GUIDANCE AT SEA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18292, 8 January 1923, Page 7

GUIDANCE AT SEA.

THE DIRECTION FINDER. TESTS ON THE TUTANEKAI. During the trip of the Government steamer Tutanekai from Wellington to Westport recently, some preliminary tests were made with the new wireless direc-tion-finding apparatus lately installed on the vessel. The equipment is intended as an aid to navigation in thick or. foggy weather. The invention has been in use for some time on the American coast, and lately also in Great Britain. The apparatus has an " ear " which is turned around until facing the direction from which the wireless signals are being sent out from a shore station. By this means a bearing is obtained which serves to guide the ship. The tests on the Tutanekai were carried out by the Government Nautical. Adviser, Commander G. Hooper, and by the Assistant-Telegraph Engineer, Mr. A. Gibbs. The results of the tests will not .be known until the data obtained has been collated. Further tests are to be made while the vessel is in the north shortly. If the apparatus proves to be effective and reliable the Government will probably adopt a system of automatic wireless signalling equipments at various points on the New Zealand coast. The shore stations would send out fixed code signals of a distinctive character from each shore station which will be as readily identified as the lights of the principal lighthouses.