STATIC NATURE'S PROTEST AGAINST 



WIRELESS 



'T V HE most difficult problem that the 

 A modern wireless engineer has to con- 

 tend with is the elimination of "static" 

 or "atmospherics." The recent interrup- 

 tions in the radio service between Nauen, 

 Germany, and Sayville, Long Island, are 

 entirely due to the increase in strength 

 of these disturbances during the summer 

 season. 



Static may be denned as any form of 

 natural electrical discharge which pro- 

 duces undesirable noises in the head-tele- 

 phones of a wireless receiver. The 

 radio signals proper are heard as long 

 and short buzzes of various pitches or 

 frequencies. The atmospheric noises are 

 crashes and rumblings of a very low 

 pitch, which may on occasion completely 

 drown out the signals and render com- 

 munication impossible. They are the 

 curse of the commercial operator because 

 they prevent the delivery of messages 

 and cut down his commissions, and they 

 embitter the life of the amateur experi- 

 menter, who can hear distant stations 

 only when the air is absolutely quiet. 



Static interference is caused in two 

 ways: 



During the spring, summer and fall 

 the potential of the air in the vicinity 

 of an aerial is higher than that of the 

 ground. This difference of potential 

 causes bursts of electricity from the air 

 through the wires and instruments down 

 into the earth. In the Philippine Islands 

 Government stations these local dis- 

 charges become so violent at night that 

 the telephone receivers and the tuners of 

 the receiving instruments are burnt out 

 and the operator's life put in jeopardy. 

 Even in northern States of our country, 

 where conditions are not as bad as in. 

 tropical regions, the "riggers" who erect 

 large aerials frequently receive severe 

 shocks when the wires are ungrounded. 

 The second kind of atmospherics is 

 caused by lightning discharges which 

 radiate "stray" ether waves in every di- 

 rection for hundreds of miles. A thun- 

 der-storm off Hatteras may in this way 

 tie up radio traffic all along the coast. 



So far all attempts fro get rid of the 

 demon Static have been in vain. The 

 use of very high-pitched, shrill, musical 

 signals has made possible the reading of 

 messages through moderate disturbances, 

 but that this remedy is not sufficient is 

 shown by the sad experience of the Say- 

 ville and Nauen stations, which employ 

 the most modern apparatus in this re- 

 spect. All attempts to filter the static im- 

 pulses from the legitimate wireless os- 

 cillations and get them to take a sepa- 

 rate path have failed. However, the 

 ablest minds in the radio field are now 

 at work on the problem and ultimate suc- 

 cess is not too much to hope for. CARL 

 DREHER. 



A SUBSTITUTE FOR AN AERIAL 



During the stormy summer months, 

 when many amateurs are deprived of 

 their aerials, an excellent substitute may 

 be found in the following: 



Tap one of the wires of the nearest 

 telephone wire and bring this wire to 

 a fixed condenser. Connect the other 

 terminal of the condenser to the primary 

 of a loose coupler. With this improvised 

 aerial, signals of considerable wave 

 length can be received. As an illustra- 

 tion: An audion set using an ordinary 

 aerial was barely able to receive Say- 

 ville, but when the telephone line was 

 used WSL could be copied with the tele- 

 phones on the table. This idea may also 

 be used on single slide sets. JOHN 

 BUCKNAM. 



On Tuesday, July 27th, the wireless 

 station at Funabashi, near Yokohama, 

 Japan, transmitted the first message to 

 the station at Koko Head, Hawaii. These 

 two stations are links in the world-en- 

 circling Marconi chain, which extends 

 about two-thirds around the world and 

 would probably have been now completed 

 but for the European war. 



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