New-York tribune., 1922-06-04
Majestic Radio
Among Finest
I'm the World
Apparatus on Worlds Larg.
est Liner Complete in All
Details and includes Won.
derful Direction Finder
Has Very Simple Control
Transmitting Set Consists of
Quench Gap Spark and a
Vacuum Tube {. ". Set

sNlf inner Mhlthl4e IN NV loNh 'WT
phasi7es the wonderful and rapid
strides that have been made in the
development Of wireless telegraph ap-
psratus within the past few years This
remarkable progress has recently been
overshadowed by the spectacular ex.
pansicn Of the radiophone caused by
the sudden public favor. but il has been
none the less important.
Within a comparatively small space
in the wireless cabin Of the worlds
largest ship there is installed one Of
the most complete. compact and eh-
cient wireless systems ye, devised.
The giant ship carries two types Of
transmitting equipment and two types
Of receivers. The transmitting apps-
ratus consists Of ! '1.kiloTatt quench
gap spark set and continuous wave
transmittcr using one big vacuum tube
with an output of / a kilowatts. The
range Of the queneh gap set is approx
mately 400 miles. while ths, Of the
continuous wave set is in the neigh
borhood OF 1000 miles.
The receiving apparatus consists Of
a complete receiver with n wave length
range covering everything now in daily
use and a undergraduates. or diree-
tion finder The latter il probably the
most unique Of tho radio equipment
aboard. and differs materially from the
standard American practice in that IL
utilities two loop aerials Of extremely
large dimensions. permanently rigged
on the ship, in an unvarying condition.
Spark Used for General Calls
At the first glance il might seem su-
perhuous 20 install a spark trsnsmitter
on a ship. when its efficiency as com
pared with the continuous transmitter
Il 50 lou In this connection IL must
be rcmemb bered that continuous waves
are extremely sharp in their tuning,
while the spark is much broader. Un-
der the Circumstances, therefore. the
shark is much better suited for the pur-
poses of sending out general calls, and
particularly 20 for sending out the dis
iress call.
IN addition 10 this the two types Of
transmitting apparatus naturally fall
into two we'll defined spheres Of use
fulness aboard. The continuous wave
set operates on wave lengtns ranging
between 1000 and $500 meters. and y
well suited for communicating with
the long distance shore stations The
quench gap set ia sttuned n the stand
ard short wave ranges set aside FOR
ships by the international Radio Con-
ven,ion and - suited for ship-to-ship
communication and the ordinary forp
OF ship-to.shere work.
The continuous wave set operates on
alternating current. which IL reetihed
hv two element rectihers, of which
there are two installed in the {. W.
panel The oseillating tube has ar out
nut Of 500 watts. The transmitting
equirment IL completed by the addition
Of a 250-vA,t auxiliary quench gap SCI
designed for emergency purposes
Direction Finder Ia Unique
The regular receiving equipment,
while verv sensitive. does not depart
from standard practice. II Is IN the
r.sio-coniometer. however, that the
chief Interest in the apparatus aboard
the Majestic lies This consists Of a
snceial tyne Of receiving transformer,
and a six.valve smpliher The latter
has four stages Of radio frequency am
pllfeation. one deteetor bulb and one
stage Of audio frequency smpliheation
or. "a the English call II. a note mag
nifcr.
plifer set y that all Of the six bulbs
are controlled by one rheostat and a
pctcntiometer which controls the mi
i!al grid potential OF all six tubes. Inc
audio frequency section OF the ampli-
fer can be switched out OF the eir,
cult. II not required. This is arranged
when taking bearings on stations tina,
are comparatively close.
As has already been said the loops
used In conjunction with the direction
finder arc quite novel. They are based
on the Beilini-Tosi system. and con-
sist Of a thvArtshiP loop and Tore
and aft loop. rigged up close 20 the
wireless cabin and supported in man
ner that has now become standard on
British ships
Operator Aids Navigation
With this apparatus the wireless
operator becomes an important factor
IN the navigation OF the ship, especial
Ia in foggy weather. With his aid the
position OF the ship can be determineo
within very few minutes by taxing
hearings upon we'll known land sta
tions. as all Of the latter are listed IN
the international call books with their
exact latitude and longitude. IL - also
possible TO tell the exact bearing Of
other ships.
In foggy weather Il is possible by
means OF the direction finder 70 deter
nine roughly the distance Of another
ship. while It's direction can be deter
mined with exaetitude. This Is an I'M
por,ant function and one bringing q
rev factor OF safety 70 navigation IS
il will tend 20 reduce collisions AZ 'es
during fox. 4
In addition n this the direction hnd-
Or mas an important use in badly con
eested wireless areas. such AZ that IN
the vicinity Of New York Harbor' In
these cases. where interfsrenee ~ very
bad asa result Of 80 many stations AZ
tempting 70 work simultaneously the
operator can ehsnge over 70 Ms
direction finding apparatus and use !,
for receiving purposes. thus cutting oyt
ali interference except that when
enanates from the same direction as
he station he desires 20 listen TO.