506 ANNUAL EEPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1915. 



In the matter of station interference the improvements in trans- 

 mitting and receiving apparatus just noted have, of course, tended 

 to decrease the amount of trouble from this source. 



Despite all endeavors atmospheric disturbances of various kinds 

 are still a vast obstacle to the successful use of radio in some locali- 

 ties, and in all localities at certain seasons of the year. Many 

 schemes for the elimination or reduction of these disturbances have 

 been proposed and tried out, but none have as yet shown themselves 

 to be even measurably successful. 



OPERATING METHODS. 



By far the larger part of radiotelegraph messages are handled at 

 comparatively slow speeds with hand sending, although automatic 

 machine sending has been tried out to a limited extent. The receiv- 

 ing is done largely by ear. Duplex operation involving the use of two 

 antennse at each end has come into use to a limited extent — ^the 

 sending system being under some form of distant control by the 

 receiving operator. 



TRAFFIC. 



The present commercial traffic is largely special in nature, such 

 as ship-to-shore and ship-to-ship service. TVliere land business is 

 involved the messages are collected largely by the telegraph com- 

 panies and passed on to the radio companies for transmission. In 



addition to this special service for which no wire competition is 

 possible, several regular transoceanic services are being maintained, 

 notably those from Tuckerton and Sayville in the United States to 

 Hanover and Nauen in Germany and that between San Francisco 

 and Honolulu. 



REGULATION. 



With the rapid growth in the number and power of radio stations 

 during the past few years, conditions of operation under a system 

 of no control became so difficult that the whole matter of radio regu- 

 lation by law has received a great deal of attention, not only in indi- 

 vidual countries but also through cooperative international action. 

 The imj)ortance of radio communication in matters of hazard to life 

 at sea and in matters of maritime warfare tended to augment the 

 necessity for rigid control of commercial radio systems. 



Although much has been done to ameliorate the state of affairs 

 existing some years ago, further extensions of radio service and 

 further improvements in radio transmitting and receiving apparatus 

 will undoubtedl}?^ necessitate further action by governments, both 

 individually and collectively. It is to be hoped that legislation will be 

 based on actual physical possibilities rather than on what might be. 



