Channel Link by Micro Ray
Page 49
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(IN January 26 Sir Philip Sassoon,
Under-secretary of State for Air, opened a micro-ray radio service between the civil airports at Lympne, Kent, and St. Inglevert, France. It is the first commercial micro-ray service and is being provided and operated jointly by the British and French Air Ministries. The object is to Speed up transmission of traffic messages and to replace the system of sending messages by land line from Lympne to Croydon and thence by wireless to St. Inglevert. Civil aircraft without wireless sets are advised to circle Lyrnpne before crossing the Channel and to circle AIprech, Calais or St. Inglevert on reaching the French side ; aeroplanes from France follow a similar course. Hitherto, however, messages reporting departures have taken some 20 minutes (about the time taken by aircraft to make the crossing), due to the fact that one station at St. Inglevert handled messages on four wave-lengths. • Henceforth, aircraft crossing the Channel from either side on this route will be reported in a few seconds. Thus, if a machine does not report after crossing, the official search machinery for missing aircraft can be set in motion more speedily. This will aid private aircraft and air taxis not having radio, and will speed up meteorological reports, helping aeroplanes that are waiting for the first change of weather to render a crossing possible.
The station at Lympne has been erected by Standard Telephones and Cables, Ltd., and that at St. Inglevert by its associated company, Le Material Telephonique of Paris. The micro ray radiates less power than is required to light a pocket Ilash-lamp, the wave-length is about 17 cm. (against 900 In. used for civil air traffic), and the aerials are less than 1 in. long Aluminium reflectors, about 10 ft in diameter, concentrate the rays into a fine pencil directed towards the receiving station.., By using a 17-cm. wavelength for transmission and one of 174 cm. for reception, duplex working simultaneously by teleprinter and telephone is possible. The micro-ray system should afford an opportunity for cOmmercial advancement of television without causing interference with other wireless communications. Micro rays are not affected by fog, rain, etc., and so could extend the usefulness of lighthouses (aerial and marine) at times when visibility is poor.