Rensselaer Polytechnic Radio

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Vol. 21

Se pte m be r, 1922

No.3

RENSSELAER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE BULLETIN

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ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE

RADIO EQUIPMENT
RUSSELL SAGE LABORATORY SEPTEMBER 1922

Publishe d Q uarte rly in March, June , Se pte m be r and De ce m be r at Troy, N. Y., by the R e nsse lae r Polyte chnic Institute . Ente re d January 20, 1902, at Troy, N. Y., as Se cond C lass Matte r unde r the Act of C ongre ss of July 16, 1894. cove r This from the SMECC archives. We have the original publication - photos here are small -

COURSES OF INSTRUCTION CIVIL, MECHANICAL, ELECTRICAL AND CHEMICAL ENGINEERING AND GENERAL SCIENCE

GENERA L INFORMA TION-The R e nsse lae r Polyte chnic Institute was e stablishe d in Troy, N. Y., in 1824. It is the olde st school of e ngine e ring in Am e rica, and it is re cognize d all ove r the world as one of the fore m ost te chnical schools. Stude nts have com e to it from fifty-two of the state s and te rritorie s of the Union and from thirty-se ve n fore ign countrie s, including Arge ntina, Australia, Baham as, Bolivia, Brazil, C anada, C hile , C hina, C olum bia, C osta R ica, C uba, Ecuador, Egypt, England, Ge rm any, Guate m ala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Ire land, Italy, Japan, Java, Me x ico, Nicaragua, Panam a, Pe ru, R om ania, R ussia, Salvador, San Dom ingo, Siam, Spain, Syria, Turk e y, Uruguay, and Ve ne zue la. The num be r of stude nts is 1133. GRA DUA TE COURSES-Graduate course s le ading to Maste rs' de gre e s in the five subdivisions give n as unde rgraduate course s are provide d. The se are e ach one ye ar in duration and le ad to the de gre e s of M. C . E., M. M. E., M. E. E., M. C h. E. and M. S. Graduate course s le ading to the de gre e s Doctor of Scie nce , Sc. D., Doctor of Philosophy, Ph. D., and Doctor of Engine e ring, D. Eng., are also give n. UNDERGRA DUA TE COURSES-Five re gular unde rgraduate course s, e ach four ye ars in duration, le ading to de gre e s, are give n at the Institute . The se are C ivil Engine e ring, le ading to the de gre e C . E.; Me chanical Engine e ring, le ading to the de gre e M. E.; Ele ctrical Engine e ring, le ading to the de gre e E. E.; C he m ical Engine e ring', le ading to the de gre e C h. E., and the course in Ge ne ral Scie nce , le ading to the de gre e B. S. PA RTIA L COURSES-Be side the re gular graduate and unde r, graduate course le ading to de gre e s, various partial course s in scie nce and e ngine e ring, not le ading to de gre e s, are give n. The se m ay be

se le cte d from the subje cts taught in any of the de partm e nts. The y m ay be of any le ngth. The y m ay be tak e n by anyone who is qualifie d by pre vious pre paration to inte llige ntly unde rstan d the course he de sire s to se le ct. CA TA LOGUES-C atalogue s de scribing the various course s and giving re quire m e nts for adm ission will be se nt upon application. 1

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

TROY, N. Y.
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING LABORATORY
Ge ne ral-The various syste m s of radio com m unication now in use are the practical outcom e of that scie ntific re se arch in physics, che m istry and m athe m atics, which characte rize s pre se nt day civilization. It is the task of the e ngine e r to apply the re sults of this re se arch to the proble m s of our e ve ry day life , such as the rapid transm ission of inte llige nce from one point to anothe r R e alizing its obligation to supply te chnically traine d m e n for this work , the R e nsse lae r Polyte chnic Institute has, from tim e to tim e , found it ne ce ssary to m ak e additions to its radio laboratory e quipm e nt. The late st addition is a radio te le phone broadcasting e quipm e nt of the be st type k nown to the art, which has be e n installe d on the third floor of the R usse ll Sage Laboratory. It was de signe d prim arily to give practical instruction in the ope ration of apparatus, the the ory of which is studie d in the classroom . This e quipm e nt is due to the ge ne rosity of W ashing A. R oe bling, '57, John A. R oe bling, '88, and the late C harle s G. R oe bling, '71. Popular inte re st in radio broadcasting has cre ate d a de m and for dive rsifie d program s, and it is fe lt that e ngine e ring schools which re quire this type of apparatus for te aching purpose s can assist in satisfying the de m and of the public for broadcast e nte rtainm e nt by supplying program s of an e ducational nature . For this re ason, this station, k nown by the call le tte rs W H A Z, will broadcast e ve ry Monday e ve ning at 8.15, Easte rn Standard tim e , program . consisting of m usical se le ctions and addre sse s by m e n prom ine nt in all fie lds of hum an activity. As the re is a large am ount of re se arch ye t to be done in the fie ld of radio com m unication, this e quipm e nt will be use d for the colle ction of data on fading, inte rfe re nce , e tc., in long distance , short wave com m unication. Te sts of this nature have alre ady be e n m ade by this station for the Unite d State s De partm e nt of C om m e rce , 2

RADIO EQUIPMENT

FIG. 1. INTER IO R O F STUDIO

FIG. 2. GENER AL VIEW O F O PER ATING R O O M 3

A short description of Station W H A Z followsStudio-Figure 1 shows a corne r of the studio. This room has re ce ive d spe cial acoustical tre atm e nt. The ce iling is cove re d with a thick laye r of fe lt. O ne inch be low this fe lt, suspe nde d from the ce iling', is a pe rforate d oil cloth cove ring. Sound wave s passing through the hole s in the oil cloth are quick ly absorbe d by the fe lt. The floor is cove re d with a he avily padde d carpe t. The tre atm e nt give n the walls is som e what diffe re nt from that in the ordinary studio. The he avy curtains of friar cloth cove ring the walls are m ovable , thus pe rm itting acoustical re se arch and allowing the studio dire ctor a m e ans of varying the am ount of re ve rbe ration produce d by the walls for diffe re nt k inds of m usical se le ctions. A Ste inway Duo-Art R e producing piano and a Victrola are use d for te sting purpose s. No m e chanical instrum e nts are use d in the re gular sche dule d program s. In the ce nte r of the photograph (Fig. 1) is shown a se nsitive m icrophone which is use d to pick up the sounds produce d in the studio and transform the m into fe e ble e le ctric curre nts which are carrie d by wire s to the am plifie r in the ope rating room (Fig. 2). ]'his m icrophone , m ounte d in a casing which m inim ize s the e ffe ct of m e chanical vibration that m ight affe ct the clarity of the re produce d sounds, is de signe d to insure faithful re production of e ve ry gradation of tone of spe e ch or m usic which is to be transm itte d, and m ay be ope rate d by talk ing close up or from a distance of se ve ral fe e t. Operating Room-Adjoining the studio is the ope rating room shown in Figure s 2, 4 and 5. This room contains the transm itting, re ce iving and re cording apparatus use d in both radio te le phony and radio te le graphy. This apparatus is de scribe d m ore in de tail unde r se parate he adings. Speech A mplifier-Figure 2 shows a ge ne ral vie w of the broadcasting se ction of the ope rating room . The wire s from the m icrophone in the studio (Fig, 1) are conne cte d to the spe e ch am plifie r which can be se e n at the right of the ope rator's de sk . This thre e stage am plifie r incre ase s the m agnitude of the curre nts which it re ce ive s m any thousand tim e s and has be e n ve ry care fully de signe d so that it can provide this tre m e ndous incre ase of e ne rgy without any distortion of the original sound wave . The ope rator can m anipulate this am plifie r so that a prope r am ount of e ne rgy is produce d no m atte r how loud or how soft the sounds in the studio m ay be . A loud spe ak e r horn m ounte d ne x t to the am plifie r pe rm its the ope rator to liste n in while he is transm itting and thus de te rm ine the stre ngth and quality of the signals se nt to the radio transm itte r. Radio Transmitter-The radio transm itte r is shown in Figure 2 at the le ft hand side of the ope rator's de sk . This transm itte r is use d 4

to produce high fre que ncy e le ctrical oscillations and vary the ir am plitude in accordance with the m odulate d curre nt re ce ive d from the spe e ch am plifie r. The syste m use d is ge ne rally k nown as the He ising m odulation syste m and is sim ilar in principle to that use d so succe ssfully in the transm ission syste m of our com m on batte ry te le phone e x change s. The e le ctrical e ne rgy from the spe e ch am plifie r is fe d into the grid or input circuit of a 50 watt am plifie r tube . The output circuit of this tube is

conne cte d through a transform e r to the input circuit of two 250 watt tube s conne cte d in paralle l, which toge the r act as a m odulator of the high voltage , high fre que ncy oscillations. Two othe r 250 watt tube s conne cte d in paralle l are use d as the oscillator. The m odulator and oscillator are conne cte d in paralle l and the n through a chok e coil across a 1600 volt, dire ct curre nt, supply syste m . The ope ration is as follows: W he n the spe e ch am plifie r is se nding no e ne rgy to the radio te le phone transm itte r, the dire ct C urre nt divide s e qually be twe e n the plate circuits of the oscillator and m odulator, and oscillations of a constant am plitude are produce d. W he n the spe e ch am plifie r is ope rate d, it change s the grid pote ntial of the m odulator tube s in accordance with the variations of the sound wave s. The variations in the grid pote ntial vary the dire ct curre nt through the m odulator, and since the chok e coil in the dire ct curre nt circuit m ak e s it practically ca constant e ne rgy supply, the variations in the dire ct curre nt supplie d to the oscillator m ust be e qual and opposite to the variations in the dire ct curre nt supplie d to the m odulator. Since the am plitude s of the oscillations are proportional to the dire ct curre nt re ce ive d by the oscillator, it follows that the se am plitude s m ust vary in accordance with the variations of the sound wave s falling on the m icrophone in the studio. Four am m e te rs m ounte d on the face of the transm itte r pane l indicate to the ope rator the value of the curre nt in the various circuits. Two control k nobs just be low the m e te rs e nable him to control the fre que ncy of the oscillations and the am ount of powe r radiate d. Unde r norm al ope rating conditions the high fre que ncy powe r in the ante nna circuit is about 500 watts. The wave le ngth is m e asure d by the Kolste r wave m e te r which is visible on the le ft hand side of the de sk (Fig. 2). At the pre se nt tim e Station W H A Z use s a 400 m e te r wave for broadcasting its re gular program s. Power Supply-The powe r is supplie d to the radio transm itte r by a m otor ge ne rator se t. The driving m otor is a 5 1/2 H.P. 110 volt dire ct curre nt m achine , dire ct conne cte d to two dire ct curre nt ge ne rators, one a 16 volt m achine use d to supply the filam e nt curre nt and the othe r a 1600 volt m achine use d to supply the plate curre nt. 5

FIG. 3. EXTERIOR VIEW OF RUSSELL SA GE LA BORA TORY, SHOWING A NTENNA 6

Power Control--This m otor ge ne rator se t is controlle d at the pane l shown at the e x tre m e le ft of Figure 2. A re m ote control autom atic m otor starte r is actuate d by m e ans of a push button. The voltage of both ge ne rators, whe n once prope rly adjuste d, is controlle d by the m otion of one k nob.

Monitoring System-O n the right hand side of the ope rator's de sk , (Figure 2) is shown a W e ste rn Ele ctric re ce iving se t, consisting of a de te ctor and a two stage audio fre que ncy am plifie r. This is use d with a loud spe ak e r or te le phone he ad se t to e nable the ope rator to liste n in on the output of his transm itting se t as it le ave s the ante nna. This re ce ive r is autom atically conne cte d with the ante nna whe n the transm itte r is not in ope ration, and is the n use d to liste n in on the program s of othe r stations and thus pre ve nts unne ce ssary inte rfe re nce . A ntenna System-The ante nna, which is shown in Figure 3, is supporte d by two ste e l towe rs 80 fe e t high and 150 fe e t apart, place d on the roof of the R usse ll Sage Laboratory. This roof is 64 fe e t above ground le ve l, is m ade of she e t coppe r and e le ctrically conne cte d at m any points to the wate r pipe s and ste e l fram e of the building. The cross-arm s or spre ade rs are m ade of galvanize d iron pipe 18 fe e t long, guye d to the ste e l towe rs to pre ve nt swaying in the wind. The ante nna. is of the T type . The horizontal part consists of four strande d conductors 125 fe e t long. The le ad-in wire s are attache d to the ce nte r point of the horizontal wire s and com e down in the shape of a fan to a point 30 fe e t be low the horizontal wire s whe re the y arc form e d into a cable . This cable is le d into the ope rating room through a large porce lain bushing (Fig. 2) and e nds on the ce nte r point of a single pole , double throw ante nna switch. The ground conne ction is m ade from one pole of this switch to the wate r pipe s, ste e l fram e and roof of the building. From the othe r pole of this switch the ante nna wire runs dire ctly to the coupling coil of the radio transm itte r, and the n to the ground conne ction. The e ne rgy is transform e d by this coil from the oscillator to the ante nna circuit from which it is radiate d into space . Radio Telegraph Transmitting Equipment-O the r transm itte rs are e m ploye d for e x pe rim e ntal and re lay work using the call le tte rs 2 X A P and 2 C D C. At the e x tre m e le ft of Figure 4 is shown a 1 k ilowatt spark transm itte r using a 15,000 volt transform e r and a nonsynchronous rotary gap. In the back ground of Figure 2 is shown a 100 watt continu0us wave te le graph se t e m ploying the C olpitt's circuit. This se t m ay also be use d as a 50 watt te le phone transm itte r for local work . It is supplie d with 1000 volts dire ct curre nt obtaine d by m e ans of two Ke notron re ctifie rs from a 60 cycle alte rnating curre nt line . The high powe r te le phone se t can be use d as a continuous wave te le 7

graph transm itte r whe n ne ce ssary. Plans are now be ing pe rfe cte d for the construction of a 1000 watt continuous wave transm itting se t using the m aste r oscillator circuit. This se t will be use d in transcontine ntal and transatlantic te sts. Receiving Sets-Se ve ral diffe re nt re ce iving se ts arc in use at pre se nt. Figure 5 shows a se cond ope rator's de sk with a Paragon re ce ive r and a two stage am plifie r. The re is also a long wave re ce iving se t and a 6 tube short wave re ce ive r using thre e stage s of radio fre que ncy am plification. The re is in course of construction an 11 tube supe rhe te rodyne re ce ive r which will be use d for Ion g distance te sts. A we ste rn Ele ctric "push and pull" am plifie r is use d whe re ve r a portable am plifie r is re quire d. Short Wave A ntenna-For 200 m e te r com m unication a 6 wire cage ante nna is provide d. This is 100 fe e t long and is alm ost ve rtical, be ing supporte d by the sam e towe rs which support the long wave ante nna. Both ante nnae are usually le ft in place as the y do not m ate rially inte rfe re with e ach othe r. Each towe r is, howe ve r, provide d with a se t of pulle ys and a windlass so that the e ntire ante nna syste m can be change d in a fe w m inute s whe n this is de sire d for spe cial te sts. Switching-In orde r to provide fle x ibility in ope rating the diffe re nt se ts, re m ote control switche s m ounte d on the ce iling are so arrange d that any re ce iving or transm itting se t can be instantly conne cte d to or disconne cte d from e ithe r of the ante nnae . All the transm itting se ts are ope rate d by the sam e transm itting k e y and the sam e re m ote control change ove r switch. The re ce iving se ts can be switche d to a loud spe ak e r locate d in any part of the building or to anyone of se ve ral re cording de vice s. Recording Equipment-O n the table at the le ft of the re ce iving de sk in Figure 5 are shown two m ode ls of the Poulse n te le graphone . This is an old inve ntion adapte d to a ne w purpose . By m e ans of this de vice , spe e ch and m usic from a distant transm itting station are e le ctrom agne tically re corde d on a spool containing six m ile s of fine ste e l wire . The re cord is the n cle arly re produce d as ofte n as de sire d and e rase d at will. It can be am plifie d for re production in a loud spe ak e r and could be re broadcast by the radiophone if de sire d. The te le graphone is also use d to re cord program s transm itte d by VV H A Z or words spok e n into the te le graphone itse lf. This instrum e nt re cords radio te le graph signals and whe n the se arc re produce d the y offe r an ide al opportunity for code practice as e ve rything is re corde d, including inte rfe re nce and static. The re production can be m ade faste r or slowe r than the original. Ex pe rim e nts have be e n m ade with diffe re nt m e thods 8

FIG. 4. VIEW O F O PER ATING R O O M SHO W ING SPAR K TELEGR APH SET AT LEFT

FIG. S. VIEW O F O PER ATING R O O M SHO W ING R EC EIVING AND R EC O R DING EQ UIPMENT 9

of ope rating re lays by radio signals, and a de vice has be e n constructe d for counting up the num be r of dots in the Arlington tim e signals and ringing a se rie s of be lls with the twe lve o'clock dash. Historical Equipm e nt-In the Ele ctrical Engine e ring Laboratory are ope rating m ode ls of the various type s of radio e quipm e nt use d in the past. O ne of the original singing arc te le phone se ts, m ade by the De Fore st C om pany, is shown on top of the apparatus case in Figure 2. I t is inte re sting to note that this sm all pie ce of apparatus pe rform ing, the sam e function as the m ode rn broadcasting e quipm e nt shown in the sam e illustration. Ne x t to it is an e arly Marconi, cohe re r type , radio te le graph re ce ive r. In an adjoining room are two com ple te Te le funk e n radio transm itting and re ce iving se ts. Future De ve lopm e nt-The apparatus now installe d, and unde r construction, in the radio se ction of the Ele ctrical Engine e ring Laboratory, is the logical outcom e of the m ost re ce nt e x pe rim e ntal and re se arch

work in radio e ngine e ring. As the fie ld of radio com m unication de ve lops, ne w de vice s will be adde d to k e e p the laboratory e quipm e nt a t the fore front of progre ss. 10

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