Evening star., 1922-12-17
BY COMMANDER STANFORD
HOOPER, L. $. \.
,Copyrirht 1877

$1,000 meters are daily propaSated IN
space by Navy equipped radio stations.
These represent about the shortest
and longest ether waves which We
are capable of creating for practical
radio purposes in the present stage
Of development of the radio art.
Many hundreds of these waves OF
various lengths within this wide bahd
are constantly being produced ps our
Inan-controlled cther-waVc creht'hs
agencies in widely separated parts
of the world
A greater number of radio waves
are utilized by America than any
other country in the world. ana ny
far the greater number OF these are
used by the Navy radio. Each OF o.
privately owned shore ana snip
tiuns usually employs only one wave
and .specially with respect to snip
st,tions the same wave is empio! eu
by all. Likewise. the radi"pho''.
hrosdcasting stations all empl"H q q
certain designated wave "hicn: !.
not identicaily the same az ,east
only within al very restricted pa'u
The Navy radio. however. rcqu'rt
,,,a use of a large number of dihcrcn,
waves. ranging all the Wa! ..o,,.
200 to nearly 10000 meters III iehs =.
at the present time. ana tne '.nS :;
wave in use in the ~orid t""a!
that employed daily by the ea,, ereM'
Lafayette station IN Franc w,r
was built by the Navy as war
measure The Lafayette station "a
dates signals to all parts OF the me
world ON a wave length OF Z3'4'V
meters.
Radiation of Signals.
Tho Navy radio service radla'eS sic
nails from aircraft. submarines ".
other comparatively small Graz ,Un
way, lengths ranging from aoou. o
meters to 500 meters ana ms
NirtuaIly all Navy radio stations. tA
,.nnt,m,. aircraft. are equipped to sena
.nd receive on the ship commerce. IA,
wave length of 500 meters especiaii ~
in tbe interest of accomnoua' 'ii :
Sos or distress signals. so that al
may always be given to sntps ,,n, :
tress at sea. The Navy raoIo ,ve NV.
pass service is hanoiea o. lengths
ieurth of 500 meters. ave lcns n
r.ngiup ali the way from eoo ~
I-i4i meters are employed pS tnI
E.yv shin and shore stations. -, au
these stations may eacn en- a;uarnnt
one to as many as niteeh i.E ~ q
waves to avoid interfering s,u,
.no,h.r or other stations ahH
cot ,ha;r traffic through. the Nav
S;eb-nower station at Annapohs a
dates it's signals on a wave zen ID
I11t5 meters this being the secoli'
longest radio wave utillzeo loa td
m1nication purposes IN the
The ether is thus kept constan'ns
,,,hratine at widely varying freauen
,.;es ali over the world by radio waves
These vibrations may. be termeo n;e
artificial ether waves IN eci,., snr,,'s nj
,inction to the many othef lo!:i -,
ether motion not of man crea.o" fo, ~,
ox.,,nie as light and heat from IN.
sun rays of light from the stars NV nv
,ors,erious ether disturbances We
call static. etc. ,-rv the
Although the radio waves carry uue
equivalent of the human voice, N.Y. hn,
and other sounds. ana an,
are constantly passing tnrousn 80
hod;es. they normally do not Decu'n'
suscentible to any of our senses Al.
tenna systems or collectors OF SUN
sort associated with sultaois
ranged electric circuits, must ne en- :
manifest themselves to our senses
throueh the medium of sound or hsh'
or possibly even heat:
Thev will not manifest themselves
oven under these conditions uhiesS
the circuits employed are OF ,uhos t, .
mentally the same, or neari! ~ ~
same. electrical characteristics as the
circuits by the use OF ""iS"
waves are produced.
Physical Characteristic.
This by no means implies that
radio circuit and its associated ap-
paratus as employed to detect ethel
waves need have the same physical
or dimensions as the
circuit and its associated apparatus
which produces the wave.
represent. for example. dead "els Nv
in excess of 100 tons. while the cor
responding receiving outnt may
weigh less than fifty pounds.
Il merely implies that. reEarniess
of the physical dimensions OF eitnel
product of the values of e!ectrlca
"capacity' and "self-induction IN
both circuits are the same. or yer5
nearly the same, and that the diner
ont narts of the circuits are properly
arranged ard adjusted with fespec'
to one another.
period of the circuits are the same
or nearly the same: or. in otnei
words that the same interval of time
is required for a complete osclliatlon
of current to take place in either CIR
cult.
When this condition prevails with
respect to any two or more radio cir
cults they are said to be in resonance
If one circuit is energiZed. or set into
electrical vibration, the others within
it's influence will Immediately re-
spond and also begin vibrating In
resonance, or in sympathy, SO to
speak.
Thus. we have come to regard
with only passing interest the phe-
nomena of thousands of miniature
radio receiving circuits, situated at
widely separated points, automatically
responding in sympathy, SO to speak
to the impulses given off by a single
circuit, whose physical
components may be situated hun
dreds or thousands of miles away,
and faithfully reproducing these i'm
pulses in the form of sound.
Although the receiving stations may
he widely separated from the trans
mitting station. and though they may
he situated on land. on sea or in the
air. they are always linked to the
transmitting station through the me-
dunn of the invisible ether, and If
their circuits are properly adjusted
they will function in resonance with
the impulses given off by the cir
cults Of the distant station.
Normally mt Rest.
Theoretically, the ether normally
remains at rest. and it can only be
set in motion through the influence
of some agency within 1t. For radio
purposes, it Is set in motion by caus-
ing high frequency electric currents