Evening star., 1922-08-27
BY COMMANDER STANFORD c.
HOOPER, U. S. NJ,
Head of the Radio Division, In the.
Bureau Of Engineering, Navy Dept.

The responsibility imposed on the
average radio operator of today may be
compared to that of the railroad tele-
graph operator in the early days of the
single track road. This applies to oper-
ators on ships at sea and especially to
those at the coastal stations.
The coastal stations are maintained
and operated not only as auxiliaries of
our Atlantic. Pacific and Asiatic fleets
IN the interests of the national defense.
but also to serve the maritime interests
in general. and especially for the pro-
lection of life and property at sea.
Mechanically operated safety devices.
such as the modern automatic block
signaling systems in use on our rail-
roads. cannot be utilized in connection
with transportation and travel by sea.
Present day seagoing travel and trade
depend in large measure on radio FOR
safety, however. and radio as safe
guarding agency is dependent entirely
on the individual operators.
Radio plays an extremely important
part in modern naval tactics, but it
would be worse than useless without
reliable and efficient radio men and
radio officers
Disasters may conceivably occur at
sea involving the lives of hundreds Of
people including women and children.
due. for example. to failure of oper-
atOrs on shore broadcast!ng storm warn
ings, positions of derelicts. icebergs.
etc, or failure of operators on ship
board to pick such information out or
the ether when broadcasted.
The result of a naval battle involving
the fate of d nation may concelVably
depend on the expeditions and accurate
transmission and reception OF single
code radio message during the stress or
battle The training of radio operators
in the Navy is carried on having Such
contingency or similar difficult situation
in view 1t is essential that radio
operators in the Navy not only be ef-
ficient and reliable regards the trans
mission and reception of messages but
that they do not become unduly excited
under abnormal conditions.
Incident of Battle of JutIand.
The transmission and reception of
single short message within the
British fleet played an extremely i'm
portant part in the battle of Jutland
and of which no mention was made in
the press accounts of that engage
ment.
The handling of radio traftic-that
is. the actual exchange of messages
Is other than an easy task even un-
der normal conditions 1t is very
difficult task under abnormal condi-
tionS. 1t is not a sport or an amuSe-
ment. such as the reception of the
ladiophone broadca Sted concerts. but
a matter of hard work. 1t requires
skill on the part of the operator to
properly manipulate his complicated
receiving apparatus SO as to pick up
weak signals on various wave lengths
transmitted by distant sending sta
tions. The dots and daSheS of the
continental Morse code. comprising
the majority of the messages received
at radio stations. do not come in loud
and distinct. but very faint. They
are often so weak as to be barely
audible. yet it is the duty of the re-
ceiving operator to strive to copy
them.
To be successful he must concen-
trate his mind on the signals to the
exclusion of everything else If the
atmosphere in his general vicinity is
free from interfering signals of
greater intensity on the, same wave
length. and free from static. he will
usually succeed in copying the mes
sage, provided each word is repeated
two or more times by the sending
operator and provided he is not dis
tracted by noise in the vicinity of the
receiving room. AS rule. however,
he must contend with interference
from other sending stations on the
and from a continuous rumbling or
intermittent load crashes of static.
In addition, he is often distracted by
external noises in or near the receiv-
eliminate or avoid.
He must have patience. regardless
of all these distractions. and strive to
copy as much of the message as pos
Sible through the various forms of
Interference. The words or parts of
the message which are missed on the
first sending he must ask to have re-
peated second time by the sending
operator. Sometimes third and many |
subsequent repetitionS are required
before the message is received COM |
plete and an o. X. given by the re-
ceiving operator.
Duty Is Exhausting.
After an operator has been on duty !
in one of the Navy's busy radio sta !
tions for from four to eight hours at !,
forms of interference while endeavor- |
ing to get his traffic through and |
exploring the ether for signals or !
distress calls when not actually |
handling traffic. he is usually as much !
exhausted physically from the mental. |
nervous strain he has undergone as !
If he had been engaged in heavy !
manual labor.
Obviously; some form of healthy !
recreation must be provided for the |
mental and bodily relaxation of the |
men performing service of this nature. !,
On board ship no recreation facili-
ties can be provided for the radiomen
other than the limited facilities avail
dolc " tAc snip 6eHeEdl crew. me
radiomen, however. are usually ex-
cused from the ships routine drills |
and inspections. and those who per-
form radio duty at night are allowed |
to sleep in" until the call for break
fast sounds at o'clock, whereas the !
ships general crew must rise and I
shine" as the expression is, at 5 am.
After a radioman has served two
years duty at sea ne Is generally al
lowed two years duty at one of the |
Navy'S radio stations on shore, If he
desires shore duty. After the expira-
tion of his two years duty on shore he
must again go to sea for the succeed
Ing two years.
The majority of the Navy's shore
radio stations are situated at isolated
points along our coasts and in our
outlying possessions. The sites for
the stations were selected with q
view to furnishing efficient radio
service to seagoing ships rather than
for the convenience of the operating
personnel.
AS a result 1t has been necessary
to provide and furnish living quarters
for operators of practically all the
Navy's shore radio stations. For
military reasons and in the interests
of good discipline 1t would be desir-
able in any event that the operators
live on the station.
= Cottages are provided for the officer
or n-fn-charge and the mar
ried operators and their families
Barracks are provided for the UNI
married men.
Provision for Recreation.
Recreation facilities are provided
for the radiomen of each station, the
extent and nature of the facilities
depending on the comparative isola-
ton of the station, the number of
rodiomep assigned to duty and the