OVERSEAS WIRELESS TALK.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 46, 24 February 1927, Page 11

OVERSEAS WIRELESS TALK.

LONDON TO NEW YORK. SUCCESSFUL but costly. CHARGE OF £5 PER MINUTE.

<j|ie wonders of wireless are demoncrated in an article which appeared in the York '"'Tribune.'' January 8. which says: '"Business was transacted yesterday by radiophone across the Atlantic. I- i- ie commercial open-

in* of the ove-rvas wireless telephone. Conference? were held on business deals,

Ar? coeds bought and sold, the!"' ' - . I \\ movements of a British army in China j were discussed, conversations were held | j, on the box office values of a musical j u comedy. Ne.v Year felicitations were ex- j n changed, and speakers marvelled in t . gerious and jocular vein at the outward j pjgh of science which at last >.ad per- 0 mirted New York to telephone to London o ver an air and wire triangular circuit k 7190 miles long." The radio service was formally opened } it New York with LSidon at 5.42 by v j{ r . Walter S. Gifi'ord. president of the fl American Telegraph and Telephone Com- d pany. He spoke from the twenty-sixth a floor of the A.T. and T. Buildings at 195, Broadway. Now York, to Sir George Evelyn -!'• Murray, secretary of tlie i: General Post Oliice of Great Britain, a Bush Buildings. London. Mr. Clifford's i: first words were "Hello, London!'' That fi query was carried by ordinary land wires 1 to Rocky Point, where in a field of 6 weeds six towers rise. There it was a transmitted to a broadcasting machine. £ the vital component of which is a quartz t crystal four-tenths of a millimeter in 1' diameter. Passing through the tuning f coils, the message was launched on t'ne c 3500 miles air-way over the sea to a receiving station at Wroughton, England, from which it was conveyed by; land wires to London, the whole time of •! transmission being a fraction of a j 6econd. Sir Evelyn replied with "Yes." which was carried on land wires t»i! Bugby. when it was transmitted more ■ thai 2000 miles across the sea to be! i picked up at Houlton, and then put on j < land wires running down the New En?- I land coast to New York. • ~ i Low Area Pressure. The Vfcgaries of aerial transmission ] were at once disclosed, for after the two j , speakers had exchanged "Good Morning," t a low area of pressure which had been j moving across the Atlantic for the last , two days, reached the air line and there , was a crackling sound. An electrician in • the Telephone Buildings immediately ; threw a switch, and, instead of the next message going down to Rocky Point, it was sent to an emergency station at Dael, N.J., and from that point crossed the Atlantic on a low 22-meter wave, more effective in heavy atmosphere than the 5000-meter wave used by the Rocky! Point station. ' ; In the first hour and a-half after the j opening of the service a numbr of im- j portant commercial calls passed between j London and New York. One call was from the "Herald-Tribune" to its London bureau, suggesting an assignment. The London correspondent, in honour of the first message received, opened a bottle of champagne near the mouthpiece of his 'phone, and the pop of the cork was heard in New York. Wall Street also used the new service soon after it opened, and put through transactions involving six million dollars in five different currencies. The first transaction was a purchase amounting to £1,000,000. Later in the day the Mayor of New York sent greetings to the Lord Mayor of London. Real Neighbours. In his message to London, Mr. Gifford said: "No one can forsee the ultimate significance of this latest achievement of science and organisation. It will eeriainly facilitate business; it will be a social convenience and comfort, and through the close bond which it establishes, it will promote better understanding and strengthen the ties of friendship. Through the spoken word, aided by the personality of the voice, the people of New York, and the people of London, will beeome neighbours in a real sense, although separated by thousands of miles." Sir Evelyn Murray, in the course of his reply, referred to the difficulties still to be overcome before the trans-Atlantic service could attain the requisite standard of regularity and reliability. trans-Atlantic conversations would be He hoped, however, that before long the available not only to citizens of London *nd New York, but to every telephone subscriber in both countries. The use of the new service will be restricted to important matters for the Present, owing to the fact that the cost ">rks out at about £5 per minute.