ANTARCTIC RADIO

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 50, 22 November 1928, Page 10

ANTARCTIC RADIO

BYRD EXPEDITION MARVELS

KEEPING CONTACT WITH

HOME

In its wonderful aeroplanes and -radio,- tbe Byrd Expedition carries equipment that no previous Antarctic venture was fortunate enough to possess. Aviation and wireless telegraphy had not developed sufficiently far in the days of Scott, Shackleton, and Mawson to be of practical value. Today the Byrd Expedition carries the very latest developments of scienceJn aviation and radio to wrest scientific secrets from the vast unknown spaces of the Antarctic.

In its radio equipment the expedition has been backed by the best brains in the United States and by the experience gained in wireless work in the Arctic and on trans-Atlantic flights. Commander Byrd has written that the United" States Navy has assisted with the radio work “as much as the law will allow.”

Ou the flight to the Pole, says Commander Byrd in “Skyward,’’.the flying done after the last base is passed will be hazardous, of course, because should there be a forced landing with the ’plane out of commission, our ability to return to the nearest base would be very far from a certainty. In such an. emergency we shall have to depend upon radio and the reserve ’plane's. If our bases are far enough along we may be able to hike back to the nearest, one. But here is another unknown quantity. AVe shall take a kite with us in order to send radio messages back to the base and receive them. . . . AVe shall use on our ’plane a set similar to the one that did such fine work on our trans-Atlantic flight. This, a regular navy set, modified for our use by AV. E. Hansen and Hylan, very capable naval radio engineers, used a wave length of about 600 metres. . . . AVe shall have also on the ’plane a small auxiliary high-frequency, short-wave set of -about 40 metres, with a storage battery or a hand-crank generator, so that we can get back to base in case we have to land on the ice. The shortwave, high-frequency sets are generally preferred in the Arctic, for they can carry great distances with small power and an aerial of a few feet in height. Captain S. C. Hooper, U.S.N., one of the greatest radio experts in the world, especially on radio equipment for ’planes, is giving the expedition the benefit of his-expert advice and help.” Long Range Radio. - The supply ships City of New York and Eleanor Bolling are equipped with long wave and high frequency short wave radio plants, and a similar shore station will be set up at the Bay of Whales,' on the Ice Barrier, by means of which' the expedition will be kept in daily communication with the outside world. It is from this.station .that the doings of the expedition will be reported direct to the “New York Times” office. ■-> ■ • ■ ■ The Byrd Expedition is fortunate in having the co-operation of the Norwegian whalers, C. A. Larsen and Sir James Clark Ross, which operate in the Ross Sea during the summer months; The ships afford the expedition an’important safety factor. The C. A. Larsen has the most powerful radio equipment of any merchant ship and is able to communicate daily from the Ross Sea with Bergen, Norway, 14,000 miles away. Weekly Broadcast from Home. On October 6, about two weeks after the- City of New York left. Panama Canal for Dunedin, the Westinghouse Electric Company’s -radio station KDKA, at-Pittsburgh, started a regular Saturday night broadcast for the members of the expedition. According to the “New York . Times,” Captain Melville, master of the City of New York, reported to'KDKA that the highfrequency broadcast transmission from that station was received satisfactorily by the ship, which was 2000 miles south-west of Balboa? In a special message to the “New York Times,” Dr. Francis B, Coman reported by wireless.from the City ofNew York: “Probably very few ships have both .morning and evening newspapers such as we have from the ‘New York Times’ and the ‘Sah Francisco Examiner.’ . And without doubt no ship’s crew ever found it so easy to keep in almost constant touch with friends at home. Several of the men have arranged schedules with their wives and are able to have radio conversations with them in San Francisco, Chicago, Washington, and New York. Some of the unmarried among us view such facility of communication with mixed feeling.” Expressing gratitude for the arrangements made for a weekly broadcast from KDKA, Commander Byrd telegraphed to the AVestinghouse Company before leaving San Pedro: “In initiating this weekly broadcast of messages from families and friends at home I am reminded of the unusual success that the AVestinghouse Company has met .with in getting through similar programmes to polar expeditions in the Arctic regions. This lends a feeling of confidence that we may look for results, equally as good in the Antarctic. ... It is almost unreasonable to expect that we have not made a few mistakes, but in the main I am sure that we have anticipated our almost every need, thanks to the loyal work of the entire personnel of the expedition. One of the principal reasons for the great care of preparation has been for the safety of my shipmates. That is the best way to show my deep appreciation of the sacrifices their families have made in making it possible for them to join our expedition.” Thus, although the shore party of the expedition on the Ice Barrier will spend more than a year 2300 miles south of New Zealand, their radio equipment will enable them not only to keep the world informed of their adventures,but als to keep in touch with their families and friends in their homes in America 10,000 miles away. That will do much to destroy the feeling of isolation and loneliness that has pervaded previous Antarctic ventures.