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Exper im ents on the Tes la Wi re less Transmiss ion Methodfor Submar ine Comm unicat ion

Ol iver Nichel sono n i c h e l s o n @p o s t . h a r v a r d . e d u

When w r i t ing about The True Wi re less in the E lec t r ic a l Exper imenter o f May 1919,Tes la noted t ha t t he i l lust ra t ion compar ing h is system w i th send ing and rece iv ingtun ing fo rks w a s n o t a m e r e m e c h a n i c a l i l l u s t r at i o n , b u t a s i m p l e r e p re s e n t a t i o n o f m ya p p a r a t u s f o r s u b m a r i n e s i g n a l in g , p e rf e c t e d b y m e i n 1 8 9 2 . Tha t i l lus t ra t ion f rom tha t a r t i c le is shown be low . The system c ons is ted o f acapac i t ance a t the t op , a ground p late and a s igna l generat ing a l te rna to r o r a rece iv ingdev ice be tw een the upper and lower e lements .

Transmiss ion of Electr ic a l Energy Thru the EarthElectr ic a l Exper iment er, May 1919, p. 29

In an e f fo r t t o rep l ica te Tes las method o f w i re less power t ransmiss ion hardware w asse tup in t he fo l lowing con f igura t ion :

Squares of shee t copper were mounted on the top and the bo t tom o f tw o sect ions o fpvc (plas t ic ) p ipe . The copper squares w ere connect ed to inpu t /ou tpu t conduct o rs . Thep ipes wi t h p la tes were pu t in a p las t ic c on ta iner . On the t ransmi t te r s ide , a powersource w as connected t o the t op and bot t om p la tes . On the rece iver s ide , the t op and

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bot tom p la tes were connect ed to a d ig i ta l vo l t meter . Vo ltage measurements w eremade on the rece iver s ide w i th the p las t ic con ta iner us ing the fol lowing med iabe tw een the t ransmi t t e r and rece iver : a i r (empty c on ta iner), pot t ing so i l , w a te r and sa l tw a t e r .

The vo l tage reading on the rece iver s ide w as low est fo r a i r (no dense med ium be t w eent ransmi t te r and rece iver). Vo ltage read ings fo r po t t ing so i l , w a te r and sa l t w a te r w ereh igher than t hose fo r a ir . A typ ica l tes t w ou ld resu l t w as .002 vo l ts fo r t ransmiss ionthr ough a i r and .04 vo l ts t hrough w ater, a 2000% greater vo l t age response.Tes la c la imed tha t h is w i re less method w as d i f feren t f rom t he t ransmiss ion methodused in h is t ime. Tha t met hod, e lec t romagnet ic t ransmiss ion , s t i l l used today,t ransmi t s best t h rough ai r and much less w e l l th rough ear th and w ater . A f te r 100 yearso f e lec t ron ic c ommunica t ion there s t i l l i s not a m ethod o f t ransmi t t ing s igna ls th roughw ater o r so i l as there is as t ransmi t t ing th rough the a i r . A submerged submar inecannot c ommunica t e d i rec t ly w i th ano ther submerged submar ine or base s ta t ion in thesame manner as a submar ine on the sur face .These in i t ia l tes ts c ons is ten t ly showed tha t t he vo l tage s t rength a t the rece iver in theexper imenta l se tup w as s t ronger when the t ransmiss ion w as made th rough so i l , w a te ro r sa l t w a te r than i t w as th rough a i r jus t the opposi te o f w hat w ou ld be expected w i than e lec t romagnet ic t ransmiss ion.Though th is ex per imenta l se tup does no t c omple te ly rep l ica te Tes la s w i re lesst ransmiss ion met hod, i t i s a tes t o f the phys ics under ly ing h is system a system fo rw hat Tes la descr ibed as submar ine s igna l ing. Add i t iona l de ta i ls ava i lab le fo r c ommerc ia l research and deve lopment .