Radio on the Bremen

Radio Record, Volume III, Issue 17, 8 November 1929, Page 31

Radio on the Bremen

A Comprehensive Equipment

Tse new German liner, the Bremen, which recently took the coveted. Blue Riband from the Mauretania by establishing a new trans-Atlantic speed record, is equipped with the most modern type of radio apparatus Usually the wireless installation on a ship is fitted in an ordinary cabin, but on the Bremen wireless has been regarded as ar integral part of the ship’s ‘organisation. Hence, on the top deck, two spacious cabins have been provided for the power installations. One of these houses all the generators and similar apparatus, together with a workshop for running repairs to be carried out at sea, The other: cabin contans the high and low-tension accumulators, Apart from these’ power cabins, there are five main opérating rooms. The’ first contans the main wireless transmitters and receivers; the second is specially devoted to long-distance reception; | the third is the office in which one or more operators are always in attendance for dealing with the delivery and acceptance of radio telegrams from passengers; and. the fourth cabin is another office fer passengers to hand in their telegrams direct to the wireless operator on duty. There is also another room, soundproof, where passengers can speak dir-. ect by wireless telephone tv their friends on any passing ships or to their friends on shore, For this purpose, the Bremen has been fitted with a special wireless telephone set, so that passengers in mid-Atlantic can be connected by land-lines to almost any part of the civilised world. On her maiden voyage, the Brémen carried six wireless ‘ operators, but traffic during the trip was so heavy that the number has now been increased to ten. These operators have their own cabins connected by telephone to the main wireless office, while the chief operator is in direct communication with the captain and other chief officers of the vessel. 7 All the generators and motors on the top deck are controlled by avtomatic starters operated from the main wireless cabin by a push button control box, so that no sound or interference caused by the motors can penetrate to the control cabins. ye transmitter, which is of the _ oscillator-driven type, is readily adapted to give continuous wave, interrupted continuous wave and _ telephony. | Wavelengths of from 500 to 3000 . metres gre provided, and the aerial energy is 8 kilowatts. The circuit ar--yangement permits of exact calibration . of the master-oscillator, and wave- . length changes are effected in less than . thirty seconds. Direct current at 4000 yolts is taken from a rotary machine. In addition to the main transmitting

‘equipment gre three other transmitters. One of these is a,, short-wave long-distanee set using 700 watts power. Provision is made for telephony ’ transmission with this short-wave set, and in order to comply with the: re-quirements-of the Washington Convention, long-distance telephony trans--missions will shortly be transferred from the main transmitter to this equipment. -A medium-wave transmitter is also installed for handling traffic at short range, and consists of a modulated continuous wave set with a wave range of 580 to 830 metres, and an aerial power of about 200 watts. Finally, there is the } kilowatt emergency equipment, an accymulator-driven spark set’ which is independent of the ship’s power supply. Hach of tliese transmitters is provided with a separate receiving set, each set can be worked independently or otherwise, as desired. Duplex working can be carried out by two operutors working at the same time on the main set, while simultaneously a third operator can receive Press, weather, or time signal reports. The Bremen is also fitted with a direction-finding set and an .electric depth-finding apparatus., By means of these two important a.ds to navigation, ship’s officers can calculate the exact position of the ship in’ any ‘weather. Two of the motor-driven lifeboats of the Bremen are equipped for both transmission and reception. Collapsible masts support a small two-wire aérial, and power is derived from a accumulator applied to an alternating current generator.