Evening star., 1922-12-03
BY COMMANDER STANFORD
HOOPER,. L. :. \.
Copyright. 1927

NcpyIlShl, lS--.f
Sweeping over Australia in their
/ flight around the globe. ether waves
created by American high-power radio
stations have contributed valuable
service TO the cause of science.
They played an important part in
the investigation of the recent solar
j. eclipse which was visible in Australia
and in the Indian ocean on September
. 81 last.
They constituted one %. the princi-
Pal agencies as indirectly employed
by American and foreign scientists In
their endeavors to definitely prove or
,disprove. as result of the eclipse
: ;-instein's theory of the bending OF
f.. star rays in their passage to the earth
/ A tribute was paid to the Washing
ton Observatory time service and 10
the world wide effectiveness of our
american high power radio stations
by the submission of an official re-
dauest by the astronomer of the Aus
tralian governments observatory at
Sydney that special time signals De
: 'broadcassed at short intervals for a
number OF days preceding the eclipse.
Mecca for Astronomers.
:. 1t being possible to observe the
total eclipse in Australia. that country
. became for the time being mecca
for astronomers throughout the world.
!. The director of the Naval ObserVa,
tory at Washington was informed
that the time signals regularly
f: :broadcasted from the naval hign-
power stations at Annapolis. MA.
+. waiian Islands tNPMD, were audible
at the Australian observatory at sgd
iney, and also at the New Zealand OBJ
:servatory at Wellington. 1t was also
stated that the traffic signals from
the Radio Corporations great station
at Rocky Point. on Long Island
.iWQA), We're also easily copleo
Throughout Australia and New Lea-
land.
No radio transmitting stations or
in Australia or New Zealand to fur-
nish the exact time locally by means
of bro4dcasted time signals 70 the
variouS American, British and aus
-tralian astronomical expedltionS;
which were to make observations All
along the line of totality OF the
eclipse, an official request was made
BY the Australian government on july
: 3 that this service be rendered py ia.
off America. though the master CLOCK
of the Naval Observatory at WasninS-
ton and the American hlgh-power
radio service
The service was desired by the as
'trononers during five-minute inter-
walls each day for period OF t~eiFe
days from September 10 10 Il, lnciu-
sive.
The time signal service daily broad.
casted from the Nays station al
Pearl Harbor (\PND, while SUFFICIENT
Is accurate for all ordinary naViGa-
tional and other purposes IN tne
cinc ocean. was not considered SUI
fciently accurate for the very exact
ing astronomical work contemplated
In the antipodes. These signals are
not transmitted directly from an op-
servatory clock. but by associatlns
a local time clock situated at the
radio station with the radio transmit
ter at that station
For the extreme accuracy required
in connection with the observation
and photographing OF the heavens
panorama at the moment OF tOtailty
of the eclipse. 1t was essential that
the standard Washington Observatory
clock itself actuate the sending keys
of the broadcasting stations
The Radio Corporations station at
Rocky Point (WQA) and the Nays
station at Annapolis (NSS) were
available for this purpose and ar
rangements We're promptly maze 10
utilize these stations and the obserVa-
tory at Sydney was SO ADVISED DS
cable The Sydney observatory pass
ed this information on to all interest
ed parties in that far-off region.
This remarkable radio service. un-
Gertaken in the interest Of the sci
entific knowledge of the whole world.
worthy cooperation on the part OF
the Western Union Telegraph Com
pany. the Radio Corporation of Amer
ica and the Navy. 1t was rendered
without cost to the Australian gov
ernmen1 or to our own government.
Trunk Line Used.
1t was decided that the special time
signals would be broadcasted from
WQA beginning at S:55 am. and end
ing at a. m daily on the dates named,
those from MSS beginning at 800 am
and ending at 9:Io am.
Nine o'clock in the morning, accord
ing to Washington. or seventy-hfth
meridian standard time. corresponds
to midnight of the same civil day at
Sidney.
The Western Union set aside spe-
cial trunk line between Washington
and New York for these five-minute
intervals on the dates mentioned and
provided land wire connections to
The observatory in Washington and
the Radio Corporations main office In
New York city.
The Radio Corporation arranged for
the free use of one of it's hight pow
or alternators at WQA to be actuated
by land wire connection from its
New York headquarters Thus di-
rect telegraph circuit was made avail
able from the Washington .ObaSrVa-
tory clock to the WQA transmitter.
The Navy utilized it's existing land
wire connection between the OBJ
servatory clock and it's 500-kiloWatt
arc transmitter at MSS by means OF
which the regular time signals are
daily broadcasted.
Arrangements were made by both
WQA and MSS to radiate the maxi
mum power Obtainable through the
transmitters and the antenna systems
at these stations in order to insure
The reception of the lOudest possible
signals in the antipodes.
Thus during these daily five minute
intervals from September 1O to II. in
elusive. extremely powerful radio i'm
pulses were given off by the WQA and
MSS antennas, which travelled away in
all directions with the speed of light
and instantly simulated in Australia
the rhythmic ticking of the master
clock in the observatory at Washing
ton.
A standard time Of as near ac-
curacy as could possibly be obtained
even at the Washington Observatory
itself was thereby made instantly
available to the Australian. British
and American astronomers stationed
NJ more or less isolated points
throughout Australia.
i'They were thereby enabled to ascer-
rain the geographical locations OF
their stations. which had been located
Atadvantageous points along the line
GEirotality for observing the darken-
iiAg of the sun and to accurately pre-
uhSermine the exact moment OF the
atltpse
iHn Observatory actuated the radio
trHlp smitter at WOA the signals be.