MARCONI’S AIMS

Hokitika Guardian, 23 September 1933, Page 2

MARCONI’S AIMS

LONDON September 10. The . Mardie.se Marconi stated that he hoped shortly to have found the means of applying the “e'ehomttcf” (an iustruiiieht: for echo' sounding) to aeroplanes with the same., success that it is aj plied;at,-preseitt tfpships for measuring byspund the.dbpth of the sea. This w mid (men n fliers would be afforded for th ;V first' I :time a reliable method of dote m i n-ili'g. their. height, whether - above la. id or sea. P "esSnt methods depend on the de-crease'-of o atmosipheric pressure with h( : glit ; and are; puavoidabily .affected /* bather eh a ages during flight; i A forgelnumber of accidents have occur! j Rowing to the pilot of an aeroplane being -.deceived as to his height. Ari instrument of thmtvno promised would, therefore,' he a safety factor of the first importance .for Ml long distance fllghtM when cloud or mist was likely take mhcmmterod.

The principle of the ’’achometer’’ is that some form of wave, whether sound or wireless, is directly or indirectly timed on a double journey from the observer to the reflecting surface —in the case of a ship, the bottom of the sea, and in the case of an aeroplane tile land or sea beneath. For sea sounding the most effective method has .been the use of sound ‘waves of higher frequency than the ear can detect—more than three octaves above the limits of music.