UNDER A RIVER

Radio Record, Volume I, Issue 26, 13 January 1928, Page 13

UNDER A RIVER

Officials of radio station WODA, of Paterson, N.J., went down 80 feet under the surface of the Hudson River recent. ly, according to the United States Associated Press, to see what effect such depth would have on broadcast reception. They found that such a spot is almost totally ‘blind.’ A. standard broadcast receiver and a special short wave receiver were set up in the Holland Vehicular ‘Tunnel half-way wetween New York and New Jersey. At first nothing came in, but after long experiments strains of music filtered through from station WOR_ in Newark, and then from WHN in New York. So much power had to be used that the reception was almost blotted out by the roaring and crackling of the set. After this test a receiving set built into an automobile was brought into use. At the New York end of the tunnel WOR was tuned in and was received at full volame. As the car coasted down the incline into the tunnel ‘the music continued to come in strongly, but as the actual mouth of the tunnel was reached the melody wag suddenly decreased in volume and within 100 feet it vanished. Richard BE. O’Dea, of WODA, said the results of the experiment would be reported io the Federal Radio Commission and the Radio Division of the Burean of Standards. He said the tests showed that the tunnel was pétfectly shielded from electric interference, and that they proved shielding was a practical method of eliminating interference. -- ae — --