News Printed on the Spot
Page 41
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ALINOTYPE machine, a Bush lateews printing machine and a darkroom are features of a mobile printing and radio office built for the " Birmingham Post and Mail" bs Witsdon and Co.. Ltd., Solihull, in Co-operation with Rootes, Ltd Further developments will include the Installation of a teleprinter, a two-way radio and a photographic wireless transmitter.
The .saloon is 18 ft. long and has about 7 ft. head room. Fluorescent lighting is used throughout, with 10 units in the clerestory roof for interior illumination, and six on each side for lighting the external display and interior slde-table. Moulded Perspex is employed for the curved roof panels and for the four large windows on each side. The window frames. opposite the darkroom between the cab and saloon. are for photographic display.
The electrical arrangements are of particular interest. A 2-kW 230-volt d.c. generator located in the darkroom. i; driven through V belts and a plate
Clutch from the dynamo-pulley take-off on the gearbox. The fluorescent lights are of the 380-cycle three-phase highfrequency type working on 110 volts. The current is transformed by a rotary convertor housed in a sound-proof compartment in the roof of the cab. and an a.c. alternator is to be fitted above the generator to supply a radio transmitter.
Two banks of 24-volt highduty batteries under the sunken linotype floor are fed from a standard vehicle dynamo mounted on the engine. If necessary the batteries may be charged by the 2-kW generator. A plug is fitted for warming the linotype machine from the mains to obviate damp when the vehicle is out of service.
Other features include a special outrigger underframe fOr the body, a power-driven Vent-Axia ventilator for
the darkroom, two knock-up tables with cupboards in the saloon, an electrically heated metal pot for the linotype machine (with.Calor-gas heater to speed up initial heating), 20-ft. aerial mast, a portable earth rod with a flexible lead, and loudspeaker equipment. The interior panelling is in oak finish.
The darkroom has a Calor-gas geyser and the water feed from a 35-gallon under-floor tank is electrically operated.
The body is mounted on a Daimler double-decker chassis, the suspension of which, has been suitably modified to cope with the unusual weight distribution. The overall length of the vehicle is 27 ft.
The Daimler 8.6-litre, six-cylindered direct-injection oil engine which powers the chassis, is fitted with a constant speed governor. The power unit has a, maximum output of 100 b.h.p. at 1,650 r.p.m. A fluid coupling and preselector epicyclic gearbox are other features