RADIO RESEARCH IN ANTARCTIC

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27896, 18 February 1956, Page 11

RADIO RESEARCH IN ANTARCTIC

MODERN EQUIPMENT ABOARD ARNEB

DEMONSTRATION TO N.Z. ARMY Some of the most up-to-date radio equipment produced for the United States Army—much of it still under security restrictions—is being carried in the U.S. Naval transport Arneb. which sailed from Lyttelton this week for Wellington. During the Arneb’s 10-day stay in Wellington this equipment will be demonstrated to New Zealand Army officers to give them an insight into the latest developments in the signals field. Mr Bud Waite, the U.S. Army Signal Corps scientist who has been directing the experiments in the Antarctic, said that the work which had been done on this expedition would be of the greatest assistance to the research and development staff at the Fort Monmouth Signal Corps laboratories. “We have been testing radio equipment in the Arctic for the last eight years, and have found that the use of the upper bracket frequencies—in the range of 70 megacycles—gave us over frozen terrain about two and a half times the coverage we w’ould expect in the temperate zones.” said Mr Waite. “We have not until now known the reason why. Our work on this expediton has given us some of (he answers.” The more rugged terrain in the Arctic had made it much more difficult to cai ry out suitable tests. In Greenland, he said, his technicians would have to go 30 miles or more to get a location, and even then might not obtain the results thev were seeking. Best Conditions For Tests “But down here in the Antarctic we could set up our gear almost alongside the ships.” said Mr Waite. “ ‘Winterisation’ is my specialty and I found that the Antarctic provided the best conditions for my tests. "About 80.000 to 100.000 models of each new set developed by the Signal Corps is produced, and they are used all over the world. In the event of Arctic or Antarctic campaigns we must know how these sets would behave. Each set must be able to operate in temperatures from 50 degrees below zero to 150 degrees above.” As part of his experiments in wave propagation Mr Waite’s team laid out a path a mile long. At either end they dug a hole—about 20ft deep—and placed a set in it. Thev then tested these sets, using different power, a number of different aerials and varying frequencies. “From the surface of the earth the temperature drops as you go deeper.” said Mr Waite. “Then, when you reach a certain depth, it begins to rise avain until it reaches a temperature—in the Antarctic—about one or tw’o degrees below freezing point. The point at which the temperature changes is known as the temperature inversion point and causes ducting, leading the radio waves along as if between two mirrors—between the surface and the temperature inversion layer.’ he said. “This ducting occurs in all parts of the world. I went 20ft ?a£ p , dnwn there, but I want to go 40ft deep to get further data ” Mr Waite will place the results of this season’s experiments before the staff at Fort Monmouth on his return, and will be back in the Antarctic for further tests when the task force goes south next summer.