“Atmospherics” in Wireless Telegraphy

Abstract

THE greatest difficulty in wireless telegraphy is due to atmospherics. I believe that every attempt to prevent these sudden shocks from entering the receiving apparatus in important stations has failed. Now Mr. S. G. Brown has wires stretched horizontally from his house to his stables in Kensington at about 40 ft. from the ground; he receives all the ordinary messages and time signals with practically no sign of atmospherics. Of course, lessening the height of high antennae lessens the energy received, but it seems that the diminution of the blow is much greater than the diminution of ordinary signals. One of Brown's relays magnifies the currents in the receiving apparatus one hundred times, and he expected that the signals would be well received, in spite of the lowness of his wires, but he was surprised to find that the blow, the atmospheric, had almost altogether disappeared. In fact, there was no blow to magnify. I believe that the Salcombe Hill Observatory arrangement for receiving time signals is also free from atmospherics, its antennæ being quite low, and a Brown relay being used.