LIGHTING BY WIRELESS.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18235, 20 November 1924, Page 5

LIGHTING BY WIRELESS.

REMARKABLE INVENTION

House lighting by wireless is the practical objective of u large English firm, which recently proved that the magic wave can be used for this purpose. .Remarkable results have followed the test of an invention, by which, it is claimed, electricity can be transmitted for light and power without tabic or wires. It has been made by Mr J. J. Dawson, of Leigh-on-Sea, and Mr P. Cr. Milner, of Southend, and it is stated that "by this system electricity could be generated at a, station in Wales and sent by wireless to Scotland.

During the demonstration a transmitting apparatus was placed in ilr Milner's motor yacht moored to the shore, and u dinghy was rowed some distanco with ;i receiver ou board. There were also electric lights, fans, dynamos, and bells in the boat. Immediately the dinghy began to movo the current was switched on. The lamps lit, the motors revolved, and the fans and bells worked. The dinghy was rowed round in circles, and the current still had effect at a, distance of 250 vards.

Mr Milner said: "By our system it will be possible to have a central generating station that will provide electricity in the ordinary way. The electric current will then be sent by means of an aerial into the air, and can be received at any building wired in the ordinary way, by using a special receiver, which must bo 'tuned in.' "The current is absolutely innocuous in the air. We have proved, too, by placing a Marconi wireless within three feet of our apparatus that it has no effect whatever on the wireless current. Our invention is worked by means of direct current, and not alternating current. On the apparatus there is nothing moving, nothing glowing, and there are no valves. We have already transferred current from one room to another, and in less than six months it should be possible to supply from a generating station having a radius of three miles enough current to light all the houses and work the machinery in a town. I can guarantee that the cost of light and power in the home by our

j system will be S3 K! per cent, cheaper j at least than by any other system at ; present employed. I No Cost of Cables. ! "There are no «.-usts of cables. The • only wiring is within the house, and ion the aerial. The receiving box is j only six or eight inches square in a I small sot. and the receiver itself acts |as a meter. The saving en cables and | maintenance would more than compenj sate for any loss of current through i the air. At the present moment, if I j erected a station on ('anvey Island 1 i could light and run all the road traffic |by mean-; uf wireless electricity. It j was just by accident that wc hit on i the whole system. Exports who have j seen it state that it is contrary to all theories of electricity." The technical director of the firm who have taken up the .scheme was enthusiastic. "If what the inventors claim is correct," he said, "it will be possible to light the whole countryside almost by means of radiating eleetricilv."

Many electrical firms In Britain, and also the 'Australian Government, are stated to have been in communication with the inventors. Mr Dawson, tvho is the originator of the system, is only tw only-six years old. The statement that the "Australian Government" lias been enquiring into the discovery is not supported by any announcement locally to date, but the advantages of a wireless system of light distribution arc admittedly great, in a, country that is on the eve of vast expenditure on lighting, says an Australian paper, commenting on the scheme. In 'Victoria, particularly, where the Electricity Commission is about to take over the supply of light and power from M'orwell to consumers in Melbourne, millions could bo saved by avoiding the use of wires. The trunk lines from Yallourn now radiate bulk current throughout the State, so that it can be tapped by every city and hamlet, and many farmhouses. The expense of firing must, of course, be heavy if wiring is necessary. The continual upkeep of wires, poles, and insulators would be abolished if wireless distribution were possible. This would mean a considerable reduction of capital cost, and overhead charges, and should result in really cheap electricity being supplied to householders. Harnessing the Sea. Another important move in the direction of reducing cost of electricity is the proposal to produce current "by means of water power derived from the

titles. Tins has been long talked of. but it lias now reached the "money down" stage by the formation of a company to "'harness the tides'- at Mersea. Thousands of acres have b°en bought for installation of plant, the erection of which has already begun. The inventor of the system. Mr Leonard Weaver, savs that thousands of acres of land along the English coast have been acquired, and hydroelectric power plants, reiving on the ebb and flow of the tide, will be erected. "Colchester will be the first town supplied from our plant. We have agreed to furnish them wiih power bv August Ist of next vear.

"The total cost of the plant will be ~ICO,OuO. which includes promotion fees and all expenses. "We claim that ours will be the cheapest electric power in the world. The hydro-electrie engineer estimates that power can be generated at iJ a unit, and we can sell it to consumers, including cost of transmission and all costs, at IM. It costs a steam plant "d merely to produce. Our upkeep is practically nil. The unerring tides give us the power.

"Each 1000 acres flooded and operated by our system will yield 0,000,000 units of elcctrk-itv ;i vear, and save from -1000 to Sooo*tons of coal. I conceived the idea fifteen years ago when I toured America and Canada, and saw the great hydro-electric stations there. "The system is this: Wo take au. area of marsh land that would bo covered by water if the sea could get past tho walls that have been built to keep it out. "At Mersea wc have 5000 acres of such land. By means of , sluices we flood a portion of thin area when the tide is at the full. Tho water passes through the turbines and out into the second half of tho area. This waste water automatically .flows out at ebb tide by means of flood gates. Meanwhile the turbines arc still generating power with the • water stored in the other dam at full tide. When tho tide rises again it replenishes tho first reservoir. 80, by a species of perpetual motion, tho turbines aro kept working. The plant need never stop.

"But for the thirt.y miles of sea walls at Mersea built years ago by our forefathers, the scheme would not be an economic proposition. "As it is, wc hold the key positions all round the coast. We have an option of land at W r alton-on-thc-Naze, giving us control of 2500 acres. This will fitipply Ipswich. We cxpoct to install plant on the Mcdway, generating power for Chatham and Rochester, and a population of 250,000."