San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1925-09-13
WI TH0UT
WIRES SURE
To CONE!
Even Heat May Be Sent
Through Ether, Student
Feels Certain.
BY HAYDEN TALBOT.

II Wireless OF neat llEuI anu power
is today theoretically possible. 1t is
only a matter of time when 1t will
become commercially practicable
Captain j. L. Eckersley, chief en-
Sineer of the British Broadcasting
Company and Britain's foremost au-
thority on broadcasting, made this
statement today in the course OF an
5nteryiew in which he set forth the
British attitude towards the present
and future of the radio. FOR a man
whose science calls for the limit of
cold. hard-headed, automatically pre-
else conclusions Captain Eckersley
proved himself to be possessed OF as
lively an imagination and rich imag-
cry of expression as the qualntest OF
romanticists.
~Caution has been my middle name
ever since / first began the study OF
wireless" be said. But as far back
as 1913, twelve whole years ago,
write a monograph dealing with the
wireless TRANSMISSION of power. Yet
/ more than ever feel the necessity OF
urxing enthusiasts 10 go slow IN the
matter of prophecies. It it untor-
tunate from our viewpoint but 1t IS
none the less a fact that IN CONNER
cial wireless, for example, entirely
apart from broadcastiEs, TRANSMISSION
in certain instances cannot success
fully compete with the cable.
sSecrecy-while theoretically pos
sible-is still impossible so long as
commercial practically remains, as IL
must always remain the prime factor.
Even the much discussed beam, where
IL is sought 20 achieve secrecy
among other things. is not as popular
imagination visualizes it thin,
straight line running between the
point of origin direct to its des1na-
: non. The best that Senatore Mar
conf. according to his own recent
; statement. has been abb TO do IS 10
get a radiation Of as little as fifteen
degrees.
sIt is true that the greatest strength
Of the beam lies within a relatively
small lateral area, or core; nut me
fact remains that the greater the DIS
fauce from the point of origin the
more widespread the area in which
! the message may be picked up. ibis
Then is the beam in its present stage
of development-an advance 10 De
sure over telegrapby broadcasting, but
still a long way from perfection.
DAY SOON COMING
egut 10 return TO my first state
rnent. The day may come when cleo
tric light, heat and power-generated,
shall we say, in plant on the banks
of the River Shannon in Ireland--wlH
he transmitted direct 10 a receiving
station in the heart Of London, there
TO be re-transmitted by wireless TO IN
dividual consumers within the metro
politan area. Similarly Niagara Falls
might light, heat and furnish power
for New York City. The great cen
fers of population in your Middle
West and on the Pacific Coast Will
receive their electric light, heat and
mower from generating plants nun
dreds of miles distant. It is easily
conceivable that Europe may eventual
Jx he thus served from as great q
distance as the Sahara desert.
at Is another popular mistake OF
which even men familiar with wire
less are guilty TO assume that there
is a greater loss Of current over
land wire than in using the atmos-
. phere as a medium OF TRANSMISSION.
While resistance in a wire is consld-
cradle. leakage always presents, ana
less inevitable II is in each respect
quite as large a factor In transmission
BY wireless.
aAs a matter Of fact wire transmits
sion is theoretically possible OF ac-
conplishment with very small losses.
Ii is merely a matter Of voltage,
which in simple language is pressure.
Given a high enough voltage and you
can transmit any amount Of power
over q wire over any number q hun
dreds of thousands Of miles - with
negligible losses. But 10 do it you
would have 10 build insulators Of such
a size-tO prevent the current from
escaping back TO mother earth-as 10
make the capital cost Of such trans
mission line unthinkably great.
Ill is q demonstrate fact that
light from the sun traYeTses the 80
900. 900 miles separating us from her
without any diminution 10 total en-
ergy whatever. The heat. too, ar
yfves at our atmosphere without any
loss of total energy. Yet stop anc
think what n little diaphanous thing
9ike o cloud can do 10 both those
light waves and those heat waves.
The light waves just struggle through
fsometimes , in London, and the heat
waves receive a most firing jolt. But
without any clouds at sll just the
plain atmosphere plays havoc with
the suns messengers.
"Imagine, for example, the differ
enee te runner between a fast. dry
einder track and a heavy, muddy
country lane. Think, further how
much more il would slow up a sprin-
ser than il would a marathon runner.
Short waves are attenusted more rap.
idly BY material things than long
The analogy Is apt.
WIRELESS WAVES.
-The whole ether is-and always
has bcen-full OF wireless waves
mainly heat and light waves. We
have now come along and added our
own mau-made kind, but in doing il
ne have learned tremendous lot
from nature We know now that tbH
snn. fcr instance. has several wuvt
lengths allotted 20 81. For there Is
diilcfent waVc length Tor each ono
~ the nrsmatic ynlors - elise We
ghoald b. unable TO distinguish be-
tween them
Tho hear wave length is the long.
slow. casF EolRE stride Of your MARA
ihenfr ! ran force its way through
udsiacits before which the Light Wayc