WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1610, 7 January 1903, Page 58

WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY

MELBOURNE, January 4. The Imperial Government has suggested that the Commonwealth should not accept any proposal to establish the wireless telegraph system without first consulting it. In aocordanco with this suggestion, the Common weal tli Government has declined a proposal by the Marconi Company to establish a system between. Australia and New Zealand. RECENT EXPERIMENTS. Experiments in wireless telegraphy were carried out on board tlie Italian warship Carlo Alberto during the months of July, August and September of last year. The apparatus was presented to the Carlo Alberto on its visit to England by Signor Marconi, who himself superintended its installation. It consisted of two of the recently-invented Marconi receivers, with a metallic powder coherer, by means of which the signs are registered upon the ribbon of an ordinary Morse machine, to which was added three magnetic detectors, coupled to a telephone. The transmitting station was Poldhu; in Cornwall. After a few successful attempts at transmission over a short distance, the Carlo Alberto left English waters on a mission to Kronstadt, and. a series of long-distance messages were conveyed to her from Poldhu with almost unbroken success tiirougnout Jier voyage. The main difficulty encountered seems to have been in atmospheric disturbances of the ordinary kind. The experiments aided the operators in excluding the interference of atmospheric disturbances almost entirely; but in all such cases the magnetic detector proved to be the most trustworthy machine, thy ordinary receiver with coherer being too easily deranged by oxitsido electric influence. The most striking results were those obtained off the Spanish coast and in the Mediterranean. While lying off Ferrol the Carlo Alberto regularly received news every day of the principal events in the world; a daily bulletin of this news was posted in the ship, and quite put to shame the last intelligence of the Spanish newspapers. At Gibraltar the Carlo Alberto came to anchor in the innermost part of the bay, and nevertheless, in that screened and secluded position, received an important telegram from Poldhu (Cornwall), of which every word arrived clearly and precisely. From Gibraltar the ship proceeded to Cigliari, and thence to Spezia. Between these last two places three messages were received at sea from Poldhu, of which every word was perfectly written upon the tape of the Morse machine. The three messages ran thus. The first, from the Italian Embassy m London to the King of Italy “Your Majesty's Embassy sends by Marconi's telegraph humblest homage;" the second, addressed to Admiral Mirabello—“The directors of Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company beg your Excellency to forward their humblest and respectful greetings to his Majesty the King on the occasion of the transmission of the first wireless telegraph message from England to Italy. Poldhu Station;" thirdly, a similar telegram addressed to the Italian Minister of 'Marine. These three messages were transmitted without a fault to the Mediterranean, off the coast of Italy, across the Continent of Europe from the end of Cornwall. Such glorious results require no comment. The following conclusions have been arrived at:—(1) There is no distance limit to the propulsion of electric waves over the surface of the globe, both sea and land, provided that th© energy of the transmission is proportioned to the distance to be covered. (2) Land interposed between the transmitting and the receiving stations does not interrupt their communications. (3) The light of the sun has the effect of diminishing the field of radiation of electric waves, and therefore renders necessary the employment of greater energy during the day than during the night. The influence, also, of atmospheric electric disturbances makes it necessary to diminish the sensibility of the apparatuses so as to make them independent of it, and at the same time calls for an increase m the energy of transmission so as to obtain the same results upon the less sensitive apparatuses. (4). The efficiency of the magnetic detector has been shown by positive experience to be superior to that of any kind of coherer, and that not only by its not requiring any regulation, but also by the absolute accuracy of its working and the great handiness and sensitiveness of the system.