RUGBY OR BEAM?

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 74, 28 March 1930, Page 7

RUGBY OR BEAM?

WIRELESS TELEPHONY

Comparison of Costs Favours

Rugby.

DEBATE IN COMMONS.

(British Official Wireless.)

RUGBY, March 27,

In the House of Commons yesterday Sir E. Hilton Young (Con., Sevenoaks, Kent) drew attention to the decision o£ the Government to develop overseas wireless telephony through the Post Office station at Rugby without the co-operation of the Imperial and International Communications Company. The member said this great public utility corporation was formed in order to co-ordinate and rationalise the cable and wireless systems for overseas communications. The Postmaster-General, Mr. H. B. Lees-Smith, . said the Government's decision had not been reached on the grounds of any political doctrine, but in consideration of the national interests. The late Government had leased the beam stations, with wireless telegraphy, to the Communications Company, but had reserved to itself the future or wireless telephony. , The late Government, and the Imperial Conference, had deliberately refused to give any undertaking that they would use the beam service stations for future telephony development. The position when he came into office was that there were two alternatives. The first was to use the beam stations. -Their advantages were that they had equipment and, therefore, it seemed obvious that by combining telegraphy and telephony in one eet of apparatus economical results could be achieved. The other alternative was that at Eugby. He found a great wireless service already in existence and the greatest commercial overseas telephonic service in the world. The question was, what with reductions in overhead charges and so j on, whether rationalisation at Rugby did not give greater advantages than communication vby single instrument at a beam station. Marconi System Costly. The aerial masts at the Marconi stations ran up to about 280 feet in height whereas the masts at Rugby were between 120 and 150 feet high. The high mast' system cost roughly £34,000 and the low mast system only about £3500.

Any loss of power attendant on the low masts at Rugby had been made "■ood by the development of a very powerful transmitter. So that', taking the transmitter and the aerial together, system gave even more power than the Marconi system.

If they were going to give valuable service all over the world they must have more than one wave-length. Three wave-lengths were necessary for a reliable service. A ' new wave-length meant a new aerial. With the cheap Rugby aerial the Government got a cheap wave-length.

The Rugby system gave great economic land lines. In order to operate the wireless system they must have a system of land lines from a central trunk exchange in London to the wireless station. Those land lines were very expensive and by concentrating all their services on one site they saved considerable money.

In addition Rugby and Baldock were a great deal nearer to London than Grimsby, Skegness, Bodmin and Bridgwater, where the beam stations' were situated. So that, while the beam stations required 4192 miles of circuit, Rugby and Baldock required only 785 miles. Comparing the use of the Rugby system with the best offer made by the Communications Company there would bo a saving of £20,000 to £30,000. > The Postmaster-General added that the Government had recently heard from the Canadian Government that it preferred a direct service with Britain to a service via New York. That would be provided. The Government' also was willing to open a service with Argentina as soon as the House gave its authority to do so. '■ Negotiations with the Egyptian Government were making satisfactory progress.