Evening star., 1922-12-10
[stLEAKY'' ELECTRIC WIRES
CAUSE OF RADIO NOISE
Defective Insulation Radiate Ether
Waves Which Interfere With
Receiving Of Message.

spend large sums of money. good
portion Of which is for inspecting the
lines. especially with respect to the
condition Of the insulators.
1t Is not always an easy matter for
the inspectors to detect insulatOrs
which have become defective by the
usual methods employed. Their
, presence Is automatically denoted by
the functioning of radio. however, and
radio apparatus may he employed to
locate the individual leaky units.
Radio fans may assist the power
in good condition as well as decreas-
ing interference in the ether by re-
porting the prevalence of disturb
ances to their representatives. as the
specific instance will be cited
which may be regarded as typical and
which outlines the methods employed
by the Navy radio and power comp
any.
While we were maintaining the
neutrality prior to our entrance into
| the war, the Navy took over, manned
and operated the then German owned
high power radio sation at Sayville.
on Long Island, from which station
| messages were then both transmitted
F; and received.
Whenever the Navy radio operators
| at this station detected eNtraneous
| noises in their receivers which. by
their characteristic sounds. denoted
| that insulators in that vicinity had
developed leaks. the power company's
Inspector would be notified by tele-
, phone. The inspector. while keeping
] in felephonic communication with the
radio station. would then pull the
main power switches on the various
individual power lines. one by one.
while the operators observed the in
! terfering disturbance. When the
lnSnectnr 20 -
dfvtdual line with which the defective
insulator was associated. the dis
turbance disappeared in the radio re-
ceiver, thereby indicating the parti-
cular line which was causing the
trouble. The inspector would then
| send lnemen out to investigate this
| particular line by the use of a small
portable receiver associated with a
small portable loop which the Navy
! radio station had furnished. The re-
ceiver used only crystal detector.
Noise Key to Trouble.
When this portable radio receiving
outfit was brought in the immediate
vicinity of the pole from which the
leaky insulator was suspended tine
defective insulator would be readily
denoted by the characteristic loud
noise produced in the radio outfit.
Current would then be shut off from
this line by opening the power
placed by A new one
AS a result, the interference from
this source would automatically
cease. and a possible future casuai:r
to this power distribution circuit
would be obviated.
1t is obvious from the foregoing
that radio provides a very effective.
simple and inexpensive method for
use by the larger power distribution
concerns in inspecting the numerous
insulators on their lines 1t is prob
able that this method will eventually
come into general use for this puT-
pose.
Indeed. IT is conceivable that the
electric power distribution concerns
may eventually be regulated with re-
spect to the extent OF the disturb
ances their circuits may be allowed
to radiate into the ether in a manner
similar to that in force. or which may
eventually be put into effect with re-
spect to radio stations.
Such regulations would doubtless
be of benefit to the power companies
by resulting in a still greater i'm
provement in the insulation of their
lines with consequent fewer inter
ruptions to their service. as well as
eliminating one Of the avoidable
causes Of radio interference.