WARNING DEVICE.
AMERICAN INVENTION. RADIO TRANSMITTER. LEVEL CROSSING SAFETY. Open railway crossing* yearly claim a heavy toll among motorists in all parts of the worid. In U.S.A., the casualties are particularly heavy—lß7s deaths and 5136 injuries being recorded in that country last year —as the result of accidents at railway crossings. With the object of eliminating these casualties, a new device which embodies a radio warning, has been patented in U.S.A. The device consists of an automobile radio receiver which performs the dual service of warning the automobile driver of an approaching train and furnishing the usual broadcast programmes.
The warning signal is emitted by a small compact transmitter located at the railway crossing and actuated by approaching trains. Tlie transmitter ie designed to minimise the radiation field, so that the range is limited to a short distance of about 100 ft from the antenna. The latter ie strung along the road for about one-quarter mile on each side of the crossing, so that the driver has ample time to stop the car, regardlees of speed.
The portion of the receiver used for amplifying the warning signal is auto-
matically turned on when the car is started. Reception of broadcast signals is optional at all times, but they are automatically shut off or blocked out by the warning signal from an approaching train, so that the unmistakable warning tone commands in&tant attention. A distinct and different tone is emitted for trains moving in opposite directions on double tracke, to prevent drivers from crossing just after one train has passed, and another is approaching from the opposite direction. The device, when subjected to demonstration testa, is reported to have functioned perfectly. The price of the improved auto-radio set in U.S.A. will be practically the same as that of an ordinary auto-radio and the cost of the small low-power transmitters at the crossings is also very low, so that the item of cost is not likely to etop the installation of this positive protection against motor accidents at railroad crossings.
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Bibliographic details
Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 192, 16 August 1938, Page 16
Word Count
338
WARNING DEVICE.
Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 192, 16 August 1938, Page 16
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