WIRELESS RESEARCH

Taranaki Daily News, 14 February 1933, Page 10

WIRELESS RESEARCH

BEATING THE STATIC. RESULTS IN AUSTRALIA. Sydney, Feb. 2. New Zealand wireless enthusiasts who find pleasure in listening to .Australian stations long after their own have closed will be heartened by the good results that have been obtained in Australia by. tire Commonwealth Atmospheric Research Station, states the New Zealand Herald correspondent. Judging by preliminary reports far-reaching improvements in broadcasting, particularly in the elimination of static, are promised. The head-, quarters of the station are atMount Strombo, near Canberra, but most of the research work has been carried out in conjunction with another station at Lav--erton, near Melbourne. Regular observations have been carried out over a period of nearly two years, and some very important results have been obtained. It has been established that atmospherics—the naturally occurring electric impulses familiar to every broadcast listener—are always associated with lightning discharges and that they come from well defined areas called sources. These sources have been classified as regular and irregular. In Australia during the summer months

regular sources are. to be found in the afternoon and evening in the xwrthern tropical regions of the , continent. These sources are the most powerful causes of wireless interference. During the winter the regular sources are situated much further to.the north-east and are consequently less troublesome; -The irregular sources may occur at any time. They have been found to be, always as? sociated with areas of low barometric pressure or depressions • are' aye; therefore, related to weather ' By -tpe location of such sources information of weather changes is obtained. This is , , a particularly useful method since, when depressions are located over the ocean or in remote localities, can be recorded long before they come within the reach of land stations. , Increased accuracy of weather forecasts is, therefore, possible with suitably located atmospheric, stations. In addition, a practically instantaneous report thunderstorm activities in ' any desired direction is available, and this invaluable to aircraft. Such, information was supplied,to Sir Charles Kingsford Simith on the occasion of his recent flight from Australia to New It has. sl®° been found .that the. various sources behaving, as far as interference .with wireless is concerned, as natural transmitters work on much the same power,.-and the interference causes increases .'.approximately with the wave-lengths. The experts say that already much information has been obtained which is of immediate value in planning the future broadcast system in Australia.