The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-04-22

washington, D. C.. April ia
written message transmitted 4.OoQ
miles instantaneously without wire
or cable il the latest feat OF wire
less, telegraphy.
This wireless writing machine
which will make it possible tor Z
man in the wilds Of Alaska to cap
ture he news Of the world In writ
ten form by merely setting = trar
for 1t, SO to speak. and BY which
an explorer might locate his posi-
/, ton on the face Of the earth by
wireless, within SO feet Of exact, Ii
the invention of two government
scientists working in the bureau
of standards. Another government
department, the coast and geodetie
survey, expects to save by the use
of it this summer, three times ~
much as it cost to perfect the In
vention and make two Of the ma
chimes. The whole achievement IL
one more illustration of the value
of scientific research by the gov
eminent departments, which gets
such scapty support.
The machine itself, a simple
looking affair which weighs about
Is pounds, exclusive Of the two
storage batteries and the meta
chronograph drum, is the result Of
research work by DR.. e. A. Eek.
hardt and DR.. J. c. Karcher. Small
in size. light in weight and easy
to operate, it offers solution tf
many Of the vexing problems now
existing in radio operation.
For example, under the preesnt
system Of listening for the dots and
dashes with telephone receiver
two, three or more sending sta
tons may, by sending signals ou'
simultaneously, mix their message:
in the other, and lam the air.
| The man at the receiving end
listening for one particular mes
sage, must adjust his apparatus tt
tune" to a wave length as nearly
as possible equal to that Of thu
sender whom he wishes to catch
The other senders seriously inter
fere and often cause the receiver
to lose or garble parts of the mes
sage. This new invention goes {
long way toward eliminating tina
difficulty.
The machine was designed Il
meet the need of an autograph,
wireless time recording apparatus
to obviate the expensive stringint
Of wires to places remote from
telegraph lines and to eliminate thu
lag due to reception by ear, and re
cording Of a signal by hand.
How 1t Works.
The recording is done roughly il
the following manner, according tt
the semi-technical explanation o
the inventors.
Adjustment is made on a con
denser for the particular wav'
length desired to be caught. Al
the signals sent out are gathered il
by the antenna, which can b,
strung on any light poles reach
ing about 40 feet above the ground
oscillations are started in a loca
! circuit, through an election tube
This local circuit derives its powel
from an ordinary storage batter,
such as those used in self-starter'
for automobiles. The starting o
these oscillations releases enough
direct current energy from the bat
teries to operate a small relay, o.
magnet set in some respects lik,
the magnets in an ordinary cleo
trio door-bell. but capable of NOR,
delicate adjustment
This relay, or magnet set, make,
and breaks power in another cir
cult derived from a second storag,
battery. This second circuit oper
ates another magnet set, to which
the stylus is attached.
The stylus in the present appara
tus is an ordinary fountain pen. 1
is in contact with a revolving drum
which has sheet of paper PLACED
on it. The dots and dashes ar,
recorded as humps in the other
wise straight line. Short hump!
indicate dots, and long ones
dashes.
The action can be readily likenet
to that OF q machine gun which
must be cooked each time before i
Is fired, which action takes plac,
automatically and rapidly. Tn,
first circuit fires the gun ant
pushes back the hammer, ready t.
fire again. so to speak. As long a.
the circuit stays closed the ham
mer" stays back. But when tn,
circuit is broken. corresponding t,
pressing the trigger, then the sec
ondary circuit is closed and tn,
hammer or stylus goes on its wa,
to make a mark.
The action Of the mechanism i,
very much more selective than tn,
receiving action now in use. /
absolutely eliminates any chanc,
I