication will be
established with the large station at Co
lon, Panama Intercommunication VIII
be held with ships Loo miles at sea, and
II viii be possible to transmit messages
TO vessels between 1000 and 5000 miles
distant
= Signals from the Marconi trans-Atlan-
tic stations at Clifden. Ireland. and
Glace Bay Newfoundland. will be
=. caught. and 1t is thought probable that
under good atmospheric conditions COM
munication will be established with the
stations at Berlin and Paris. Tests In
overland wireless telegraphy will In all
probability be conducted with the Army
Signal Corps station at Fort Leaven-
worth. Kans BY means OF relay the Ar
lngton station will have world range.
There will be no station on the entire
globe which will not be within talking
distance OF the Navy Department this
autumn.
Two Towers Completed.
From almost any spot in the National
Capital the gigantic steel towers at Ar
lngton can be seen in the distance high
above all surrounding objects. There are
three of them. Two are now completed,
and the third is rapidly being erected.
The highest will outriyal the Washington
Monument. being 500 feet in height. The
other two will be $50 feet high. The base
of the tallest of the structures is $50 feet
square, and the other two have 1e0-foot
bases
The towers and the three buildings
which are being erected in connection
with the station will be completed by the
middle OF August. The instruments Will
then be installed Immediately, and be-
fore the end of the month the station
will be in operation. A single wire has
already been stretched to the top of one
of the towers, and preliminary tests are
under way. Excellent results have been
obtained with this temporary arrange
ment
The towers and station buildings were
designed by Lieut.. Carl Alexius Carlson.
of the Bureau OF Yards and Docks. The
entire station is being erected at cost
of about 100000 Rear Admiral Hutch
l. Cone Chief of the Bureau Of Steam
Engineering of the Navy Department,
Commander Robinson, who has charge
of the wireless work of the Navy De-
partment. has direct supervision of the
construction. The buildings at the sta
tion are being erected by Arthur Cow
sill of this city. They will cost about
$4,000. The steel towers are being con-
structed by the Baltimore branch of the
Carnegie Steel Company. The govern
ment is saving In the neighborhood OF
$4,000 by having engineers of the Navy
Department design the station
Location Is Ideal.
The location of the Arlington station is
ideal II is on the summit of a high
hill about a mile south Of the drill field
at Fort Myer. The station will consist
of three tapestry brick buildings, which
are the ne plus ultra of architectural de-
sign One of the buildings will be occu-
pied by the officer in charge OF the sta
tion. The second structure is known as
the receiving building. In 1t will be
the apparatus for the reception OF mes
sages The instruments will be located
in soundproof room with walls one and
one-half feet in thickness. The room VIII
be artificially ventilated.
The building will also contain an office |
for the officer in charge of the station, |
an office for the operators. a dining |
room kitchen, living-room for the per-
sonnel of the station, and a room for ex-
Derlnental purposes OpSldHs VIII
be dormitories and a large reading room /
The third structure Is known as the
transmission building. 1t will contain an
engine-room, machine shop, laboratory
and a radio museum In the high-ceiled
engine-room a 200-horsepower motor,
belted tc 1oo-kilowatt generator. will be
installed. A 15-kilowatt oil-driven gen.
orator set will also be used for charging
storage batteries and conducting expert
mental work.
Twenty Men at Station.
About twenty men will be kept at the
station. There will be six or eight oper-
ators, chief electrician. a number of
a assistants, and few wireless students.
The station will IN a manner be a train
ing school for wireless operators of the
navy.
8 What is known as the inclined fat top
antenna will be used at the station. The
ground connection will be made by bury
ing copper wire and common chicken net
: ting over a considerable area If be-
cause OF the dryness of the ground,
good connection cannot be obtained In
this manner. a counterpoise will be con-
structed This consists of a number Of
wires stretched parallel to the ground
and close to it. but well insulated from
the towers The waves surge between
the antenna and the counterpoise, and
are thus projected into space.
Although the theory OF wireless teleg-
raphy deals with the most advanced
problems OF electricity, and in Its last
analysis is extremely complex. the fun
damental principles can be reasonably
well comprehended by the lay mind.
Some understanding of the theory Is
necessary for one to appreciate fully a
description of the Arlington station.
Wireless signals are transmitted by
means of electric waves set up in the
ether which surrounds US by electric
oscillations established in elevated wires, |
technically known as the aerial or an,
tenna. These waves travel in all direc-
tons at the velocity Of light, 1Ss.ooo miles
a second. and on arriving at similar
aerial at a receiving station. strike it
and set up electric oscillations. affecting
a wave detector, which in turn produces
signal In sensitive telephone receiver. /
Many Instruments Used.
The electric oscillations are produced
By what Is known as a step-up transform
er, operated by motor-generator set.
A helix of wire with changeable contacts
is connected with the instruments to I
vary the length Of the electromagnetic !
waves radiated from the antenna. Ii
variety Of Instruments may be used ,
TO detect the feeble waves which strike I
the aerial The most sensitive Is the 4
electrolytic detector. but It gets out of !,
al ofly and ,>atfses L.