Mimno Perfects New Short Wave Station With Antenna for Sending Beams in Straight Line

A new short wave station, equipped with a beam antenna which allows the broadcasting of radio waves in a straight line, has been constructed on the roof of the Physics Building by Harry R. Mimne, assistant professor of Physics. With a wavelength of five meters and an antenna which can be raised or deflected on a horizontal axis as well as turned from side to side, it is the only station of its kind in the country. It began operation two weeks ago. Its purpose is purely experimental, and at present, it is carrying on communication with the short wave stations at Blue Hills and West Hartford.

Because short waves travel in optical lines, that is, in lines similar to beams of light, it was thought, up to a few months ago, that such waves could not go more than fifty miles, due to ground interference. Very rarely do short waves reflect from the Heaviside Layer. When it was recently found that the station in West Hartford, more than eighty miles away from Boston and across a mountain range, could get signals through, all previous theories concerning short waves were upset. The new station here has been established to carry out further experiments into the nature of short waves.

The shorter radio waves are the closer they seem to have the characteristics of light waves. A parabolic mirror, set behind an antenna, will concentrate radio waves as it would waves of light. Certain English scientists contend that varied pressure gradients in the air, produced by storms, have the same effect on short waves as layers of glass of varied densities have on light. However, the experiments carried on so far by the new station have led to the conclusion that short waves are not as nearly skin to light waves as was believed.