The Washington herald., 1922-04-23
ELIMINATES STATIC
BY LOOP ANTENNA
BURIED IN EARTH
DIR. Rogers Finds Way to
Adapt Invention to
Short Waves.
NO TOWERS NEEDED
Experiment at Hyattsville
Marks Epoch in Radio
Science.
NO TOWERS NEEDED

ings ago in the presence Of the
writer and three other witnesses
when. with a coil sntenna complete
ly buried beneath the surface Of the
ground. vocal and instrumental
music was clearly heard on a trans
mitted wave length Of $50 meters
over a distance of go miles. This
successful experiment was accom-
plished in the. field laboratory of
DR.: ]. Harris Rogers in Hyattsville.
Nd The instruments used were a
three-stage radio frequency ampli-
fer and a loop antenna. The radio
phone set was operated by James
W. Cook, OF Washington.
The far-reaching effect of this ex-
pertinent will be the elimination of
huge aerial towers for the recep-
ton of radio telephone or telegraph
messages. As a climax to success
full experiments which have assured
the reception of long radio tele-
graph waves on underground an
tenna. the test just performed
demonstrates the possibility of reg
ular radiophone communication
without aerial wires above or on
the surface of the ground. This re-
moves the present limit OF under
namely the reception OF short wave
lengths which today r%resent the
bulk of commercial short distance
radio traffic.
Eliminates Static.
Not only the messages from
KDKA and WIZ were clear and dis
tinct in themselves but in the pres
ence Of severe static, street car and
train lines less than 200 yards dis
tant, none of these disturbances in
terfered with the perfect reception
of. the transmitted messages. This
means that in mines, dense forests.
in arid wastes and under severe
static conditions present in extreme
north or south latitudes, a hole in
the ground will sufice to contain
the antenna necessary to receive
messages transmitted thousands of
miles away and at wave lengths
heretofore not approached.
j. Harris Rogers. civil war vet
eran. inventor of the printing tele-
graphs. synchronous motors and
other devices, is the discoverer OF
the underground aerial receiving
system. Mr.. Rogers was In charge
OF the above epoch making expert
L
its feasibility since 1908. although
his treories were refuted by lead
ing scientists OF the day.
Scientists Ceueede Proof.
Those who have conceded the
proofs of DR.. Rogers theories and
have been witness to his many ex-
periments are Lee De Forrest, in
yentor of the De Forrest vacuum
tube: DIR. G. w. Pierce. radio expert
Of Harvard University: Capt. 8. S.
Robinson. U. s. N, radio engineer
and author of Robinson's Manual
Of Radio Telegraphy and Teie-
phony;" Admiral Strother Smith
y. s. n, and many other leading
radio officials. During the recent
war the practical use Of the under
ground aerial was Immediately
siezed upon by the United States
government as an answer TO the
conspicuous target afforded by huge
towers which were tren in use at
all stations for long distance re-
ception. i
In 1915, during the war period
Secretary of the Navy Daniels
Immediately facilitated the secur-
ing of patents which protected the |
discovery of DR.. Rogers and estab-
ushed stations at Great Lakes, New |
Orleans and Belmar. N. j., for ex-
perimenting with and developing |
the Rogers system. Meanwhile in |
Hyattsyille, Nd, DR.. Rogers and
government officials listened in
from the little hut named Mount
Hooper in honor of Admiral Hooper, |
L. S. n, situated three miles in the |
woods beyond DR.. Rogers home.
MESSAGE. from France.
Trenches were dug and wires
buried in all directions and at
varying depths, the effect being
similar to the spokes of a wheel
| offset from the center.
A wire 1000 feet long encased in
a tile pipe three feet below the
surface of the earth was stretched
in a westerly Objection. Communi-
cations between German army units
on the European battle front were
clearly heard. The apparatus con-
sisted of a large tuning coil. a
variable condenser, onN step audion
amplifier and two pairs of Baldwin
head phones.
With this equipment and under
ground aerial the officials heard |
regularly Nauen, Germany; Ethel
Tower, Paris, and all United States
stations on long waves. Not only |
were these stations copied regu- |
larly but simultaneously stations
employing the Rogers system at
Belmar, n. J., and Great Lakes
maintained continuous trans-At-
lantic receiving service.
Static, strays and disturbances