WIRELESS TO M.P.'S.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17294, 18 October 1919, Page 2 (Supplement)

WIRELESS TO M.P.'S.

SPEAKING- WITH AEROPLANES. Members and officials of both Houses of Parliament enjoyed a new and fascinating experience in London recently. They were invited by Major-General Seely to witness a demonstration of the wonders or wireless telephony by the Roval Air Force, and the result was a thoroughly convincing revelation of the progress science has achieved in this direction. One of the House of Lords committeerooms had been specially fitted up for the occasion, and when members assembled they found confronting them a varied collection of electrical apparatus in charge of a number of Royal Air Force officers. With this installation achievements were performed which showed that not only is it possible to hold wireless conversations over considerable distances—that fact, of coarse, was established some time ii.qo—but also to make all that is spoken dearly audible to an audience without the necessity of providing each listener with a receiver. F.arly in the proceedings the operators intercepted a message from the Eiffel Tower, which was sttaed to be an order intended for Bnda Pesth. *' Obviously this message ought to have been in code," remarked General Seely, amid laughtr. Tunes on the Sramaphone. For the purpose of the demonstration the "other end" "was the wireless telephony I station at Aperfield Court, situated about

20 miles south-south-east of London, and, having been, "called up," the operators there transmitted a series of gramaphone tunes for the entertainment of the select audience at Westminster. The tune came through the intervening spt,ce with a varying degree of success, for, whilst a waltz which was being played at Aperfield Court was heard so distinctly at St. Stephen's as to provoke the remark.*" You could dance to this music quite well," a Tchaikowsky selection came out a-<i a weirdly inharmonious musical effort. " Shall we ask them to play (something popular'" said Genera] Seely, and the audience chorused assent. This conversation followed:— Operator at' Westminster: "Hello, ' Dollars' (the code name for Aperfield Court), will you give us 'Take a Pair of Sparkling Eyes?' " Operator at Aperfie.ld: "Hello, Houses of Parliament; ' A Pair of Sparkling Eyes' coming up now." Flying Twenty Miles Away. The song duly came through, and was voted a great success. In preparation for the great feature of the orogrammeholding conversations with airmen whilst flying 20 miles away at a speed of a hundred miles per hour—it became necessary to talk to Aierfield (eourt. Accordingly General Seeh took up the transmitter and said: "■Could you tell us when the machines are likely to go up?" In less than a minute the reply came, loud enough for everybody in the room to hear. "Hello, Houses of Parliament; machines going up at live ' pip einma,' according to your instructions.'' General Seely made the comment that this was, he was told, the first occasion on which it had been publicly demonstrated that it «as possible to speak from a long distance, without intervening wires, loud enough to be heard by in assembly like that. Message Received Instantly.

Presently it was ascertained that the ; aeroplanes were in flight, and Boon conversations were being exchanged with the observers. " Hello, Newport (one of the observers), can you hear uie: 11 you, can, reply," called the operator. The . message must have reached the aeroplane iin a flash, for a moment later th e voice of the observer was heard calling : " Hello, Parliament. We are now on our way. We are approaching the river." Many other messages were sent and replied to, including one 'phoned by General >eely inviting the airmen to dine with him at the House of Commons. "We thai! be very pleaded to do so," came the, prompt response. One of the observers sang a song into the transmitter on his machine whilst in flight, and the words came through clearly. At the request of An- Vice-Marshal Sir Hugh Trenchard, some poetry was recited at Aperfield Court and *' wirelessed" to Westminster. It was mentioned in the course of the proceedings that the Air Force, began operating wireless telephony in 1915, and that the system had proved of great service during the war. The force was now ; concentrating its efforts on securing imi provemonta in direction and selectivity.