Frank Coffee

“ The most troublesome form of static is that caused by nearby thunder storms, as the effect from lightning is to paralyze or destroy the sensitiveness of the receiver for a time, from a few seconds to a few minutes, during which time several words of the incoming message are lost. ”

“ With a modern receiving set of the maximum efficiency, the low-power spark stations (the spark system being the style affected by daylight absorption) can easily be heard up to five thousand miles at night, whereas one thousand miles by daylight is a very good receiving record. The Poulsen stations, however, can be read up to six thousand miles by daylight from the high-power stations. Signals from the 60 kilowatt Poulsen Station at Tuckerton, New Jersey, have been copied on the Steamship Ventura for the entire voyage, the distance from Tuckerton to Sydney being about ten thousand miles. ”

“ The Ventura is equipped with the most modern supersensitive receiving apparatus, and has been able to accomplish some very remarkable long distance receiving work. For instance, the 200 kilowatt Station at Elviese, Germany, which maintains twenty-four hours commercial service with Tuckerton, New Jersey, is heard throughout the entire voyage from San Francisco to Sydney. At a point between Pago Pago and Fiji, the Ventura is exactly half way around the world from Elviese, and wireless signals are thus received at the greatest distance possible on the earth's surface, 12,500 miles. ”