The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-08-05
overhead Unit,
LII Tie HEARD
Of, IS BUSIEST


ease, but Rivernead can listen to
wales, France, Germany, Norway
nd any other powerful stations
that may be established simultai;-
eously. AnG at the same time it
: csu close its ears to the powerful
IMPULSES sent out only few miles
away by the giant hadi0 Central.
New Brunswick. Marion and Tuck
srton stations and to 80 per cent
Il the atmospheric disturbances
unlng from every point oI the
wnpas.
Il is more dramatic, more i'm
pfsssiye, to huri radio messages
scrosS three or four Thousand
miles of land or water than to PACK
Them up at the other emu. Inat Is
Why almost every person interested
. in raoio knows a good deal about
Radio Central and It's zoo kilowatt
AleAanderson alternators and very
little ABOUT kiverhead, which picks
up ana REEVES once powerful e.ec-
tromagnetic waves alter their long
leap across the Atlantic.
from an engineering standpoint,
however, what has been accump-
lished at Riverhead in the receiving
line is at least as remarkable as
what has been done at Radio Cen
trail. Rivernead, however, does its
work quietly and without ostenta-
ton; Radio Centrals tall towers
and terrific currents advertise it
to the world.
Why Riverhead Is Versatile.
A few years ago in this country,
and al tne present time in all other
countries, every sending station
had its complement i'll a receiving
station, loca,ed about so miles from
it, ana connected with it by tele-
graph lines. The one station
talked; the other listened. Now
Radio Central, New Brunswick.
Marion and Tuckerton all talk; and
Kverhead completely handles, in-
coming traffic of ali the European
ceDters with which they are con-
nected. The explanation OF River
heads efficiency is the wave an
| tenna.
The station is not network of
antennae such as the mind would
picture. 1t has simply one antenna
. consisting OF two copper wires
nine miles long, strung on ordinary
telegraph poles. One station build
ing contains the receiving appara-
tus which separates the congiom-
Grafton of signals received from
Norway, England. France and Ger
many, and transfers them directly
and automatically over trunk line
wires into the Broadstreet traffic
Office in New York City, where all
incoming and outgoing messages
are handled. The system of con-
centration, achieved after much
experimentation, makes it possible
10 add new receiving circuits for
communication with any new sta
ton in Europe at negligible cost
simply by installing a new set of
receiving apparatus on one of the
shelves provided for that purpose
It the station.
l Expert Tells About Station.
A description OF certain phases
o. the kiverhead station, especially
With regard to the manner i'll when
v eliminates static, and OF what
may develop in the future, has
BEEN given by Ernst +. W. Alex
anderson. chief engineer of the
Radio Corporatio NOT America ana
consulting engineer OF the General
Electric company. He said:
The antenna is of a new type
Which gives uni-directional recep-
uon SO Oriented as to receive sig
nails from the over-ocean trans
inter and annual signals from all
other directions, including the
powerful home transmitter nearby.
The antenna consists OF two
upper wires strung on ordinary
poles, like telephone line, and
eMending over distance OF nine
mles. From this antenna a num-
eer OF separate receiving circuits
y different wave lengths are led
.Hhout the slightest mutual inter
letence or weakening of the sig
halls,
important as it is, from the
polnt Of view Of Capitalization, to
70 able to receive an indefinite
lumber Of signals from the same
sa'enna, the greatest importance
the use OF this new receiving
stem is its remarkable proper
~ OF suppressing atmospheric
.!uf0ances, or the so-called sta
~ which hitherto has been the
aae OF radio communication. The
,nment of these results is moi
accident, it is the reward of de.
.s'opment work covering a number
ayears.
Principle With Possibilities.
me wave antenna' as now used
overhead is the practical an.
ssr TO the receiving problem OF
way. 1t is milestone in the de-
Mopment Of the principle Of direc
e reception. This is a principle
Mites. N ~
The practical form of receiving
ytem which was described in one
my papers in 1919 was used BY
@ United States navy during tn,
- and became known as thu
fage receiver 1t consisted o.
antennae one-quarter wav,
stn long, balanced against eacl
aer' The wave antenna of toda,
not require any balancing
.ae receiver OF the future viii
.ooably consist Of antennae sew
~ wave lengths long or severa
I've antennae balanced agains
ssh other.
Inc controlling idea in this de
opment is a mental pictur,
cn We now have of the nature o