zotero-db/storage/4ST8WXHI/.zotero-ft-cache

RADIO DEPARTMENT

Th<e T 1f'iUle W ii1f'ce lice§§

By NIH-OLA TE§lL.A
IVrillt n Enlusivtl:,. for TI.l' Elulriclll E.rptri",tnltr

E VER since the announcemmt of Maxwell's clet:tro-magnetic theory scientific investigators all the world
over had beeu bent on its experi-

proved appliancu. Similar phenomena we re noted, greatly ma~nified in intensity, but they were susceptible of a differem and
more plausible explanation. I considerM

application of these radiations for the pur.
pOse was quite obvious. \Vhen Dr. Hertz. was asked whether such a system would
be of practical value, he did not think so,

mental verification. They were con- this so important that in 1892 I went to and he was correct in his forecast. The

\'inced that it would be done and livM in Bonn. Germany, to ronfe r with Dr. Hertz best that might have been expected was a

an atmosphere of eager expectancy, un- in regard to my obsen'ations. H e seemed methOd of communication similar to the

disappointed to such a de~ree that J r e-

grettro my tr ip and parted from him so rrowfully. During the succeeding yea rs I
made numerous exr,e rim enls with the same Obje<:tibnt the resu ts were uniformly nega-

-_.",

t ive. n 1900, however. after I had e\'olved

~,."'

a wireless Iransmitter which enabled me

t o obl.ain eI«tro-magnetic activities of many

millions of horse-power. J made a last des·

pe.rate atlempt to prove that the diSlUrb-

ances emanating from the oscillator were

ether vibrations akin to those of light. but

met again wit h utte r failure. For more than

eifZhteen years I have been reading treat-

ises. reports of scientific transactions, and

articles on Herlz-wa\'e telegraphy, to keep

myself informed, but they have always im-

prest me like wo rks of fi ction.

The history of science shows that theo-

ries are perishable. \Vith eve ry new truth E lect r Ic T rantmlnlon Thru Two WIre. and

that is re \'ealed we gel a better under-

Hydra ull e Analog. F Ig. 3.

usually favorable to the reception of any standing of Nature and our conceptions

evidence to this end. No wonder then that and views arc modified. Dr. Hertz did not heliographic and subje<:t to the same or

the puhliGition of Dr. H ein rich Hertz's re- discove r a new principle. He merely gave evo:n greate r limitations.

sults caused a thrill as had scarcely ever material support to a hypothesis which had III the spring of 1891 I gave my demon-

~n experienccd before. At that

strations with a high f requency

timc I was in the midst of press-

machine before the American In-

ing work in connection with the
commercial introduction of my system of power transmission,
but, nevertheless, caught the fire
of enthusiasm and fairly burned with desire to behold the miracle
wi th my own eyes. According-
ly, a s soon as I had freed myself
of these imperative duties and r esumed research work in my
laboratory on Grand Street, New
York, I began, parane! with
high frCCj.uency alternators, the
constructIOn of several forms of apparatus with tlu: object of ex-
ploring th e field opened \IP by
Dr. Hertz. Re<:ognizing the limitations of the devices he had
employed, I concentrated my at-
len tion on the prodnction of a

I N this remarkable amI colll p l.cle slOry 01 his di.!covery 01 tloe "True Wirelus" and Ill e principles UPfJIl 1<:hicfl mlt/sminioll and r eception, el'en in th e present day sysle ms, ar e baud, J)r. 1\·i/.:ola T e&Ia , /tOIl:! US II'at li e is indeed th e MFather 01 th e Wire.
Ius." To Itim lloe Her'::; R '(n:e theory ioJ a (fefllsion; it took, , ollnd
from cerlui" angtu, bu, Ihe lacts telld 10 wove tllat il is hollow and em lJly. 111'. co/willce! III Illat the re(,1 lI erl: 1(."(/tle6 are blul/ed
out Il/fer IIICy "atle traveled but a $hort diSlance from tlo e ",-" der. It lofloU't . lloerr.fore, ,/out th e measured antenna current is 110 indio
cation 01 the effect. becau,e only a ,mali palt 01 it is effective '"
a dislanee. Th ll limiled activity of pure li en: reace tran$mi.s.J ion and r eceplion is here cfoorly explained, bl!l idu sllmt"ing d efillildy
that in 'pilf! of Ihem$e /,;e6, Ihe radia engineen 01 III(IIIY lire emplo)'i"g IIII'. origil/Ill T e$llf ,uned oscillutory ly&lem . lie , horCJ by example, with diOerellt lorm, of aer illf$ tlou' tlo e &ig ml/.$ Ilicked up by ,Ioe instru men!.f IIU/..SI actualfy be i"duced by earllo curr en /.!-
not elh eric ' I/(jCll waves. T ula also d isproves Ihe Mll eaviside layer" theory Irom I,is penonal ob'en'ations and 1e&U.
EDITOR.

stit ute of Electrical Engineers al
Columbia College, which laid the
foundation to a new and far more promising deparlure. Altho the
laws of electrical resonance were well known at that time and my lamented friend, Dr. John Hop-
kinson, had even indicated their speeific application to an alternalor in the ProceedinJ<S of the In-
stitute of Electrical Engineers. London, Kov. 13, 1889, nothing had been done towards thc practical usc of this knowledge and
it is probable that thOse experi-
ments of mine were the first pub-
lic exhibition with resonant cir-
cuits. more part,icularly of high frequency. \\'hlle the spontaneous success of my lecture was

powerfnl induction coil but made

due to spectacular features, its

no notable prog rcss until a happy

chief import was in showing that

inspiration led me to the inven tion of the been long ago formulated. It was a per- all Kinds of devices could be operated

oscillation transformer. In the latter part feetly well-established fact that a circuit. thm a single wire without return. This o f 1891 1 was already so far advanced in traversed by a periodic current. emitted

the development of this new principle that some kind of space waves, but we were in

I had at my disposal means vastly superior
- - - : J I_*, Jec_~ ~~I;r=;
- D Ia g ra m Itl u.t ~. t1 n g t~ he Cln:ult Con nection.
a nd TunI n g D... lcu Employed by T es la In H Is Ex pe r imental Demonltratlons lJ efol"1l the

ignorance as 10 their character. He apparelllly ga\'e an experimental proof that
they wen'; t ransversa l vibrations in th e ethe r. Most pwple look upon this a s hi ~ great accomplishment. To my lIlind it
Seems that his immortal merit was not so
much in this as in the focusing of the in-
vestigators' attention on the prOCessC5 taking place in the ambient medium. The

- - Q:):'::=:- -- -;r--{ '-'

Ame r 1c;>n Inltlt uh of E lectrical En glnee... Hertz.-wave theory, by il$ fascinating hold

Wllh th e H Igh F l"1Iquency Altern"or Sho..... n In Fig. t. F Ig. 2.
to those o f the Ge r man physicist. All my

on the imagination, has stifled creative effo rt in the wireless art and retarded it for twcntr-five :rears. But, on the ot her hand,

E lect r Ic Tr:tns m lulo n T h ru II S In g le WI,.. Hydraulic An .log. F Ig. 4.

r. revious effort, with Rhumkorf (Oils had it is ImpoSSIble to over-estimate the bene-
e ft me unconvinced, and in order to set- ficial effects of the powerful stimulus it was the initial !te~ in the evolution o f illY

tle my doubts 1 wenl over the whole ground has given in ma ny directions.

wirele5s system. The idea preSented itself

once more, very carefully, with thcse im- As regards signaling without wires, the to me that it might be possible. under ob-

May, 19 19

ELECTRICAL EXPERIMENTER

29

numbe r of radial improvements_ Suitable

high frequency generators and dcctricaJ os-

cillators had first to be prod~ The

energy of these had to be transformed in

"w

effcct i n~_ transmitters and collcct«l at a distance in proper receivers. Such a sys-

IUultratlng T ypical Arrlngemenu for

tem would be manifestly cin:umscriJed m

CoUectlng E nergy In a SYlum Of Trlnl _ ml..lo n T hru a Sl ngl " Wire. Fig. 5.

its usefulnus if all extraneous inlttiuence were: nOt prevented and excJu!; ~­

servance of proper conditions of resonance, to transmit electric energy thru the earth,

secured. In time, however. 1 recognUed that devices of this kind, to be most ~«1-

th us dispensing with all artificial conductors.

£Jnvkd",poci~

£le O'CfaJ~~

Anyone who might wish to examine ilnpartially the me rit of that earlr suggestion must not "iew it in the light 0 present day science. I only need to say that as late as 1893, when I had prepared an elabdr.ue chapter on my wireless system. dwelling on its

. 1~~,; F.:;:I r

Ta'a's Sya-tem of W lrelen T ranlmlnlo'" Th", th. Earth as Actually Exposed In H I, Lacturet Befor-e th e Frankli n In_ Itltute Ind Electric Light "'"oclatlon In
February and Mlrch, 1893, F ig."
of a condenser subdidded into small sec·

various instrumentalities and future pros-
pects, Mr. Joseph Wetzler and other friends of mine emphatically proteSied against its publication on the ground that such idle and far-fetched speculations would ~n)ure me in
the opinion of conservative busmcn men. So it came that only a small part of what I had intended to say was embodied in my
address of that year before the Franklin
Institute and National Electric Liltht Association under the chapter "On Electrical

-,;,.,.
,.,~.1lih" ,.."""),!k"'~d'
Tr ~n.ml ..lo n Of E lec t rical Energy T hru th" Eart h a. IIlu lt r~ted In Tnla'i Lecture. B". fore the Franl(lIn Inltltute and E I"ct riC L ight Associa t ion In F'bru~rl and March. 1893. and Mec h anical Analog 0 th e Same. FI~. 7.

tions. the finer adju5tmrots being dlected

by a movable iron core: within an indllct·

ance coil. Loosely linked with the latter

was a high tension scocmdary which was

tuned to the primary.

The operation of devicC$

wire without return was punl;,!"

because of explained

its by

novelty, suitabJi!,:_

,:",.",Iii;~

purpose refere nce ';s

In the former the I

ive and efficient. should be de:signed with cond uctors are

due regard to the physical propertin of
this planet and the electrical conditions obtaininc on the: same. I will briefly touch upon the salient ad"ances as they ....ere
made in the gradual deve:lopment of the system.
The high frequency alterllator employed
in my first dellionstrations is illustrated in Fig. 1. It comprised a field ring, with 384 pole projections and a d isc armature with
coils wound in one single layer which were: connected in va rious ways according to requirements. It was an excellent machine
for experimcntal purposes, furnishing sinu-

...¥ii¥ e"
Tho Forerunner of Audlon - the
Se n sit iv e Wlteletl Detector Kn ow n. ae Oe · ICrlbed by T.I II In HI, Lecture Before th. Inltltutlon Of E lec tri cal En gl.
n. a r l. London, February, 1892.
Fi g. II.

cta grlm E lucida t Ing Eff"ct of Ll rge Capac_ Ity on One End. Fig. 5.

soidal currents of from IO,OClO to 20,000 cycles per s.econd, The output was com-

paratively large, due to the fact that as seclion, th e alternator by an oscillating

Resonance." This little salvage from the much as 30 amperes per SQuare millimeter piston and the filament of an incandescent

wreck has earned me the title of "Father could be past thru the coils without injury. lamp by a minute channel connecting the

of the Wire:Jess" from many well-disposed The diag ram in Fig. 2 sh ows the circuit pi pes. It will be clear from a glance at

fellow workers, rather than the invention a rrangeme:I\IS as used ill my lecture. Reso- the diagram that "ery slight excursions

of Kores of appliances which bave brought nant conditions were maintained by means of the piston would cause the fluid to rush

wireless trans-

with high ve-

mission within

locity thru the

the reach of

small channel

every young

and that vir·

amateur a n d

tually all the

which. >in a

ene r gy of

time not dis-

movement

tant, will lead

w ou ld be

to undertak-

t r a IIsfonned

ings overshad·

into heat by

owing in mag-

friction, simi_

nitude and

larly to that

importance all

of the electric

past achieve-

current in the

menu of the

lamp filament.

engineer.

The second

The popular

diagram will

impression is

now be self-

that my wire· less work was

A,<lSb61. _.,..1/InU

ex]) lanalory, Corresponding

begun in 1893, but as a mat-
ter of fact I

01'1:'" " _ f .ba~ ~ ~""'- i' ~w" 'I_ll" .

to the terminal capacity of
the ele<:tric

spent the two

syste:m an

prec e ding
years in inves-
tigations. employing fonns
of apparatus,
some of which were almost
like those of today. It was
elear to me from the very

,,=, bb=:"'1.
""'_"QQ UC'>(_y ar..€..U..."..a.-PI r

1 8 0 0 ' f : g "

_~

"" "'"'"M>d

t~ ",bNr~

elastic reserv o ir is em-
plo)'C-d which
dispenses with
the necessity of a return
pipe. As the
piston oscil-
lales the bag
expands and Contra cts, and

start that the

the fluid is

successful con summa-

'11. 10.

made 10 surge thru the re-

tion could only

stricted pas-

be brought Tn la 's Syllem of Co n ca tenate.f T uned Clrcultl Shown ~nd Described tn U. S. P atent No. 568.178 of sagewi thgre:at

about by a

S"ptember 22. 1896, ard ':orrespondlng .......angementl In Wlrel... Trantml,,'an,

speed, thi.", _ __

rc~uhing in the generation of he>t u in the
incandesccnt lamp. Thooreticalh- considered, the efficicllcy of conveulon of energy should be the samc in both c",_es,
Gralllcd, then, that an economic system of power transmission thru a single wire is

,.

,

Tcsm four~JI''Cutf
tu"ui _,-deu SJU~

•
J
,
Four Ctn;ult Tuned Syltem Con_ W ith th e Contemporanlou , Hertz _
Walll Syltem, Fig. 11.
practicable, the question arises how to collett the energy in the receilers. \Vith this
object attention is called to Fig. 5, in which
a co nducto r is sho\\ n excited by an osdllator jo!ne~ t? it alone end. Evidently, as the penodlc Impulses pa n Ihru th e win~ , uifferellces of potential will be created along th e same as we ll as at right ang les to il in the surrounding medium and either of these may be usefully applied. Thus at a, a circuit comprising an inductance and (3padty is resonantly excited in the t ransverse, and at b, in the longitudinal sense. At c, ener~,'y is collected in a circuit parallel to Ihe conductor but not in contact wilh it, and again at d, in a circuit which is pa rtly sunk into the conductor and may be, or not, electrically connected to the same. It is important to keep these typ ical dispositions in mind. for howel'er the distant ac-

Arrangementl Qf D l re ~(I"e Clrc u 1ts Dncrlbed In Tnla', U. S. Patent No. 613,8011 01 NOllember 8. 189l1, on "Method of and Apparatul for Con_ lroiling Mech.nl l m of Moving Vu-
..II or Vehlclet." Fig. 12.

lions of the oscil lator might be modified

tbm the 'immense extem of the globe the

principles involved arc the same.

Consider now the effect of such a con-

ductor of vast dimellsiOlls on a circuit ex-

citing it. The upper diagram of Fig. 6 il-

lustrates a familiar oscillating: liystem comprising a slr.light rod of sclf-mductancc 2L

with small terminal capacities (( and a node

in the center. In the lower diagram of the

figure a large capacity C is auached to the

rod at one end with the result of shifting

the node to the right. thru a distance cor-

responding to self-inductance X. As both

paru of the s}stem on either side of the

+ node vibrate at the sallie rate, v,c have c\·i-
demly, (L X) c = (L _ X) C from

C-,

c+, which X = L

When the ca-

pacily C becomes commen~urate to that of

the earth, X approximates L, in other

words, the noue is close to the ground con-

Ilcction. The I'X(l(/ detr'millPliulI of ils po.dlioll is f.'Uy imparl/lilt {" tilt (01, .. /(1-

tian of ct rloin 11"'(,.Ilrilll rlrctrical (llid

geodetic dala and I have devised spedaJ

means with this purpose in view.

~Iy original plan of tran smitting energy

without wires is shown in the upjl('r dia-

gram o f Fig. 7, while the lowe r one Dlm-

t rates its mechanical ana log, first publisht in my article in the Ct'''''Jr~ A/IJ{jazillt' of

Jun e, 1900. An alternator, preferably of

high tension, has one of its terminals con-

neCled to the ground and the other to an

elevated capacrty and impresses its oscil-

lations upon the earth. At a distanl point

a receiving circuit, likewise connected to

ground and to an elevated capacit)', collects

some of the energy and actuates a suitable

device. I suggested a multiplication of

such units in o rder to intensify the effects,

an idea which may yet prove \'aluable. In

the analog two tuning forks arc provided,

one at the sending and the other at the re-

ceiving station, each having attached to its

lowe r prong a piston fitting in a cylinder.

The two cylinders communicate with a

large elastic resen·oir filled with an incom-

JiI~S21i~,. k:':,'W''/;.:' /:---------'·-·"~-~-',:,->::"::" ~' :. \

f!li/I:!

'..\\\\'.\\

""11':1 1:1i"1)',:1!,1•
-._-'-.-""_,.,

-",.~
.,.:;....,-~4 _

~

. . . : . . . - - \1. \ \1' .\.1·'·1' \\.;'1' 1'
. au ;

0' D iagram E xpol lng the Fail icy th e G liding

Walle Th eory .1 P ropounded In Wlrel..1

T ext Bookl. Fig. 11.

pressible fluid. The vibr ations transmitted
to either of the tuning forks excite them by resonance and, thru electrical contacts
or otherwise. bring about the desired re-
sult. This, I may say, was not a mere mechanical illustratiOll, but a simple rep-
resentation of my apparatus for submarine
si/{naling. perfected bf me in 1892, but not
appreciated at that time, altho more efficit'nt than the instruments now in use.
The electric diagram in Fig. 7, which was reproduced from my lecture. was meant only for the exposition of the prin-
ciple. The i'rrangement. as I described it in detail, is shown in Fig. 8. In this case an alternator energizes the primary of a
transfonner, the high tension secondary of
which is connected to the ground and an
dented capacity and tuned to the imprest
oscillations. The receiving circuit consists of an inductance connected to the f,:round
an d to an elevatcd terminal without brea k
and is resonantly responsive to the trans-
mitted oscillations. A specific form of re· cciving de"ice was not mentioned, but I
had in mind to transform the recei" ed cur· rents and thus make their \'ohlme and ten-
sion suitable for any purpose, This, in

suustance, is the system of toda~ ;and I a!ll. not awa re of a single auth entical~ instance of successful transmi,sion at eon5iderat~e distance hy different instrumen_
talities. It might, vcrhaps, not be clear to

...; <,\7:,>:'>- \ql;....~ ,
.-~-.::..--=:::,.~~" :,\ ':,,~,?-,::.-;t

/<~:;:;:?= i'~~:::3-<~>"

v.',. ' " ' I f " , ' 1 \ \ \ '. 1I ,/,~,-./....'.:--:,..... :.Q.. "" .. " ' \ '

I

I I !1-4~ 4q n I , \ I \

I I t

I I ,'"
I : I 1.,- 'fCln ' i : ' :

,\I I I

"

!I I I I !

Fig. H. Diagram E xplainIng the Re_ lation Between t he Effectille and the Mea.u~d Curren t In the Antenna.
those who have perused my first description of'thcse improvemcnts that, besides making known new and efficient types of
apparatus. r gave to the world a wirekss
system of potentialities far beyond anything before conceived. I made explicit
Q
6
Ifufz (}Self/c/oI' of
grwl t!nO!I,Y IneH«''''f

Fig. 15. IIIUltraU ng One of the General E III _ dence. Aga ln. t the Space Walle Tranlmlulon.
and repeated statements that I contemplat~ transmission, absolutely unlimited as to terrestrial distance and amount of en· ergy. Bm, altho 1 have oveTC{Jme all obstacks which st'emcd in the beginning un· surmountable and fowld elegant solutions of all the problems which confronted me. yet, e,'en at this very day, the majority of experts are stiJI blind to the possibilitiu which arc within easv attainment.
).Iy confidence that a signal could be easily flashed a round the globe waS strengthened thru the discovery of the " rotating brush." a wonderful phenomenon which I have fully dcscri bed in my addreu before the I nstitution of Electrical Engineers. London. in 1892, and which is illustrated in Fig. 9. T his is undoubtedly the most delicate wireless detector known, but for a lo ng time it was hard to produce and to maintain in tht' sensitive state. These difficulties do not exist now and I am looking to valua ble applicat'ions of this device, particularly in connection with the highs~ed photographic method, which I suggested, in wireless, a~ well as in wire, transmission.
Possibly Ihe most important advances during the follow';ng three or four years were my system of concatenated tuned ci rcuia

Fig. 16. Showlnll Un lmporUnce of Re l.;n·lle Po.ltlon of Tran.mlUlng and Recellling An_ tennae In D llprollal of the Hertz·w.lve
Th eo ry.
and methods of r egulation, now univer_al_ adopted. The in timate bearing of th e"C :nl'C'ntions on the development of the wirele· art will appear from Fig. 10, which illu--
(COnl;'JUCd 0/1 page (1)

May, 19 19

The T rue Wireless
By Niko{fJ TU/fJ
(ColllilllUd from page 30)

tra tes an a rrangement des<:ribed in my U. S.
Patent No. 568178 of September 22, 1896, and corresponding dispositions of wireless apparatus. The captions of the individual
diagrams are thought sufficiently explicit to dispense with further comment. I will
merely remark that in this early record. in addition to indicating how any number of
resonant circuits may be linked and regulated, I ha"e shown the advantage of the pro~r timing of primary impnlses and use of ha r monics. In a farClcai wi reless suit in London, some engineers. reckless of their
reputation, have claimed that my circuits were not at all attuned; in fact they asserted that I had looked upon resonallce as
a sort of wild alld ull tamable beast! It will be of interest to I;ompare my sys-
tem as fin! deSl; ribed in a Belgian palent
of 1897 with the H ertz-wave system of that period. The signifil;all t diffe rences between
them will be observed at a glance. The
firs t enables liS to transmit economically energy to ally distance and is o f inestimable
value; the latte r is capable o f a radius of
ouly a few miles and is worthless. t n the
first there are no spark-gaps and the al;tions are C'normously magnifiC'd by resonance. In
both transmitter and recei"er the currents
are transformed and rendered morc effecti,'e and suitable fo r the operation of any
desired de"ice. Properly constructed, my system is safe against static and other interference and the amount of energy which
may be trans mitt cd is billiolu of Ii/lit: greater than with the H ertzian which has 1I0ne of these \'irtues, has ne\'e r been used
successfully and of which no t race can be
found at prese nt.
A well-adve rt ised expe rt ga"e out a sta te-
ment in 1899 that my apparatus d id not
work and tha t it would take 200 yea rs befo re a ml;ssage would be flashed across the
Atianl'iI; and he eve n accepted stolidly my
congratulations on a supposed great feat.
But subsequent exa mi na tion of the reco rds
showed tha t my devices were secrt'lly used all the t ime and eve r since I learned o f this
I ha ve treated these Borgia-Medici methods
.....ith the contempt in .....hich th ey arc held by all fa ir-minded men. T he who lesal e app ro pr ia~iOIl o f my inve nti ons was, how-
eve r, no t al ways without a dive rt ing side. A s an example 10 the point I may ment ion
my osciilalion transfonner operating wi th
an ai r ga p. T his was in tu rn re placed by
a carbon are, quenched ga p. an atmosp here o f hydrogen. ar gon o r heliu m. by a me-
chanical break .....ith oppositely rotat ing
members, a mer cury interrupter or some kind of a vacuum bulb and by such tOllrs de fo~(t as many ne w "systems" ha"e been
-produced. I refer to thlS of course. without the slightest ill-feeling, let us ad,'ance by all tn('ans. But I cannot help thinking how much bette r it would ha\'e been if the ingenious men, .....ho have originated these
"systems," had 4n\'emfii something of their own instead of de~nding on me altogether.
Before 19(X) two mos t "aluable improvements were made. One of tbese was my
individualized system wilh tr.lnsmitters emit-
ting a wave-.::omplex and recei\'e rs compris-
ing s('parate tuned elements eoOperatn'el,y associated. The unde rl ying principle can be
explained in a few words. Suppose that there are II simple vibrations swtable for
use in wireless tra nsmission, the probability that anyone tnne 'l\'ilI be str uck by an
1 extraneo us distu rbance is - . There will

" then r emain 11-1 vibrations and the chance
1 that one of tlleSe will be excited is _ _ ,
II- I

[
.E.

hence the probability that two tune$ would

be strllck at the same tim e is

. Sim-

/I ' 1I~1)

Harly, for a combina tion of three the chance

1

will be

and so on. It will be

n ( n-I ) (11-2)

read ily seen that in this ma nner a ny desired

degree of safety against the statics or other

kind of disturbance can be attained pro-

vided the Te1:eiving apparatus is so designed

that its oper.ttioll is poss ible only Ihru the

joint aCiion of all the tutled elcmcnL. This

was a difficult problem which I have suc-

cessfully solved so that now auy desired

mUllb..r of simultalli'ous messages is prac-

!icable in the Inmsmi.uioll IIrru the eorlh as

wi'll as thrrl artificial rOllductol's.

The othe r invention. of still g reater 1mpartance, is a peculiar oscillator enabling the transmission of energy without wires in any quantity that may ever be require!1 for illuustrial use, to any distance, and with
very hiGh economy. l t was the ou tcome
of years of systematic study and investigation and wonders will be achieved by its
means.

The prevailing misconception of the mechanism involved in the wireless transmis-
sion has been resp-onsible for various
unwarranted ;lIlnO\lncements which ha ve
misled the public and worked hann. Bv
keerJing steadily ill mind that the transmii~iun thru the earth is in every re spect
identical to that thm a straight wire, one will gain a clear understanding o f the pheno me lla and wi!! be able to jud~e correctly lhe meri ts of a new scheme. \Vlthout v."; sh-
ing to det ract from the value of any plan that has been put forwa rd 1 may say that
they a re devoid of llOvelty. So for ins tan ,e in Fig. 12 arrangeme nts of tra nsmittin¥" and
re<: ei"ing circuits arc illustrated. whICh I have described in my U. S. Patent No. 613809 of November 8, 1898 011 a 1lethod
of and Apparatus for ControUi.ng Mechan-
ism of Mol'ing Vessels or Vehicles, and
which ha\'e been r ecently di s hed up as original discoveries. I n other patents and tet:h-
nical publications I have suggested conductors in the ground as one of the: obvio\1~
modifications indicat ed in Fig. S.

F or the sa me reason the statics are slil1 die bane o f lhe wireless. There is aoout
as milch vi rtue in the remedies recenth' proposed as in hair·restorers. A .mwll aud compact apparatu.r has b.-nt prodl/crd which does ·au'IlY eulir.-l" witlt tltis trouble at least in plants smiably remodelJcd. '

Xothi ng is mo re impo rtant in the present
!)hase of development of the wireless art
than to dispose of the dominating erroneous
ideas. With this objcct I shal1 advance a few a r~uments ha sed on my own observations which prm/{' Illal Hert:; ~MVI'S hovl! little 10 do witlt the r ('sulls obtailied 1!t.'CII at S11l0/l disto.,,/!.!.

In Fig. 13 a transmitter is shown radia ting space waves of cO'lsiderabl e frequency. It is general1), believed that these wave~ fI~sS alon g the earth' s surface and thus affect tile receivers. I can hardly think of anything mo re improbable than this "gli ding wave" theor}' and the conception of the "guided wi.reless" which are contrary to all laws of action and reaction. \Vhy should these disturbances cling to a conduclor where thev are counteracted by induced currents, when they can propagate in all other directions unimpeded? The fact is that the radiations of the transmitter passing along the earth's surface are soon extinguished. Ihe height. of. the inactive zone indicated in the diagram. being some function of the wave length. the bulk of the waves traversing freely the a tmosphere. Terrest rial phenomena which I have noted conclusively show tha t there is no Hta v isidr layer., or if it exists, it is of no effect. It certain!)' would be unfortunate if the human race were thus <imprisoned and forever without !lOwe r to reach 011t into the def)ths of space.

May, 1919
The actions at a distance cannot bc proponKtnale 10 the height of the antenna and the current in the !;.ame. I shall endeavor to make this clear by reference to diagram in Fig. 14. The elevated terminal charged to a high potential induces an equal and opposite charge in t:le earth and there arc thus Q lines gi\-ing an a\'erage current
I = 4Qn which circulates locally and ;s
useless except that it adds to the momentum. A reialh'eiy small number o f lines q however, go off to great distance and to
these corresponds a mean current of i~ =
~1" to which is du~ tht action 01 a d islanu.
+ The total av('rage current in the antenna
iJ thus 1.. = 4Qn 4qn and its intensity
is no criterion lor the performance. The
q electric efficiency of the antenna is -
Q+ q
and this is often a very small fraction. Dr. L W. Aus tin and Mr. }. L 1I0~n
have made qllanti tative measurements whll:h are valuable, but fa r from sup porting the Hertz wave theory they arc evideuces ;n disproval of the ~ame, as will be easily ~r' ceived by taking the alxll'c facts into con· Sideration. Dr. Austiu's researches arc espc:ciall y useful and instructive and I re~ret tha t I cannot agree wi th him on this subject. I do not think that ,f his receivcr was affected by Ht' rtz wavt's he could e\'er establish such relations as he has foun d, but hc would be likely to reach the<e rcsuhs if the Hertz wa ves were in a large part eliminated. At great distance the spact' \\'3\'U and the current \\'3\'eS are of equal energy, tht' former being merely an accom panying manifestation of the latter in accordance with the fundamental teachings of "Ia",well.
It occurs 10 me here to ask the quellionwhy have the H eru: wnes been reduct'd from the original fre-quencics 10 those I ha,'e advocated for my system, when in 50 doing the act"'it), of the transmitting app;)ratu~ has !x-en reduced a billion fold? t can invite any eXp!'rt to perfonn an t'xperiment such as is illustrated ill Fig. IS, ,~hich sho ws the classical H t'rtz oscillator and my g rounded transmitting circuit. It i ~ a fact wh ich I have demonstrated that, altho we may have in the Hertz osciJIator a-' activi ty thousands of times greater. the effect on the recei,:er is no t to be compared to that of the grounded circuit. Thois shows that in the tr(lnsmissioll from a>l Ilirp/oue 11'e ore merely working /hrll a cotlde nur, the capacity of which is a fun ction o f 3 IO,R'ar1thmic ratio between the length of the conductor and the di stance from the ~rO\lnd. The receiver is affC(:led 1n t'xactly the !3me manner as from an ordinary transmitter, the only difference being tha t there ,s a cert ~i n modification of the- action which can be predetermined f rom the electrical constants. It is not at all difficult to maintain communication between an airplane and a station on the ground, on tht' contrary, the feat is vcry easy.'
To mention another experiment in support o f my view. I rna)' refer to Fig. 16 in which twO grounded circuilS arc Showil excited by oscillations of the Hert~ian order. I! will be found that the antennas C;1Il be pm 0\11 o f paratlelism without noticeable change iii the action on the recei" er, thi s prO\'il1'~ that it is duc to cnrrents propagated thru . the grou nd and not to space waves.
Partkularly si!Zllifieant arc the r esults obtained in cases illustrated ;11 Figure~ 17 and 18. In the fonn er an obstacle is shown in the path of the wave, but lmless the rc cciver is within thc effect ive t!ulroJllllir influence o f th e mountain range. tbt" SiglHlls arc 1I0t appreciably weakened by th e pre,· ence of the latter, becanse the currents pass I:nder it and excite thc circuit in Ihe same way as if it were attached to an energized wire. If. as in Fig. 18, a leeo nd ran J.!'e hap\>ens to be beyond the receiver. it could only strengthen the Hertz wave eliect by re flec· ti on, but a s a matter of fact it detrac ts
( C Oli/bUil d Oil pllge 87)

May, 1919

ELECTRICAL EXPERIMENTER

The True Wireless
By Niko/a 1'<1$1(1 (Coutillu <ld from page 63)
greatly from the intensity of the recehed impulses because the electric n;veau between the moumains is raised. as I have explained in connection with my lightning protector in the EXPUlIME~'TUl of February.
F ig. 17. Ill Ustrating In'l uence of Obsta cle In Ihe Path of Tranomlulon a$ Evidence Agains t
the H ertz_wave Theory. Again in Fig. 19 two transmitting cir· cuits. one grounded direclly and Ihe other
thru an air gap, are show1l. It is a commOil obsen'ation that the former is far

also the transm ission Ihru sea_ v,ater is
more efficient.
An illuminacing ex periment is indicated
in Fig. 20 in which two grounded transmitters are shown, one wi th a large alld the
other wilh a smali terminal capacity. Sup-
pose that the latter be 1/10 of the former
but that it is charged to 10 times the po-
tential and let the frequency of Ihe two circuits and therefore the currenlS in both autetlnas be t.'{ac t!v the same. The circuit
with the smaller ca pacity will then have 10
times the energy of the other but the effects on the receiver will he in no wise propor-
tionate. The same conclusions wi!! be rcached hy
transmitting and receiving circuits with
wires buried underground. In each case the actions carefu!!y i1l\'esligated will be found to be due to earth CllrrCII:S. Numerous olher proofs might be cited which can
be easily veri fied. So for example oscillo-
liolls ot loU! jrl!qU(II(Y are ever so muc.h
more effeclive in the transmission which IS inconsistent with the prevailing idca. )Iy
obsen'ations in 19lX) and the recent trans-
missions of signals to very great distances
are another emphatic disprova1. The Hertz wa,'e theory of wireless Irans-
mission ilia), be kept up for a while. but I
do not hesitale to say that in a short time it will be recognized as o ne of the most
r emarkable and inexplicable aberrations of the scientific mind which has ever been re-
corded in history.

F ig. 18. Showing E ffect of Two Hil i, as F urther P roof Against the H ertz_wave
T heory.
more efiedive, which c011ld not be the case in a transmission with Hertz radiations. !n like manner if Iwo grounded circuits are
rl'(ln"m"f~ ..sq>arakd
fmmgrovnd ly spark gap
Fig. 19. Comp"rlng t he Action. of T wo Form. of Transmitter a$ e earlng Out th e
Fallacy of the Hertz·wave Theory.
observed from day 10 day lhe effect is found to increase greatly with the dampness of the ground, and for the same reason
T"ransmi/fu"..ilfl small terminal copoci!J
~

TO ALL RAD!O

~ AMATEURS

~
aOil We ha"e receh'ed many thOU!3.mh ~ of comlllunications from radio ama·

i teurs for the past few m onths asking us about die status of their radio ~tu· lions, and whe n they will be allowed

d to operate them again.

= ~a

lna~much as th cre has been uo omc:i:al information as to the reopening

._ of amateur , lations, durin g the :armi...

tice, we can only say tlmt in alllikeli·
§ hood, amateurs wil! not be allowed to >--. = operate until act ual peaee h as been
5igned. In his executive order of §j
I All ril the 6t1I, 1917, President W ilson '3

iii closed all r adio stations in the United State s b v an IIct al,prol'ed in tile Radio ~

Low of Augu~t 13, 1912.

§

!'"'l S Such
1= is onl)'

a mea sure, accordi ng to for the duration of the

law, war,

§

there bein g at presen t 110 legislation ~

§~ which prevenB anI' slation, am ate ur or ~
~ o tlierwi5e, from ol,eraling after peace h os actua ll y bee n declared. Th e refore, ~

tbe minute neWS llapen announce tllat ~

Ii:! p.eaee bet..'een tile Un ited Stales and -

iii ~ the Central P oweu has been signed. E
! j 6ft a",olellr s l<1li01lS /lulomatically r e-
= vert 10 II, eir former slalus, and a lllil' ~

I "~' teurs need not wait for Jlermission to operate the ir &t9 tioI15, once peace has

=5~1

heen declared.

EDITOR.