With this apparatus the
French authorities have been able to maintain communication over
a distance of 30 miles.
In maintaining ethereal communication with aeroplanes, however, a
portable or mobile station upon the ground is requisite, and this
station must be within the radius of the aerial transmitter, if
messages are to be received from aloft with any degree of
accuracy and reliability. Thus it will be recognised that the
land station is as important as the aeroplane equipment, and
demands similar consideration.
A wide variety of systems have been employed to meet these
conditions. There is the travelling automobile station, in which
the installation is mounted upon a motor-car. In this instance
the whole equipment is carried upon a single vehicle, while the
antenna is stowed upon the roof and can be raised or lowered
within a few seconds. If motor traction is unavailable, then
animal haulage may be employed, but in this instance the
installation is divided between two vehicles, one carrying the
transmitting and receiving apparatus and the generating plant,
the other the fuel supplies and the aerial, together with spare
parts.
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