THE DEMON STATIC

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19992, 8 November 1927, Page 10

THE DEMON STATIC

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

The only difference between the static waves and the waves from radio stations is that static is very broadly tuned. This enables sharply-tuned 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 caused by electrical discharges in the atmosphere. Much of it undoubtedly comes from lightning and non-luminous discharges in thunder clouds. In regard to non-luminous discharges from thunder clouds, it has been suggested in England that the 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 35 per cent of the cases given could thunderstorms be identified as the sources of these disturbances, but that in 75 per cent, the sources were, rain areas of some kind.