The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1923-01-23

M Belln mas made use OF IN deVlS-
ing what he calls his "Anti-Capteur,"
which literally translated means Anti
Capturer," that is to say, the organ
which prevents interlopers from catch
ing from the air what was not in
tended for them.
This anti-capteur is what regulates
the periodic revolutions of the cylin-
der. AS l have said, the revolutions
must never vary in speed, but the frac
tions of a second which are interpOsed
between the revolutions may vary. The
anti-eapteur consists of six disks upon
an axle, about 1-3 of millimeter apart.
Each disk has the figures from 8 to 0
upon its circumference those on the
most right hand disk signifying units;
those on the next, tens, and so on,
till those on the most left hand disk
correspond to hundreds of thousands.
The disks work together and control
the speed of the cylinder by mechan-
ism into which it is unnecessary to
enter. This, however, is how the thing
| works:
A unit of time, say one beat of the
! electric chronometer, corresponding to
one second of time, is selected as the
desired speed of revolution.
Revolutions Are Measured.
The axle of the anti-capteur and
that of the synchronizer make one
revolution in the unit OF time, but the
axis of the cylinder makes revOlu-
ton in a small fraction of second
rf
which is called the utilized" time,
leaves a fraction of a second, which
is called "lag.' The lag may be
between the start of the unit of time
and the start of the utilized time, or it
may be between the end Of the utilized
time and the end of the unit of time,
or both.
Let US say the unit of time is one
second. The cylinder revOlves in two
thirds of a second, leaving one-third
Of each second as the lag. This
one-third of q second may be dis
tributed at will, always remembering
that the two-thirds of second used
in each revolution must be used in
each second, 1t is this distribution
Of the lag which the six numbered
disks control.
1t does not make any difference as
to the length of the intervals be-
tween revolutions. These always be-
gin simultaneously at the sending and
receiving stations, this synchronism
being automatically regulated by the
starting of the sending cylinder. This |
inSures the perfect alignment, without |
which all words would be utter con-
fusion M
"Parasitee" Added PrecautIon.
M. Belin, however, has provided an |
additional precaution against mes
sage being caught by some clever radio
sharp. He has imagined that an ex-
pert at radiotelephony might have an
ear so acute as to be able to listen
to the sending of a dispatch, detect
the intervals and so reconstruct the |
message. To obviate the possibility of
such wonderful detective work he
makes the machine automatically send
throughout the intervals what every
radio sharp knows as parasites" The
effect Of this would be to discomfort
any lstener-in, for he would hear moth
ing but a b-r-r-r-r-r-r, which would pre-
vent him from hearing any intervals
at ALL
have not attempted to describe the
details of the apparatus which does
these marvels. 1t is too intricate to
explain to any but an expert; it is,
however, quite simple to one who I'M
derstands electrical machinery.
1t is evident that the actual use of
this secret apparatus must be limited;
but one can readily understand cOndi-
lions under which 1t would be invalu-
able. In wartime, for example, or
for conversations between nations
foreign office and it's ambassadors
abroad or for a big bank and it's cor
in distant cities. Nor
could an enemy or the police tap the
wires or listen in under any circum
stances. One European nation has al
'eady ordered the apparatus to be in
stalled in its state department and it's
Embassy in an important foreign cap
tall
This latest of Edouard Belin's in
ventions was hailed with respectful
by the European press
When 1t was prematurely announced
few weeks ago through some re-
marks made by Marconi. The London
Zines devoted leading editorial to
t. The cryptic makes practical just
7hat every wireless expert in the
World has been longing and hoping to z
chieve.