Wireless Transmission of Photographs Part 3

It will be seen that it consists of a holder A, somewhat resembling a drill chuck, fastened to the flat spring B in such a manner that the angle the stylus makes to the drum can be altered. The needle consists of a length of 36-gauge steel wire, and as this wears away slowly the jaws of the holder can be loosened and a fresh length pushed through. The wire should not project beyond the face of the holder more than 1/8th inch. The gauge {58} of wire chosen would not suit every machine, the best gauge to use being found by trial, but in the writer's machine the pitch of the decomposition marks is much finer than of those made by the commercial machines, and this gauge, with the slight but unavoidable spreading of the marks, will produce a mark of just the right thickness. As already mentioned, no explanation of this peculiarity on the part of the stylus can be given, as there is nothing very corrosive in the solution used, and the pressure of the stylus upon the paper is so slight as to be almost negligible.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 31.]

No special means are required for fastening the paper to the drum, the moist paper adhering quite firmly. Care should be taken, however, to fasten the paper--which should be long enough to allow for a lap of about 1/4 inch--in such a manner that when working the stylus draws away from the edge of the lap and not towards it.

The current required to produce electrolysis is very small, about one milliampere being sufficient. {59} Providing that the voltage is sufficiently high, decomposition will take place with practically "no current," it being possible to decompose the solution with the discharge from a small induction coil. The quant.i.ty of an element liberated is by weight the product of time, current, and the electro-chemical equivalent of that element, and is given by the equation W = zct, where

W = quant.i.ty of element liberated in grammes.

z = electro-chemical equivalent, c = current in amperes, t = time in seconds.

The chemical action that takes place is therefore very small, as the intermittent current sent out from the transmitter in some cases only lasts from 1/50th to 1/100th a second.

The decomposed marks on the paper are blue, and, as photographers know, blue is reproduced in a photograph as a white, so that a photograph taken of our electrolytic picture, which will of course be a blue image upon a white ground, will be reproduced almost like a blank sheet of paper. If, however, a yellow contrast filter is placed in front of the camera lens, and an orthochromatic plate used, the blue will be reproduced in the photograph as a dead black.

There is one other point that requires attention. It will be noticed that the metal print used for {60} transmitting is a positive, since it is prepared from a negative. The received picture will therefore be a negative, making the final reproduction, if it is to be used for newspaper work, a negative also. Obviously this is no good. The final reproduction must be a positive, therefore the received picture must be also a positive.

To overcome this difficulty matters must be so arranged at the receiving station that in the cases of Figs. 17, 18, 22, and 24, the film is kept permanently illuminated while the stylus on the transmitter is tracing over an insulating strip, and in darkness when tracing over a conducting strip.

In Fig. 30 the relay F should allow a continuous current from Z to flow through the electrolytic paper, and only broken when the resistance of the selenium cell is sufficiently reduced to allow the current from D to operate the relay.

The author has endeavoured to make direct positives on gla.s.s of the picture to be transmitted, so that a negative metal print could be prepared. The results obtained were not very satisfactory, but the method tried is given, as it may perhaps be of interest. The plate used in the camera has to be exposed three or four times longer than is required for an ordinary negative. The exposed plate is then placed in a solution of protoxalate of iron (ferrous oxalate) and left until the image shows plainly through the back of the plate. It {61} is then washed in water and placed in a solution consisting of

Distilled water 1000 cc.

Nitric acid 2 cc.

Sulphuric acid 3 cc.

b.i.+.c.hromate of potash 105 grammes.

Alum 80 "

After being in this bath for about fifteen minutes the plate is again well washed in water, and developed in the ordinary way. The first two operations should be performed in the dark room, but the remaining operations can be performed in daylight, once the plate has been placed in the b.i.+.c.hromate bath. As already stated, the results obtained were not very satisfactory, and such a method is not now worth following up, as it is comparatively easy so to arrange matters at the receiving station that a positive or negative image can be received at will.

It is necessary to connect the stylus of the receiving machine to the positive pole of the battery Z, otherwise the marks will be made on the underside of the paper. The electrolytic receiver, owing to the absence of mechanical and electro-magnetic inertia, is capable of recording signals at a very high speed indeed.

"Atmospherics," which are such a serious nuisance in long-distance wireless telegraphy, will also prove a nuisance in wireless photography, {62} but their effects will not be so serious in a photographic method of receiving as they would be in the electrolytic system. In a photographic receiver where the film is, under normal conditions, constantly illuminated, the received signals (both the transmitted signals and the atmospheric disturbances) will be recorded, after development, as transparent marks upon the film, the remainder of the film being, of course, perfectly opaque. By careful retouching the marks due to the disturbances can be eradicated, a print upon sensitised paper having been first obtained to act as a guide during the process.

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CHAPTER IV

SYNCHRONISING AND DRIVING

Clockwork and electro-motors are the source of driving power that are most suitable for photo-telegraphic work, and each has its superior claims depending on the type of machine that is being used. For general experimental work, however, an electro-motor is perhaps the most convenient, as the speed can be regulated within very wide limits. For a constant and accurate drive a falling weight has no equal, but the apparatus required is very c.u.mbersome and the work of winding both tedious and heavy. This method of driving was at one time universally employed with the Hughes printing telegraph, but it has now been discarded in favour of electro-motors, which are more compact, besides being cheaper to instal in the first instance.

Synchronising and isochronising the two machines are the most difficult problems that require solving in connection with wireless photography, and as previously mentioned, the {64} synchronising of the two stations must be very nearly perfect in order to obtain intelligible results. The limit of error in synchronising must be about 1 in 500 in order to obtain results suitable for publication.

The electrolytic system is perhaps the easiest to isochronise, as the received picture is visible. On the metal print used for transmitting, and at the commencing edge a datum line is drawn across in insulating ink. The reproduction of this line is carefully observed by the operator in charge of the receiving instrument, and the speed of the motor is regulated until this line lies close against a line drawn across the electrolytic paper.

Although this may seem an ideal method there are one or two considerations to be taken into account. Unless the decomposition marks are made the correct length and are properly s.p.a.ced, however good the isochronising may be, the result will be a blurred image. Any one who has worked with a selenium cell, will know that it cannot change from its state of high resistance to that of low resistance with infinite rapidity, and the effects of this inertia, or "fatigue" as it has been called, are more p.r.o.nounced when working at a high speed. In working, the effects of this inertia would be to increase the time of contact of the relay F (Fig. 30) as the current from D would flow for a slightly longer period through R to F than the period of {65} illumination allowed by K. This, of course, would mean a lengthening of the marks on the paper; results would also differ greatly with different selenium cells. There is a method of compensation by which the inertia of a cell can almost entirely be overcome, but it would add greatly to the complicacy of the receiving apparatus.

In using an electro-motor with any optical method of receiving there are two methods available. The first is an arrangement similar to that used by Professor Korn in his early experiments with his selenium machines. The motor used for driving has several coils in the armature connected with slip rings, from which an alternating current may be tapped off; the motor acting partially as a generator, besides doing good work as a motor in driving the machine. This alternating current is conducted to a frequency meter, which consists of a powerful electro-magnet, over which are placed magnetised steel springs, having different natural periods of vibration. By means of a regulating resistance the motor is run until the spring which has the same period as the desired armature speed vibrates freely. The speed of the motors at both stations can thus be adjusted with a fair amount of accuracy. Another method is to make use of a governor similar to those employed in the Hughes printing telegraph system. A drawing of the governor is given in Fig. 32. It consists of a

[Ill.u.s.tration] {67} metal frame which supports an upright steel bar S, whose ends turn on pivots. This bar is rectangular in section. The gear-wheel G is fastened near the bottom of this rod and gears with a similar wheel on the shaft of the driving motor (not shown). Suspended from the broader sides of S are the two flexible arms D, each carrying a bra.s.s ball T. These b.a.l.l.s are not fastened to the arms, but can slide up and down, being held in position by the wire springs M, one end of each spring being fastened to the screws C. These screws work in a slot cut in the upper part of S, and are connected to the adjusting screw E. When E is turned the screws are raised or lowered accordingly, and also the b.a.l.l.s on the arms D.

Fastened to the arms are two brushes of tow B, and these revolve inside but just clearing the inner surface of the steel ring Z. Upon the motor speed increasing above the normal the arms D, and consequently the b.a.l.l.s T, swing out, making a larger circle, causing the brushes B to press against the steel ring Z, setting up friction which, however, is reduced as soon as the motor regains its ordinary working speed. By careful adjustment the speed of the motors can be kept perfectly constant. The object of having the b.a.l.l.s T adjustable on D, is to provide a means of altering the motor speed, as the lower the b.a.l.l.s on D the slower the mechanism runs, and _vice versa_. {68}

[Ill.u.s.tration]

A simple and effective speed regulator devised by the writer is given in drawings 33 and 34. It comprises two parts, A and B, the part A being connected to the driving motor, and the part B working independently. The independent portion B consists of an ordinary clock movement M, a steel spindle J being geared to one of the slower moving wheels, so that it makes just one revolution in two seconds. This spindle, which runs in two coned bearings, carries at its outer end a light [Ill.u.s.tration] pointer D, about two inches long, to the underside of which is fastened the thin bra.s.s contact spring S, which presses lightly upon the ebonite ring N. {69} The portion A comprises a spindle, pointer, and contact spring similar to those employed in B, the spindle J' being geared to the driving motor by means of F, so that the pointer D' makes a little more than one revolution in two seconds. By means of a special form of brake on the driving motor, the speed is reduced, so that both pointers travel at the same rate, viz. one revolution in two seconds. By careful adjustment the two pointers can be made to revolve in synchronism,[9] and when this is obtained the contact springs S, S', pa.s.s over the contacts C, C', completing the circuit of the battery B and lamp L. When working properly the lamp L lights up regularly once every second. This regulator is an excellent one to use for experimental work, although it depends a great deal upon the skill of the operator, but good adjustment should be obtained in about two minutes. It is a good plan to insert a clutch of some description between the driving motor and the machine, so that the regulator can be adjusted prior to the act of receiving or transmitting, the machine being prevented from revolving by means of a catch. The motor used should be powerful enough to take up the work of driving the machine without any reduction in speed. The clocks M can be regulated so that they only gain or lose a few seconds in {70} twenty-four hours, which gives an accuracy in working sufficient for all practical purposes.

Connection is made with the contact springs S, S', by means of the springs T, T', which press against the spindles J, J'.

Another important point is the correct placing of the picture upon the receiving drum. It is necessary that the two machines besides revolving in perfect isochronism should synchronise as well, _i.e._ begin to transmit and record at exactly the same position on the cylinders, viz. at the edge of the lap, so that the component parts of the received image shall occupy the same position on the paper or film as they do on the metal print. If the receiving cylinder had, let us suppose, completed a quarter of a revolution before it started to reproduce, the reproduction when removed from the machine and opened out will be found to be incorrectly placed; the bottom portion of the picture being joined to the top portion, or _vice versa_, and this means that perhaps an important piece of the picture would be rendered useless even if the whole is not spoilt. It is evident, therefore, that some arrangement must be employed whereby synchronism, as well as isochronism of the two instruments can be maintained.

There are several methods of synchronising that are in constant use in high-speed telegraphy, in which the limit of error is reduced to a minimum, {71} and some modification of these methods will perhaps solve the problem, but it must be remembered that synchronism is far easier to obtain where the two stations are connected by a length of line than where the two stations are running independently.

In one system of ordinary photo-telegraphy synchronism is obtained in the following manner. The receiving cylinder travels at a speed slightly in excess of the transmitting cylinder, and as its revolution is finished first is prevented from revolving by a check, and when in this position the receiving apparatus is thrown out of circuit and an electro-magnet which operates the check is switched in. When the transmitting cylinder has completed its revolution (about 1/100th of a second later) the transmitting apparatus, by means of a special arrangement, is thrown out of circuit for a period, just long enough for a powerful current to be sent through the line. This current actuates the electro-magnet. The check is withdrawn and the receiving cylinder commences a fresh revolution in perfect synchronism with the transmitting cylinder. As soon as the check is withdrawn the receiving apparatus is again placed in circuit until another revolution is completed. As the receiver cannot stop and start abruptly at the end of each revolution a spring clutch is inserted between the driving motor and the machine. {72}

Although a method of synchronising similar to this may later on be devised for wireless photography, the writer, from the result of his own experiments, is led to believe that results good enough for all practical purposes can be obtained by fitting a synchronising device whereby the two machines are started work at the same instant, and relying upon the perfect regulation of the speed of the motors for correct working.

The method of isochronism must, however, be nearly perfect in its action, as it is easy to see that with only a very slight difference in the speed of either machine this error will, when multiplied by 40 or 50 revolutions, completely destroy the received picture for practical purposes.

From what has been written in this and in the preceding chapters it will be evident that the successful solution of transmitting photographs by wireless methods will necessitate the use of a great many pieces of apparatus all requiring delicate adjustment, and depending largely upon each other for efficient working. As previously stated, there is at present no real system of wireless photography, the whole science being in a purely experimental stage, but already Professor Korn has succeeded in transmitting photographs between Berlin and Paris, a distance of over 700 miles. If such a distance could be worked over successfully, there is no reason to doubt that before long {73} we shall be able to receive pictures from America with as great reliability and precision as we now receive messages.

In nearly all wireless photographic systems devised up to the present the chief portion of the receiver consists of a very sensitive galvanometer, and although very good results have been obtained by their use they are more or less a nuisance, as the extreme delicacy of their construction renders them liable to a lot of unnecessary movement caused by external disturbances. A galvanometer of the De' Arsonval pattern, used by the writer, was constantly being disturbed by merely walking about the room, although placed upon a fairly substantial table; and for the same reason it was impossible to attempt to place the driving motor of the machine on the same table as the galvanometer. For s.h.i.+p-board work it will be evident that the use of such a sensitive instrument presents a great difficulty to successful working, and a good opening exists for some piece of apparatus--to take the place of the galvanometer--that will be as sensitive in its action but more robust in its construction.

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CHAPTER V

THE "TELEPHOGRAPH"

In the present chapter it is proposed to give a brief description of a system of radio-photography devised by the author, and which includes a greatly improved method of transmitting and receiving, as well as an ingenious arrangement for synchronising the two stations; the whole being an attempt to produce a system that would be capable of working commercially over fairly long distances.

The system about to be described, and which I have designated the "telephograph," is the outcome of several years' original experimental work, many difficulties that were manifest in the working of the earlier systems having been overcome by apparatus that has been expressly designed for the purpose.

In any practical system of radio-photography the following points are of great importance: (1) the speed of transmission; (2) the quality of the received picture; (3) the method of synchronising {75} the two machines so that transmission and reception begin simultaneously; (4) the correct regulation of the speed of the driving motors; (5) the simplicity and reliability of the entire arrangement. Points 1 and 2 are dependent upon several factors; the number of contacts made by the stylus per minute; the size of the metal print used; the number of lines per inch on the screen used in preparing the print; and the accurate and harmonious working of the various pieces of apparatus employed.

In the system under discussion the size of the metal print used is 5 inches by 7 inches, and a screen having 50 lines to the inch is used for preparing it. With the drum of the machine making one revolution in four seconds, the stylus makes 87 contacts per second, or 5220 a minute, the time for complete transmission being twenty-five minutes. By the use of ordinary relays not more than 2000 contacts a minute can be obtained, and in the present system it is only by means of a specially designed relay that such a high rate of working has been made possible. Similarly, too, with the receiving of such a large number of signals transmitted at such a high speed, a special instrument has been devised that can record this number of signals without any trouble, and could even record up to 8000 signals a minute, provided that a suitable transmitter could be designed. {76}

In the present system the writer does not claim to have completely solved the problem of the wireless transmission of photographs, but it is a great advance on any system previously described, and the following advantages are put forward for recognition: (1) a greatly improved method of transmitting and receiving; (2) a simple method of regulating the speed of the driving motors and maintaining isochronism with a limit of error of less than 1 in 800; (3) an arrangement for synchronising the two machines whereby transmitting and receiving begin simultaneously; (4) the use of one machine only at each station.

TRANSMITTING APPARATUS

A diagrammatic representation of the apparatus required for a complete station, transmitting and receiving combined, is given in Fig. 35, the usual wireless equipment having been omitted from the diagram to avoid confusion.

_The Machine._--This, as will be seen from Fig. 36, consists of a base-plate M, to which are attached the two bearings B and B'. The bearing B' is fitted with an internal thread to correspond with the threaded portion of the shaft D. The drum V is a bra.s.s casting, being fastened to the shaft by set screws. The shaft is threaded 75 to the inch. The bearings are preferably of the concentric type. The circuit breaker C is so arranged that when {77} the drum has traversed the required distance, the end of the shaft pushes back the spring M, breaking the circuit of the driving gear and stopping the machine. The machine is connected to the driving gear by the flexible coupling A.