Evening star., 1929-12-14
SPECIAL ANTENNA
ISUSED FOR BYRD
Stars Party Will Be Broad
cast Over DirectionaI
Device to Antarctic.

A special directional antenna will bt
used by WGY's short wave station
2XAF tonight to transmit The Stars
Christmas radio party to Comdr. Rich
ard E. Byrd and his companions at the
bottom of the world"
The antenna already has been named
for Comdr. Byrd, for it is used only
for the purpose of transmitting pro-
grams to the Byrd party at Little
America. Bay of Whales, Antarctica.
It's peculiar construction increases the
directional power of the short waves 10
times, making a 20-kilowatt station
equivalent to 200 kilowattS in effective
ness in one direction.
Assure Reliability Of Reception.
The Byrd antenna is DR.. E. F. w.
+Alexanderson's contribution to happi-
ness of the expedition personnel as they
winter through the long Antarctic night.
In erec&ng this special antenna; Cen
eral Electric Co. engineers are bringing
to the Byrd broadcasts the latest de-
vices known to the art to promote re-
liability of reception.
This particular antenna was used for
the first time March %, and within is
minutes after the conclusion Of the
program, VIA, the Byrd transmitter,
reported in code that the entire pro-
gram had been received through loud
speaker.
The Byrd antenna is of the horizontal
checkerboard type and is similar to the
radiator construction for program
transmission to Germany and for fac
simile developmental work with the
Pacific Coast. It is one of dozen or
more antennae which sway above the
54-acre transmitter laboratory at South
Schenectady. These antennae hang
from steel masts from $50 to 300 feet
high, from plain wooden mastS and from
maSts with cross bars, not unlike scaf-
folds i'll appearance. orc n arily,
W2XAF, the 81 .48 meter transmitter of
WGY, uses a vertical antenna about SO
feet in length. The new antenna is ac-
tually II antennae in one, consisting Of
two sections of a checkerboard, each
section made up of three squares. One
section is known as a reflector. Only
the horizontal wires of the system func-
ton as antennae, the vertical wires
being for support or power transmits
sion to radiating wires.
Ground Wave Is Absorbed.
The horizontal antenna was developed
following years of research along lines
suggested by DR.. AlexanderSon, con-
sulting engineer of the General Electric
Co. The effectiveness and carrying
power of horizontally polarized radiation
were discovered by DR.. Alexanderson in
1924. When transmitting with hori-
zontally polarized waves the so-called
ground wave is quickly absorbed, leaving
only the high angle radiation which in
its carrying power appears superior to
the vertically polarized wave. With the
horizontally polarized system it is pos
sible to shoot most of the energy into
the air and, with the antenna now in
use, to direct the greater part of this
energy in any desired direction instead
Of dissipating it in every direction over
comparatively small area.
The use of horizontal antennae in
facsimile work has assisted immeasur-
ably in assuring transmission to tile
Pacific Coast. Both German and Eng
lish radio observers have reported a
great increase in signal strength of
short wave broadcast signals when the
horizontal antenna system is used.