MYSTERIOUS BARRIERS

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 16, 19 January 1924, Page 22

MYSTERIOUS BARRIERS

Among the curious phenomena of wireless reception are the facte that signals ■are much better received in some directions than in others, and that there are certain localities, often very small, where signals are inaudible or" very weaJc, though loud enough in the surrounding areas. The reasons for these discrepancies are riot yet known. On a. larger scale still there are mysterious silences. The MacmiHan Arctic expedition has for a long time been on the coast of Greenland, arid until recently the only. American operator able to communicate with the ship, the Bowdoin, was a young amateur named Jack Barnsley, of Prince Rupert, British Columbia, who conducted the traffic for a considerable time across' the whole American Continent, and acted as an official relay station. The inability of other stations far nearer to tl?o Bowdoin's position cither to hear the ship or make themselves heard is a

mystery. The Eowdoin was, however, heard in Europe. In a similar way, Amundsen s ship ilaude, with a powerful radio equipment, was screened off completely from stations all over North America From July, 1922, the Mauds sent radio messages twice a day; yet though they were received in Europe, after traversing the Polar regions, America remained deaf to them. In the hope of solving this and allied puzzles, the Aerial League of America, at the suggeshorrof Mr. T. A. Edison, has been orga-nwng-whatthe : "New York Times" calls a; world-wide" check-up." This- is designed to provide information about, the effect on radio of daylight, twilight,- and darkness, ,cc, water, verdure, different atmospheric conditions, and different geologic lormations. It is desired to ascertain and define the location and strength of natural disturbances'and-in-terferences acting upon receiving stations in various parts of the world, at different seasons of the year, under different atmospheric conditions, in davght and darkness, so'that thereafter there may he basic data available upon eauim?° ( c the Strell-th of si S"als required _ for communication between Selr n POUUS at difiei' ent seasons of the It is hoped to locate "dead areas" of the earth, and ascertain the causes of these, invMible barriers which obstruct ladio transmission. It is also desired to ascertain whether. radio si 3 nals travel equaly readily through the" atmosphere, the hydrosphere and the lithosphere of thp f r f V. 1 ap??ars t0 be the case f«™ NnH ♦ r radl° El§nals from shi P and iand stations are received equally well °n land, 6n islands, on ,hi£, on sub uVht submannes> and on aircraft in