Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1915-07-20
ISABEL STATION
IMPORTANT LINK
IN j. S. RADIO

With the arrival 81 a. &. Cumming
ham. ~riyiienginccr. United states Navy,
10 s%uperintend the construction OF the
Point Isabel wireless station work VIII
au forward Immediately. Mr.. Cunning
ham. who has the rank of a lieutenant
commander. arrived III BroNnvSNIlle
Yesterday. Workmen Of the Midland
Bridge Company II Kansas City. holding
the contract for the foundations ANA INC
steel mast construction. are already Pr
the site Of the big station, ana Viii WI
Gin excavation Immediately.
Concrete piles * inf"rccd with steer
bars will he driven - feet into me
ground. Concrete piles are used AZ
place az wood a> The station Is on y
small hill. and wood piles would PulchlN
dry out and rot. above the level OF the
surrounding ground. ATOP the two doz
en- piles under each tower site a solid
concrete base will be poured over m>h
&C. enforcement. The grolnd on which
hc towers stand j. an alluyial deposit
left IN the river and later %UphclVcd-
Two thrcr- legged steel towers each 5Wi
feet high and standing 600 feet apart
between c,narrs cnWpris- the mast Scl
between thee ma>tS viii he strung thr
aerial. u puriIlrl rg WI ten M twelve
wires. Al the base ~ the maStS VIII
w. placed thc building. housing the opera
tors room and tn power plant. bids Tor
which. ia addition to i permanent bar
racks for the crew are advertised for to
be opened M Washington. August >.
seventy five horse power viii be de
vclopcd 10y the power plant. The send
ing power of the SCI VIII H. 20 kIl0wattS
Ton times the strength pf the new set hc-
ing Installed I'd Fort Brown ~ handle
the nay,'S messages until the Isabel Sta
tion il put into commission. The send
ing wave viii carry from 1900 tu -Ihn
miles. depending nH atmosphere cnrdi
tiuuS. Tunder favorable conditions tho
receiving apparatus which always has
\ longer range. can pick up the send
~ any strong wireless station on this
hemisphere
\ crew of fifteen men, in charge of
two officers with the rank of chief clcc-
trician. will operate the station. which
will run night and day. The Isabel sta
tiun viii be- am Important link between
the Panama canal Stati IA and northern
points in the wireless circuit. including
thc Arlington station. :t Radio. VA.
which sends uIt orders from thc Navy
Department IN the capital. IN viii also
Link eastern stations. including th" ~yc
MI Guantanamo. cuba, #n important na
vHl base with thr WEST coast, where mes
Sigc> can ~ rrlaycd a. Hawaii and thn
Philippines.
Isabel >tatlu i laid ont a. hc a three
tower station. In time the third tower
viii lc nut i'm. and "a triangle uf a%crial>
viii he >trung between the three mast.
This Viii give equal Intensity OF wave
in every direction. Through some law
mot fully understood the strength MI
the wave leaving ~ straight line aerial
IL greatest lrngthvi~c anil MT ~hroal~idr.
aS might hr thought that d. the wave
rrmr~ IN The two ends strongest. III the
Isabel aerial line points north and south
the station can send farther IN hose di
r%cctiouS than toward the east and west.
The line viii l.Iint toward Panama and
Arlington
While the foundation work is being
put in. The Midland Bridge co. will be-
working un the fabrication of the steel
work. and there should bc mo- necessity
IL >top the work until the set j. put into
commission Lieut.. Commander Cunning
ham will remain an the ground during
W." nine months work on the sntfon.
When The time comes M install he ma-
chincrv IN IN likely that Chef EIcr
iririuu n. NJ. Scaniin now lt work in
Fort Brown nn the new Srt there. viii
~ called back te The VALLEY wv put in
the plant. Ills superior officer SAYS That
Scaulin H. one of the Nnvv'~ leading cN-
pcrtS IN such installation and testing
work.
Isabel will be- q link IN e chain 10 effect
photographic communication BETWEEN Ar
.liugtcn. Va. tthe headquarters ~t1ti,nl
Panama. 40 The entrance of che canal:
Great Lakes Illinois. 81 miles north If
Chicago. where the naval training sta
Ia " IL located; Guantanamo. Cuba. nav
al base: san Diego. Cal: Honolulu and