WIRELESS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1644, 10 January 1913, Page 3

WIRELESS.

, ♦ THE AWANUI STATION. A -WONDERFUL PIECE OP WORK. (By Telegraph.—Special Correspondent.) , Auckland, January 9. Testing operations are now being carried on at the Awanui .wireless station. A "Herald" representative on the spot, 6ays in tho course of a message to his paper, that it may bo explained that this wireless station, which' through tho courtesy of tho authorities is for the first time in tho history of New Zealand journalism taking the place of the. ordinary Morse telegraph for the sending of a press message, has for its main object the estal> lisluuent of a link in the Imperial chain of stations joining together all parts of the British Empire. It is the first highpower station to bo erected in New Zealand. -It- is also the first to be installed with a generator capable of ; allowing powerful messages to bo emitted. Its power is 35 kilowatts,. while those, at Auckland and Wellington are only ablo to dear with a current up to two kilowats. This station is- already a success. This telegram speaks for itself. Sydney, Suva, and vessels far away have been called-up and in all, cases the operators "over tho. way" h'ave said - that the messages from here aro clear, that the signals, are well defined, and that tho-ring-ing not© is of a high quality. The. buildings- about the station are all substantial structures.. There is the engine-house containing a 70 h.p. Gardner oil-engine which drives a generator of 45 kilowatts. There is also the operating house, of four large rooms, a workshop and store. All the buildings are of ferro-concrete .with asbestos tiled roofs. ■ The. contract has been faithfully carried out and 1 -it. may safely be said that from an erection point of view the first 'high-power New. Zealand station is a complete.success., • The wireless station is a wonderful combination of architecture, engineering, and science. The familiar cross-bar, with three or four wires stretchcd between - two masts has been pone, away with, and a huge steel tower, with a.-network of rope round it is'the-supporter, of tho aerials, and what a network! For a'radius of three hundred yards from-the operating room wires are stretched from- tho top of the tower to a circle of posts. It makes an imposing picture with-bright oojjper ' glittering and hugo wire stays swaying menacingly in the wind. The tower is a wonder in itself. It is of heavy steel network 400-feet high, and it rests on some little pieces of. glass. It is . built in the formiof a triangle, so. that however • great the pressure of the wind may bo on the tall structure, the pressure is even all'round. It is mounted on glass because it has to be insulated. Nothing but tho aerials must gather in . tho mystic waves that come through'' space. Supporting the tower aro three steel stays, the ends of which aro embedded in. little concrete lean-to, themselves just of tho correct- weight to counterbalance the weight of .each stay. It is'a wonderful piece of work this tower. Its prinoipla is a Telefunkon patent, and its erection wa9 the main engineering feat of' the whole work. ,The actual construction- work has been carried out by the Australasian Wireless, Company -under' contract with tho Now Zealand Government, and had it not been for the awful condition of the roads in the north tlio 1 \Votk would 1 have been finished weeks ago. The heavy machinery was carried to'the station,: four mile's from the- wharf ' at Awanui in bullock wagons often axle-deep- in mud,, and bogged for hours in deep holes; but tho great success of, the'station' counterbalances the difficulties of tho work,. It is hoped that the testing, ofthe insulation will bo , completed in ; a'week or two and that by the end of the month the station will be ready for public u5e.,...