246 BELL SYSTEM TECHNICAL JOURNAL 



the aim of producing an instrument capable of recording the energy 

 received from a feicHng signal during periods of the order of ten seconds. 

 A device for making a continuous record of the energy received from 

 a signal or from static is described. Simple modifications are sug- 

 gested by means of which peak or average voltage may be recorded. 



Short-Wave Transoceanic Telephone Receiving Equipment.^ F. A. 

 PoLKiNGHORN. The Commercial importance of a single radio channel 

 used for transoceanic telephone communication is such as to permit 

 considerable efTort being placed upon obtaining the most efficient and 

 satisfactory operation from each unit of equipment. In this paper 

 there are discussed, in a general manner, the receiving equipment used 

 on the short-wave transatlantic telephone channels to England and 

 some of the methods of analysis used in attacking problems encount- 

 ered in the design of the receiving equipment. 



Observations of Kennelly-IIeaviside Layer Heights During the Leonid 

 Meteor Shower of November, 193L'' J. P. Schafer and W. M. Good- 

 all. This paper describes the results of radio measurements of the 

 virtual heights of the Kennelly-Heaviside layer during the Leonid 

 meteor shower of November, 1931. While the results are not conclu- 

 sive, due to the fact that a moderate magnetic disturbance occurred 

 during this same period, there is some reason to believe that the pres- 

 ence of meteors in unusual numbers causes increased ionization of an 

 intermittent nature in the region of the lower layer. 



The Ionizing Effect of Meteors in Relation to Radio Propagation.^ 

 A. M. Skellett. From a study of available meteor data it is con- 

 cluded: (1) that meteors expend the larger part of their energy in the 

 Kennelly-Heaviside regions, that is, in the regions of the upper at- 

 mosphere which control the propagation of all long-distance radio 

 waves; (2) that the major portion of a meteor's energy goes into ioniza- 

 tion of the gases around its path ; (3) that this ionization extends to a 

 considerable distance from the actual path, — in some cases several 

 kilometers or more — and lasts for some minutes after the meteor has 

 passed; (4) meteor trains are produced only in the lower Kennelly- 

 Heaviside layer. 



A table of the various sources of ionization of the upper atmosphere 

 is given with values for each in ergs cm~^ sec~^ These include sunlight, 

 moonlight, starlight, cosmic rays, and meteors. During meteoric 



^ Radio Engineering, February, 1933. 

 ' Proc. I. R. £., December, 1932. 

 8 Proc. 1. R. E., December, 1932. 



