Evening star., 1939-11-26


guished scientist of the United Sta
headquarters in the Commerce De-
partment Building. For more than
two wears he worked on the sono-
radio buoy, as he calls his brain
child, before it reached its present
state of perfection. He did not take
out patent on it, since he devel-
oped it solely for the best interests OF
navigation. The United States Navy
expects to adopt the SIR. B. within
the very near future as standard
equipment for use in its regular
photographic work.
Actually, the buoy serves as an
ocean-going broadcasting station
that flashes regular program
through the ether waves, carries no
advertisements, uses no music and
employs robot announcer. Auto
matte messages, emanating from
the buoy bobbing up and down on
the waves, instantly show the posi-
ton OF ship at any desired point
while the vessel moves along at it's
regular speed.
Mr.. Dorsey Explains.
In order to appreciate the tremen-
dous practical importance of all
this, let's have a bit of explanation
from Mr.. Dorsey himself:
MY field work with the survey is
primarily concerned with the max
Ing of nautical charts. Few people
realize the great value of such
charts to the entire world. Not only
do they give the positions of land,
lighthouses and buoys, but the
depth Of the water, so that the nav
igator may know if it will be safe to
pilot his ship along certain courses
and channels.
THE worlds commerce is carried
on largely by shipping, and in a
single year cargoes passing to and
from the port of New York alone
may be transported by as many as
5000 ships having registered ton
mage upward of 100000. While
the port of New York is the worlds
largest, having a combined value OF
imports and exports approaching
$4,000,000,000 annually, there are
hundreds of other harbors busy all
the time with incoming and outgo-
Ing ships. This great international
traffic is dependent on one method
OF guidance-the nautical chart
Remove all charts with their in
formation, and shipping everywhere
would be at a standstill-that is,
unless some speedy method was at
hand for visually positioning the
modern networks of buoys, radio
beacons and other aids to naviga-
ton, conditions would become cha
otic, reverting to pioneer days, when
there were no charts.
I'm making nautical chart, there
must be known, first, the shore line
showing the relation of prominent
objects and points of land with ref
erence to the rest of the earth's sur
face; second, the position of the sur
Vey ship with reference to the shore
line, and, third, the depth of the
water.
AeA6AiO A2S1S 40 WllSlC llly 1l1NCll.
ton enters the navigation picture;
In a few words, it is an automatic
transmitting station sealed inside
an alright container in a buoy.
Uses Depth Bomb.
Suppose one of Uncle Sans
ocean surveyors, connected with the
Coast and Geodetic Survey, wants
to make a series of soundings ir
Chesapeake Bay. His first procedure
Is to throw off the side of his shir
depth bomb containing about g
pound of TINT. He gets his location
by simply checking his photographic
sheet with the relative position oi
two or more sono-radio buoys which
are placed in definite, known posi-.
ton.
Each SIR. B. weighs about 30t
pounds. 1t consists of two barrels
or drums, the upper one containing
the broadcasting apparatus.
Inside this are radio trans.
mitter and an amplifier. So, whel
the sound of that depth bomb goe'
hurtling through the water and il
received by a magnetaphone at
tached to the lower part of tn
buoy and hanging down from it a
to 60 feet into the water, it i
amplified sufficiently to actuate tn
radio transmitter In the buoy. In
stantly, the latter sends radio
signal which is received in the sur
vey ship and makes mark on tn,
tape of an automatic recording de
vice known as chronograph.
"The chronograph also records tn
precise instant at which the bonn
Is fired. From this chronograpl
tape, the ocean survey can measur
the time interval between the firin
of the bomb and the receipt of tn
radio signal. knowing the velocit
of sound in water, which Is roughl