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Aviation History
1932
1932 - 0721.PDF
FLIGHT, JULY 15, 1932 EKa TTvAu3j|y THE A.A. WIRELESS STATION AT HESTON *T is perhaps not widely known how successful has been the Automobile Association's scheme for a daily broadcast of comprehensive weather reports from the wireless station established by them at Heston Air Park and equipped by Standard Telephone & Cables, Ltd. Begun as an experiment in September, 1931, it proved itself immediately one of the best services inaugurated to assist airmen flying in this country. It has further conclusively shown that if only two more stations like it were erected, say, one at Leeds and the other at Bristol, no airman flying in Great Britain and equipped with wire less apparatus would be out of range of the( regular weather reports. The cost of running such a station and service per year is so small that, coupled with the supreme importance of weather broadcasts to airmen, there should be no delay in establishing two more. Possibly the flying clubs, which have been prompt to intercept the daily Heston broadcasts, and to which an extension of the service would be a blessing, would find it feasible even with their meagre resources to make a collective contribution towards the establishment of two more stations. We say this knowing how low is the yearly maintenance cost involved per station. The licence held by the A.A. station at Heston is for aviation pur poses only, and the service put forth is primarily intended for airmen. But the truth is that there is no limit to the sections of the community which have found the daily service of great practical advantage. A stream of correspondence received at Heston testifies to the intelligent application by the public of information about the weather when transmitted in a medium that all understand, namely, the human voice. Appropriately enough, motorists by the hundred have got into the habit of employing the aid of Heston before setting forth on a long journey. Farmers in all parts have come to accept Heston as their barometer. Nominally Heston is a f-kilowatt station. Actually it is less than that, 330 watts being the energy employed for telephony, yet it is picked up all over the country. Newcastle and Dublin receive the broadcasts nine times a day. Transmission is on a wavelength of 833 m. If listeners tune in a little below Croydon (900 m.) Heston should be picked up as a matter of course. The range of radio telephony transmitted by Heston is up to 400 miles for ground stations. In the air an airman using the " Stan dard " aeroplane receiver unit MS 3044 (described in FLIGHT for January 8, 1932) can receive pure speech from Heston for a distance of 100 miles. This complete receiver unit, by the way, only costs £30. The station is also equipped for continuous wave and interrupted continuous wave trans mission, the range in this case being between 500 and 800 miles. Thus Heston is always prepared to take over a telegraphic service if needs be. The station is a small but self- contained unit occupying a central position on the main approach to the Air Park buildings, designed to har monise with the distinctive style of the architecture of Heston. For its par ticular function it is considered the only one of its kind in the world, and as such it is a technical achievement as well as an advanced feature in the scheme of civil aviation. The build ing is compact and surrounded by neat grass borders, while towering to a height of 75 ft. is a lattice mast supporting a T-aerial facing north and south. There are three departments in the station. First comes the operating room, with a section as a public in quiry office, then adjoining that is the power room, and finally a neat admini strative office for the wireless officer- in-charge. The latter is F/O. T. Her bert, who has been connected with the wireless industry more or less continu ously since 1910. He has organised Heston on Service lines, which is one cause of its success. Assistant wire less officer is Mr. G. R. Mack, and an efficient lady secretary completes the staff. A seven-day-per-week service of weather broadcasts is maintained all the year round. All the reports broad cast are official Air Ministry reports intercepted by Heston in Morse and de-coded by the staff for broadcast in telephony. The service maintained imposes no expense upon those whom it benefits. It may be picked up by all and sundry and used as desired. Incidentally, since the scheme was started many people who were in the habit of going to the expense of tele phoning the Air Ministry for weather information have ceased to do so, Heston automatically serving their needs, thus also sparing the Air Ministry a good deal of trouble. The times of the A.A. broadcasts are at thirty minutes past each hour, each day's programme including three forecasts. This programme is as follows: — 9.30 hrs. (B.S.T.).—Full synoptic weather report and forecast for the day. 10.30 hrs.—Repeated synoptic re port and latest report for S.E. England. 11.30 hrs.—South-east route, and includes any supplementary stations. 12.30 hrs.—Selected observations for England. 13.30 hrs.—Forecast until dusk. 15.30 hrs.—Full Synoptic report. 16.30 hrs.—Repeat F.S.R., also south-east route. 17.30 hrs.—Forecast for the follow ing day. 18.30 hrs.—Selected observations for England. 673 The A.A. Wireless Station at Heston. (FLIGHT Photo.) Antwerp is amongst the Continental stations that take advantage cf this service for the guidance of airmen leav ing for Great Britain. Reverting to the " Standard " wire less apparatus (as the wireless equip ment of Standard Telephones & Cables, Ltd., is designated) installed at Heston, our illustrations give a good impression of the simplification that marks the design. The large set on the table is the main transmitter unit, designed for both telephonic and tele graphic transmission. On the wall to the right is the remote control unit, with voltage controls, metres and buttons. By the simple act of press ing a button on the face of this unit the generators in the adjoining power house are started. The loud speaker perched on this unit is for use as an alternative to the headphones—seen on the table—when the Air Ministry weather reports are being intercepted by the operator. Above the main transmitter unit (which comprises oscillator and ampli fying panels) is a simple automatic changeover device in the aerial circuit for changing over from transmission to reception with instantaneous effect. This feature renders the apparatus practicable for intermediate airports where operators would have to alter nate quickly between reception and transmission. Municipal airports, too, would find this apparatus ideal for their purpose, particularly in connec tion with economical operation. The receiver is seen on the extreme left, whilst the small black unit between it and the transmitter is the operating control panel providing two-way opera tion. The two Morse keys are for tele graphic transmission on continuous wave or interrupted continuous wave. The Morse can be transmitted over a range of five tones, different valves being employed for different tones. Passing next to the power-house, where a 3-phase supply is used, there are the generating sets providing H.T. of 1,500 volts, L.T. of 15 volts, and grid bias 120 volts. Three coloured lamps on the panel in this power-house
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