THE DEMON STATIC

Manawatu Times, Volume LII, Issue 6454, 11 November 1927, Page 11

THE DEMON STATIC

HOW IT ORIGINATES. The,chief reason that it Is so difficult to eliminate static is that it comes from so. many different sources of disturbances. It is as though Nature were ending from thousands of radio stations of her own, tuned to all possible wave-lengths and frequently of great power. The result is, since static comes in on all wavelengths. that no matter where w© tune our receiving-set it is impossible to avoid it.

Th only difference between tbe static waves and the waves from radio stations is that static is very broadly tuned. This enables sharplytuned receivers to discriminate to a certain extent in favour of the radio signals; but even at best this affords very little help. Static, we believe, is generally cause! by electrical discharges in the atmosphere. Much of it undoubtedly comes from lightning and nonluminous discharges in thunder clouds. In regard to non-lumlnous discharges from thunder clouds, it has been suggested in England that tjie cloud may discharge quite as readily to the upper conducting atmospheric layers as to the earth. Mr. Watson Watt, who for some years has been conducting ( in England an investigation into the origin of static, has concluded that in only about 33 per cent.,: of the. cases given could thunderstorms be identified as the sources of these disturbances, hut that,in 75 per cent, the sources were rain areas of some kind.