WIRELESS WIZARDRY.

Auckland Star, Volume LII, Issue 55, 5 March 1921, Page 17

WIRELESS WIZARDRY.

WONDERFUL DEVELOPMENTS.

I (By '-SPAKKS.") I The arrivr-.l of Ar.ma ir Anclei land a fortnight ago brought to lis;ht the interesting fat that in future Riitsh >'iir-: are to carry three wireless ! 'pi-rst.-irs. At the prefers time most ships i liavr two operator!!, and as it U abso- '■ luu'lv necessary that a rontimiutis ■ watch bo kept, the arduous task of VI , hour? per day listening intent ly. with ! ears p.nd receptive faculties strained to j operators. With thnv men to manionlate the instruments an.l to ostablU 1 ! communication with the out-ile world the task will be le?=enrd. n'.th the conso ivenfe that each man po;iis on ! watch' wH! .ho fi-c-~W ni-.-l n-.-re able In I keen keen watch nr 1 to further ensure j th" safety of the -hip. Wireless, the "d'ont service." is Ftiil much regarded as a niacio woH. The I man in the street recncni-'i , little in the I word beyond an indi.ation that it is I possible to communicate between two I points without the medium of •wire, yet lin wireless telegraphy lies one of the 'greatest utilities invented to .benefit the I prfblic Doubtle-s-s a few years hence all telegraph work w'll l>e revolutionised and a system of wireless communication inaugurated. Wireless telephones are now in a st-ate which can almost safely be described as perfection. A I short while ago a "wireless concert" •was 1 given in the saloon of the JJ.M.s. Victorian, when the vessel was f>oo mjles j -f rom land en route to America. Madam* j MeTba sang into a telephone at fhe Chclmsford. works of the Marconi Com- ' pany, and the son? was transmitted by j wireless to the aerials of the R.M.S. Victorian, and after Ibeing mngniSed in sound was distinctly heard from the telephone in the saloon. Another branch of radio science which is rapidly Hearing perfection is the , transmission of photographs by means !of radio telegraphy. The photographs iof the race for the. American C\i\> were published in the '"Daily Mirror" and the I ''Daily Sketch" a few hours after the ; race was finished in Sew York. By means of a telegraphic cod? the photograplis were transmitted by cable to I London. Few people are aware that wireless waves travel with the same I speed as light, 156.000 miles per second. '■ At this rate a signal from England i would be received in Xew Zealand in i considerably under 1-10 second after its I dispatch. Photographs and news items ! from the 'English papers could be I printed in the ''Auckland Stai" tra prei cisely the same day. Navigation by wireless has row reached an astonishing dcjrxee of accuracy. The sextant is threatened by the radio compass. During the war the most deadly enetnv of t-lie submarine was the wireless direction finding ! station. The high telefunken note of ! the German direction installation is i easily roo-iprr.isable, and the men in tie I direction fimirng stations were listening I with senses strained f >r the least sugjfee'tion of "'enemy wireless activity.' . The I German could not remain neglected; his ; Teuton t:a;t of vaing'.or'oiisncss must be satisned by the knowledge that the British Xavy knew he was on the warpith. Ever} - day the submarine would break sr.rfao-; and erect his wireless aerials. Thsn would follow an exchange o! boastings with a fellow sub. If another "lir.S«h"' were not in the vicinity then Fritz's tsultant "Hymn of Hate", would be h? -Adeastcd f/ir everyone to hear. A to -Ji#h dcßance would t'rackV from his nf■■•! jI. "Sunk Majestic in hat. r>il.27.\\ 1 >ng. 14.18W, Oott ~tr.!i> England."' The German was ",-j iearn that "cilence is golden.'' The operators in ihe direction rinding station adjusted tL»ir radio compasses until the signals of I'ritz's boasting were loudest in the telephones, and noted the reading indicated on the instrument. This was telegraphed to Whitehall, and conveyed to them the bearing of the submarine. The bearing was marked off from the direction finding station, the position of which was exactly known, and on a chart it waa easily seen in what direction he lay. The difficulty was, "How far away is he in that direction ':" This stumbling block was removed by installing other stations which could also take bearings on the submarine. Each of theee bearings was telegraphed to the Admiralty and was plotted on a. chart. At a. certain point they all intersected: to this intersection a destroyer was dispatched at full speed, and in all probability another unit of the Kaiser's "world cenquerhig , fleet" was scattering its steel on the muddy bottom of the Xorth Sea Wireless telegraphy at sea is one of the most interesting things in the world: the operator sitting in his cabin can hear across space, and the magnetic wireless waves travelling with the speed of light, impervious to the elements, defying the strongest and most terrible of storms, bring closer to civilisation the email coluny tossing on the waves of that most subtle of mistresses—the sea. The types of wireless sets fitted on boats varies with the class of ship. On the Atlantic liners the latest wireless set consists of a "continuous wave, valve transmission" set, which has already transmitted messages for a distance of 1200 miles in daylight, using an output of less than 1 kilowatt (approx. 1 horsepower), while the receiving set is capable of copying press from England with the greatest ease at 3000 miles. Oirgo boats have smaller sets especially installed for communication when long distance working is not a necessity. In every way wireless is rapidly extending its field of marvellous usefulness, and it is little -to expect in the near future that aji Imperial Scheme station be erected in New Zealand for direct communication with England.