VIA WIRELESS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLII, Issue 210, 4 September 1911, Page 11

VIA WIRELESS.

A Wi3TOI HIGH-POWER STATION. PROBABLE nOS XT KINETY ACRES OF WIRE. Ojy T el K grapl..-I^^ utarr "porter.) WELLINGTON, i:.i< 'lay. W " U , .n.i bv «M» .'I winded, So-; hj under very h--;-- "-- nheiie condition*, com.. t .»• •' onKm from .he present n.ta ation » „ nf the Wellington post ollu-c 10 n SUI. of 5 r COO mile-, fortuitous Stance eaters 1ar,,1, m... t:.e £ ran.-eni.nt. Tue himtvou.ii,; hill, bera =,, ,„.. Nation n11:1 lh" "••'-'" arc a tvvW n the u „b-..rl>ent- and crr ious hnnd.aip as i.i\ iiu , J detriment it « "oped *«' " v,rco '» r.h bv the removal ol the mstullat to the top of the Tinakori hills. S outer world along the ether wave ill however, bo situate not at the it. of the ca.miry.but at .1,. Bluff S the extreme sooth, nml at Awanu , " thc far north. At Avvanui, . id] iq peven or eight miles distant " ron , Doubtles- Hay. and near Kaitaia, the tt* of forming the mad approaches the bin station is already m the hands of the Works Department, and everything should bo ready for the eon-trae-torß ,o make a start wilt ill... erection of the wireless plant by November. ••The erection of this apparatus will be a prettv big job.'" remarked Sir Joseph Ward' in the course of a conversation tudar; " for it means that n:ii"ty aires of wire lattice have to be enctid. somethlllg in the shape of a huge it; 'irolla. the centre-stick cf «"iich will he a pole. [our hundred feet in Lc : ght. The area to be covered is. to be exact, a square 2000 ft. by 2000 ft., and the mass of swing fag wire's that arc to catch the sound waves and transmit their messages to th« ,;.! 'ely tuned instruments awaitj,-,.. i : ..-v ■.*■:!! be supported by scores of 1...... .■!•,!.-*, -'i varying in length that ; ;„. it,..!. ;; -■ . .: will look very much lUi. c ,'. ■:'.'.. ' !■• ■•■• "V'>n dome. The contract u'me :" .r ih-> . :nrvletion of this installation i A.!-':•• next, fifteen months from tlv ''..'' ?•< ••! 'he signing of the contract, but it - cMotidently anticipated that the erection of the station will be finished by about April or May. "As to the radius,'' said the Postmas-ter-General, when questioned on iho sub. iect, "the guaranteed range for the transmitting of messages from this hi'jhpower station is li">0 miles, day or night, but there is little doubt that 'this ratiir'will he easily doubled at night; in fact, I do not think anyone knows Low | on erful the station \\..i really be. There Eeems to be little question, however, thai, ve shall often be able to pick up South America. A rather remarkable thing about this wireless telegraphy is that it is (rood for a much longer distance north and south than cast and west, and when we get the Bluff station erected 1 shall be nurprised if we do not have pretty , mB continuous wireless communication ' men South America by way of the South Pole. The rthergrams will travel due south right across the Pole, and north again to the Continent. In this way we shall be able to pick up South America every time," said Sir Joseph. Another peculiarity about wireless is that it is very difficult to get it to worksatisfactorily across the equator. As a matter of fact, the working distance for transmission is reduced to an astonishing extent anywhere in thp region of the equator, so that under the present state of development to which this my.sterious medium of talking has reached it would be well-nigh impossible for a station of the utmost attainable power in New Zealand to keep in touch with, say, the Vancouver or San Francisco mail steamer after they had crossed the equatorial line on their way north, or to pick them up before having entered the southern hemisphere. THE GISBORNE INSTALLATION. The machinery to b e used in connection with uirtloss installation at Gtsborne is now on order, and is expected to arrive at Wellington in the course of a few days, so the PostmasterGeneral (Sir Joseph Ward), informed your representative to-uay. As the outcome of the chief telegraph engineer's recent visit to Oisborne, it had been decided to erect the installation on the Government block at the rear of the Post Office. The scheme provides for the erection of two masts, each 150 feet in height, from which the aerial will be supended. Special timber is required for the lattice work masts, and this was also on order. Th« only matter that was delaying the work was the question of the new Departmental building shortly to erected in Oisborne. The Oisborne station, the Minister went o n to say. would have a guaranteed rang,, of from 000 to 800 miles.' while the daylight range would be about half that distance. As a matter of fact, the station would be the same as the present Wellington installation, which had proved to be of a much larger range, exactly how far they could not yet tell definitely.