New Britain Herald Newspaper, August 23, 1929, Page 25

T Televisionis HE airplane, a hitherto blind bird guided by the hand of man, is to be equipped with an eye—an eye that not only will see, but \\-1}1 broadcast for hundreds of miles all that it sees, whether it be over a re- mote jungle in times of peace or over enemy terrain in the field of war. This modern flymg(Cyclops will not have its eye in the middle of its fore- head or near the “nose” but will look through the bottom of the airplane's fuselage and, surveying whatever is to be seen on the ground, transmit it by radio pictures to distant places. These ictures, whether they be sent a few Kundred yards or several hundred miles, will be reprpduced by a receiving apparatus of special pattern at ground Bm’}l}?:s'new “gerial eye,” as it is called, is the latest device conceived by science in_connection wl‘}ih elevision _ experl- znents. It has aroused the inter- The Drawings Above and at Right lllustrate How the Broad- cast Picture of the Artillery N\ S N N N\ S S Battery Is Picked Up by Two Giant Acrial Towers Near Headquurters and Flashed Upon a Specially Devised Mirror- Screen in'Front of the General. The General Sees the Layout and Activities of the Battery and Thus Is Able to Plan a Countermove. est of military and naval authorities, for it is expected to revolutionize the whole system of war communications, affording a vastly improved method of observing enemy troop concentrations and supply transport, fortifications and enemy movements, so that a general, far behind the lines, may see in visual form all that is happening miles away. At the same time the device is ex- pected to provide new peace-time pos- sibilities for radio entertainment. The originator of the ‘“eye” is C. FrancisWenkins, of Washington, D. C., famous pioneer in the field of televi- sion, himself a veteran airplane pilot and well known in aviation circle$ as an experimenter on new plane devices. His “laboratory plane,’ with its “eye,” has been completed and experiments will begin as soon as a new ground radio_station, in process of construc- tion five miles north of Washington, is finished. This is a 5,000-watt “televi- sion station,” built by the inventor. It has two 128-foot towers In making the experiments, Mr. Jenkins himself will fly the plane about two thousand feet over the city of Washington and vicinity. 1f science’s expectations are fulfilled his “aerial " will achieve the astounding feat of transmitting to the television station instantaneous impressions cof the ter- rain, the streets, with their moving traffic, the parks with their trees sway- ing in the wind, pullic buildings, the lordly Potomac, Arlington Cemetery and the Lincoln and Washington monu- ments. Sitting in the television station be- fore a special receiving apparatus one will be able to see the very sights that Mr. Jenkins looks down upon as he soars over the capital of the United States! In his new invention Mr. Jenkins has combined his studies of the possi- bilities of television and the airplane. The television sending apparatus, which icks up and transmits the scenes Le- gore it, is placed in the fuselage of the airplane. An opening cut through the floor serves as a “scanning aperture” for the eye of the machine. The face of this felevision camera is directed downward through the hole. But there is no dry-plate or film to take the pictures. Instead, the lens throws images of the objects it sees upon the rim of a metal disk, in which are forty-eight small openings. The disk, rapidly rotating, enables the light rays that carry the picture to be let through the openings and shut off in such a way as to admit a rapid suc- cession of glimpses. The rays that get though the disk energize an electric ¢ U, thereby producing an intermittent current whigh passes through an am- plifier. In other words, pictures, like sound, ar. transformed into waves of current which travel on until they reach the receiving station, There they are changed back into pictures. The send- ing machine-transmits the radio waves controlling the flickering of a tiny electric lamp, energized by radio, at the receiving station. This Jamp throws upon a mirror a dot of light, which, zigzagging back and forth, makes on the mirror a complete picture in less than one-sixteenth of a second. The radio-controlled lamp is inside a .box on top of which is mounted the mirror, set at an angle of forty-five degrees. The ray from the lamp is thrown upward (through the opening in the top of box) upon the mirror to make the picture. Its flicker- ing, or variations in brightness, makes the light and shade of the picture. If the receiving machine were to be run slowly, the dot of light would be seen to zigzag back and forth across the surface of the mirror. But when operated at full and proper speed, the dot is not seen at all. Instead, the whole picture appears to the eye as one flash. With a series of such pic- tures presented successively, the mak- ing of each one occupying less than one-sixteenth of a second, the effect is that of a “movie.” The same is true of an ordinary motion picture, A “‘movie” on the silver screen shows no sign of interruption, yet, while you look, it is being taken from the pro- jection machine, so o speak, and placed again on the screen, forty-eight separate “glimpses” in every second. The motion picture from the tele- vision receiving set, by the means re- ceived from the airplane broadcasting set, is indeed small. But to make it bigger a large magnifying lens is mounted on the box in front of the mirror and through it the observer watches the picture. Military and naval men in Washing- ton are awaiting with more than casual interest the outcome of Mr. Jenkins's experiments with the aerial eye. In a demonstra- tion of its success they see tre- mendous possibilities. Let it be assumed there war. An American general s in headquarters far to the of the fighting line. Near he rs has been erected giant receiving stations, s similar to those Mr, ns is_erecting near Wash ington. They are so equipped ,that they may receive visual broadcasts from a distance of 500 or more miles. The general waits for news of the enemy’s activities. He wants information about enemy terri tory, fortifications and supply depots, trench defenses, artillery nests and troop movements. He no longer relies entirely upon old-fashioned scouts. Too many of them, as in the World War are captured or shot. Far away, over the field ot battle, the latest marvel of scien tific warfare, the aerial eye, is acting as his scout. Above the crash and roar of battle, the charging and counter-charging of front line troops, the bellowing guns in hidden fortifications, the planes, equipped with the aerial , are darting and swooping ry. If it be devised giant sweep down upon d area. One American plane sweeps high over a light artillery batt. The enemy, feeling sure of its safety, unaware that the plane far above it has a telltale eye, shoots out death and destruction Far‘above the enemy territory, guarded by swiftly moving de- fense planes, the aerial eye soars over the intricate and secret patchwork of the enemy’s for- A Is Shown Directing Izotta Je How the “Eye” Works The television camera, placed in the airplane’s fuse- lage, looks down through an aperture cut in the floor, as shown above. Fly- ing highover enemy territory, the * picks up a artillery battery in action behind the enemy lines {as pic- tured at extreme lower right of page) and instantaneously broadcasts it hun- dreds of miles by radio. Far behind the other lines, two giant aerial towers '=msmmme rear vhich is AN AR LT i midable defenses. It looks 1pon the cnemy o connoitering, reinforcements of the enemy on the way, it stops dis- tant long-ranged guns (such as the mysterious Big Bertha that bombard- ed Paris from far distances), it be- holds the massing of enemy troops the solidification of enemy forti tions preparatory to a heav f The acrial eye, i transmits its findings instantaneo: The scenes, converted into radio waves, are carried hundreds of miles. The giant aerial towers near head- quarters, far behind the lines, pick up the waves, transmit them to the re- ceiving set in the headquarters office and the scenes are in taneously flashed upon a specially contrived mirror screen. The general, looking at the mirror, spots the artillery bat- tery, the fortifications and the move- ments of the enemy. Signal corps men ating these pic- radio flashes of lo- he general gives hur orders. v he is prepared to determ- ine his counter movements. in a Radio Miss Jewell Were Successfully Br: Newspaper Feature Serice, eace | 'roadcasting S Rodo o ae e ot Dots of Light Will Flash ’//fl\\\ > Battle Scenes to Army Chiefs and Wonders of the <~ World to Watchers Francis His Aerial with Jenkins 2 the ntion, at Home. Mliye."? This Latest Marvel of Television, When Placed in the F Fuselage of an Airplane, Picks Up Sc nes on the ind and T em by R Hundreds o headquarters sick up the picture, then flashed on amirror- icreen before which its the general. i But there is also a pleasant picture to consider in connection with Mr. Jenki v invention. The ¢ is coming, when airplanes, homes the the aviators see. Byrd’s airplane strange sights Were Com equipped with such an eye. and - vision had advanced to the point reached in the broadeasting of sound, we might now te able to sce the won- ders of the ice cap and the strange phenomena of nature in the Ant Y his plane soars bravely over aters. might have ‘ollowed Lindbergh {light from New to Paris—sat with him, in a sense, rept over the broad waters of Atlantic, over towns at Le Bourget. 1 events, say science, will be ured before us in the future i in our homes we may ourselves down upon the ange sights that the fiel e A in a Laboratory. Mortimer Stewart Skit. Both the Picture and Voice of adcast and Regisiered on Experimental Receiving Sets. 1029, e % 5 yells At Left,”a Televi sion Receiving Set Sor the Home. The Tiny Radio- Controlled Lamp in the Box Throws Rays Up- ward Upon the Mirror, Recreating the Broad- cast Pic- ture. A Powerful Lens in Front of the Mirror Magnifies the Picture. A light artillery bauery of the enemy shoots out death and destruction, unaware that the plane far above it has a telltale eye.” aerial adventurers see as they soar cver dangerous mountains and threat- ening vo possibilities this inventio s in stor: for humanity in times of peace as well in times of war. hink what it will mean,” he says, “when it becomes practicabl pictures in large scale on full silver sheets by radio! Motion picture houses will no longer be obliged to rent films for their From a single broadcasting st picture will be furnished thousands of theatres si ferent parts of the continent. “When to audible radio visible radio, people Florida and in Calif: a to watch the inauguration of a P dent at Washington. Baseball and foot- ball games will be broadcast all over the country as motion pictures while they are actually in progress, with the of the cheer leaders and the added roars of the assembled erowds distinct- ly heard. “Need a mere infa sW It is unquestionably destined to have 1 wonderful development. Radio g cameras will be carried and balloons, and stay-at- in their easy chairs by the fire- side will watch, as if from an airship floating far aloft, mountains and plain ies and farms, lakes and for- 5 all over the country wiil awve movie shows in their homes, They will be able to do their traveling in foreign lands without taking a step out of door Already many successful experi- ments have been made in television, in which sound and sight have been syn- In a number of laboratories ding electrical and radio com- science is working quietly and efficiently to provide the world, with- m a comparatively few years, with the great wonder of an age of wonders, (4