Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-23


audience thought he was crazy.
He not only succeeded in getting
40-meter signals out to the Pacific
Coast but also to the British Isles,
France, Sweden, South America and
Australia and a Jew months later
was using 20.meter waves to Cali
fornia and back. AS a member of the
Naval Reserve he took a training
cruise out to Australia and coop
Grated with the naval research sta
ton at Bellevue on high frequency
tests a year or so ago during the
long voyage.
The Army is using 81 meters now
with fair success. but has better luck
with the 20 meters at night. though
1t is hoped to use around p meters
out to San Francisco after various
tests have been concluded. The trou-
BILE is, however, that the short wave
cannot be depended on. It is posi-
BILE to get San Diego today, but you
may not be able to work Baltimore.
Or you may reach Texas and have
trouble in working a nearby point in
Virginia.
This is the rub with short waves.
as far as the Government scheme OF
things is concerned, as 1t is essential
TO have constant communication at
all hours. With a certain hiEh-fre-
quency set one certain wave length
will cover a certain distance at GER
tain hours Of the day or night. This
has now been pinned down TO fairly
well known range, so that by using
a combination Of wave length you can
cover all distances at all times in the
"a hours.
This overcomes the fault OF skip
distance" about which so much has
been heard and so little Is definitely
( a
among whom may be mentioned DIR.
A. White-Taylor and Dr. Hurlbut OF
the Bellevue experiment station.
The fascinating problem OF skip
distance" is one that is actively en-
gaging the attention of the scientists
of the world in the hope Of solving
many of the present-day difficulties
of the radio problem. The great Eng
lish physicist Heaviside discussed
the probability of there being an cleo
trically conducting layer in the upper
atmosphere around the earth, and
this is now known h1s his name.
This electrical layG: is not a snugly
protecting band. by any means, as It
seems TO vary from day to night In
its distance from the earth, which is
estimated at 100 miles.
1t Is not smooth on it's under sur.
face. like a mirror. according to
AOlSs ADplElOH anu Rose OF
England and Drs. Brett and Hurl-
but of America, who have shown IL
TO be corrugated or beloved, like
waves of the sea or like cloud layers
in the sky.
Most people seem to think that this
Heaviside layer rises away from the
earth in the night and lowers toward
the earth in the day, and that it is
higher in the Winter than in the Sum-
mer They say, on the other hand,
that short waves in radio have a skip
distance that Is longer than that of
the long waves.
We know that. apparently, the
higher this Heaviside layer is, the
greater Is the skip distance for all
short waves below rs or 100 meters
Since the shorter the wave length,
the greater the skip distance. we have
evolved plan whereby the utiliza-
ton of certain combinations of wave
lengths results in putting over mes
sages anywhere, IL you figure out the
known skip distances around the
globe.
DR.. Taylor is tn exponent of this
new art. which be briefly ex.
planned by saying at If you have a
wave length, "A" hat you know is
good from midnigh until 4 in the
morning, and anotn one, 3D." that
SOCS OE uQIys 50 ~ speak, from 8
am. to am, and a third wave
length, &C." that is good from 9 to
noon, and a series of other wave
lengths to cover the rest OF the "a
hours. II is merely question of math-
ematics to put across your radio mes
sage for a particular place at a par
ticular time on high frequency.
1t is a system that might be COM
pared to that of selecting a coat. On
4w-lr- H.. -
On a bitterly cold day you wear
heavy overcoat. No one coat will "a
suitable for all occasions. both dGy
and evening, and, in the same NAH
ner, no one wave length will cover all
distances, so you pick the ones you
need.
THE Army already has an extensive
short-wave net across the coun-
try, radiating out from Washington
toward Fort Sam Houston and Fort
Leavenworth. This includes not only
the regular War Department radio
net which crosses the continent, but
also the corps net and numbers of
outside radio operators in the Ameri-
can Radio Relay League. many OF
whom have done pioneer work in the
short wave field and have interna-
tional regulations.
OF course. with new improvements
and discoveries coming in every
month. or even every week, in the
radio world, it is hardly possible to
say or feel that a given set Ought to
last lifetime as a few months will
find 1t so hopelessly outclassed by
later inventions on the market that
IL may be compared with the general
appearance of the first "horseless
buggy" and the twin-six car of mod
ern days.
Incidentally, a transmitter Of three
or four years ago is considered almost
archaic. yet the equipments of the
post Office and at the radio central
are both of period Of several years
back. which is the more remarkable
when it is considered that they are
both located in the very center OF
their respective radio systems, with
the largest responsibilities toward
smaller stations elsewhere.
The radio station at Arlington,
whose towers are familiar to the resi-
dents of Washington, is not the most
important nor the highest powered
station in the country. but 1t is one
Of the most modern and is soon to
have an ultra modern installation
known as the "Cornet," which will be
crystal controlled. The Arlington sta
ton has certain or positive operations
to all United States ships and posses
sions, as 1t has two 20-kilowatt tubes
and transmitters.
One of these was a broadcasting set
that was recently transferred to the
Navy Yard, and this. to-
gether with one Of the dot-and-dash.
has been designated by
the Bureau OF Standards as maintain
ing sufficient constant frequency on
their wave lengths to enable the use
of dial sets and wave metera.