Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1921-06-03
STRANGE FEAT
PERFORMED BY
NEW INVENTION
Written Messages Carried
Without Wire or Cable
1000 Miles.
METHOD CT OPERATION
By FREDERIC J. HAsKIN.


WASHINGTON, D. CA written mes
sage transmitted 1900 miles instantan-
eously without wire or cable is the lat
est feat of wireless telegraphy.
This wireless writing machine, which
will make it possible for a man in the
wilds of Alaska to capture the news of
the world in written form by merely
setting a trap for it. so to speak, and by
which an explorer might locate his posi-
tion on the face of the earth by wireless
within thirty three feet of exact, is the
invention of two Government scientists
working in the Bureau of Standards. An
other Government department, the Coast
and Geodetic Survey expects to save by
the use of it this summer, three times al
much as it cost to perfect the invention
and make two of the machines. The
whole achievement is one more illustra-
ton Of the value Of scientific research by
the Government departments, which gets
such scanty support.
The machine itself, simple looking af-
fair which weighs about twenty 1--WE
pounds, exclusive of the two storage bat
teries and the metal chronograph drum,
is the result Of research work by DR..
E. A. Eckhardt and DR.. J. c. Karcher.
Small In size, light in weight and easy to
operate, it offers a solution TO many OF
the vexing problems now existing In.
radio operation
For example. under the present system
of listening for the dots and dashes with
a telephone receiver, two, three or more
sending stations may, by sending signals
ont simultaneously. mix their messages
In the ether, and lam the air. The
man at the receiving end, listening Tor
one particular message, must adjust his
apparatus to tune" to a wave length as
nearly as possible equal to that Of the
sender whom he wishes to catch. The
other senders seriously interfere and
often cause the receiver to lose or garble
parts Of the message. This new inven-
ton goes a long way TOWARD eliminating
that difficulty.
The machine was designed to meet the
need of an autographs wireless time
recording apparatus to obviate the ex-
pensive strlnging OF wires to places re-
mote from telegraph lines and 10 elimi-
nate the lag due to reception by ear, ana
recording Of signal by hand.
METHOD OF
RECORDING MESSAGE.
Tho recording is done roughly in the
following manner, according to the semi
technical explanation Of the inventors.
Adjustment ist made on a condenser
for the particular wave length desired
to be caught. AS the signals sent out
are gathered in by the antenna, which
can be strung or any light poles reach
ing about forty feet above the ground,
oscillations are started In a local circuit,
through an "electron tube" This local
circuit derives its power from an
ordinary storage battery such as those
used in self starters for automobiles. The
starting of these oscillations releases
enough direct current energy from the
batteries TO operate a small relay, or
magnet set in some respects like the
magnets in an ordinary electric door
bell. but capable OF more delicate adjust
ment.
This relay, or magnet set. makes and
breaks power In another circuit derived
from second storage battery. This sec
ond circuit operates another magnet set,
to which the stylus is attached
The stylus in the present apparatus
Is an ordinary fountain pen. 1t is in
contact with a revolving drum which
has a sheet Of paper placed on it. The
dots and dashes are recorded as humps
In the otherwise straight line Short
humps indicate dots, and long ones
dashes.
The action can be readily nkened to
n
cooked each time before it is fred. which
action takes place automatically and
rapidly. The first circuit fires the gun
and pushes back the hammer ready to
fire again. so to speak. AS long as the
circuit stays closed the hammer" stays
back But when the circuit is broken,
corresponding to pressing the trigger,
then the secondary circuit is closed and
the hammer or stylus goes on its way TO
make a mark.
The action of the mechanism is very
much more selective than the receiving
action now in use. 1t absolutely elimi
mates any chance of the message being
garbled by wave lengths even closely
approximating those which it wishes to
gather and record
MACHINE MAKES
PERMANENT RECORD.
The record thus made on paper is per-
manent, AID the message can be deci-
phered at leisure. In a recent test, sig
mails sent out from Lyons, France, 1000
miles away, were caught in the heart
of the residential district of Washington
and transferred to record which even
a person unskilled in the Morse code
could readily translate
The machine, that morning had been
in the Bureau of Standards few miles
away. In the afternoon It was installed
downtown. the antennae were run up on
light poles, and the message caught in
the drawing room of the house.
With this machine 1t is possible to re-
cord simultaneously, with the same zen,
the second of local time, as furnished by
the local standard chronometer, and
compare them with the standard time as
sent out by wireless from observatories,
without any errors incident to lag" of
the instruments.
In this way the latitude of spot far
away from cables or wires and out of