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REPORT AS TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF WIRELESS TELEGRAPH STATIONS AT HONG KONG, SINGAPORE, AND NORTH BORNEO,
TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE,
The Cables (Landing-Rights) Committee have the honour to present the following report :
1. The Committee met on the 23rd October 1912. chair, and there were also present-
Mr. Farmall (Post Office),
Captain Hope (Admiralty),
Mr. Johnson (Colonial Office),
Sir Henry Kirk (India Office),
Mr. Law (Foreign Office),
Colonel Macdonogh (War Office),
Mr. Wilkins (Treasury),
and
Mr. Nichols (Secretary).
Mr. Robertson was in the
2. The Committee considered proposals which had been laid before them by the Colonial Office in regard to the establishment of wireless telegraph stations in Hong Kong, Singapore, and North Borneo."
Mr. Johnson observed as regards the letter from the British North Borneo Company that he presumed the Committee would agree that there was no likelihood that a high-power or medium-power station would at any future time be required in North Borneo in connexion with the Imperial wireless scheme.
He explained that the officer lately administering the Government of Hong Kong had recommended the establishment of a station with a day range of 850 miles, which might communicate with Shanghai and the Philippines, and by night, under favourable conditions, with Singapore. The Colonial Office was doubtful whether there was any need for such a station at present, and in any case it would not be required if it was decided later to establish a high-power station there as an extension of the Imperial chain. The position had, however, been simplified by a despatch from the present Governor (received since the Colonial Office had decided to refer the matter to the Committee) recommending that an ordinary ship-and-shore station only should be established in the first instance. It was on this proposal and on the proposal to establish a similar station at Singapore that the advice of the Committee was sought.
3. Mr. Wilkins asked whether it would not be possible to establish a station at Hong Kong which would serve the double purpose of communication with ships and with Singapore, but Mr. Farnall explained that stations intended for long-range communication could not be used with satisfactory results for communication with ships. The signals emitted by an ordinary ship's apparatus would, he believed, be inaudible at a station of the type contemplated for the Imperial chain. Communica- tion with ships might perhaps be practicable if a smaller station were erected at Hong Kong for communication with Singapore, as Mr. Johnson had suggested-the distance being only 1,400 miles-but he did not think experts would recommend such an arrangement.
Captain Hope agreed in the main with this view, but pointed out that a single station might be equipped both for long-range and for short-range communication, and utilise one power plant for the double purpose.
Mr. Wilkins thought this might be the most satisfactory solution of the question as regards Singapore as well as Hong Kong; but Mr. Johnson pointed out that neither the Imperial nor the Colonial authorities would be willing-so far as he knew-to incur the cost of a high-power station at Hong Kong at present, whereas the need for a ship station was urgent in view of the importance of Hong Kong as a shipping centre, and the Colony was able and willing to pay for such a station.
* See also Report No. 171.
4. Mr. Johnson then raised the question of the amount of power to be used in case it should be decided to erect ship stations. He mentioned that a 6-kilowatt station at Fiji had given satisfactory results, and he was inclined to recommend the erection of stations of that power at Singapore and Hong Kong, Such stations would have a day range of 500 miles, and with the 2 5-kilowatt Telefunken station, which the British North Borneo Company were about to erect at Jesselton, should cover the whole sea area between Hong Kong, North Borneo, and Singapore, as well as a good part of the sea traversed by ships on the passage from the Straits Settle- ments to Australia. There appeared to be no sufficient reason to suggest any increase of the proposed power of the Jesselton station.
Captain Hope agreed that this would be so, and he thought it probable that communication might be effected by night between Singapore and Hong Kong by way of the station in North Borneo. The cables would, of course, suffice for ordinary communication between the three places, and, as Mr. Wilkins observed, would enable Singapore ships in the neighbourhood of Hong Kong, or Hong Kong ships in the neighbourhood of Singapore, to establish communication with their home port.
Mr. Farnall was at first inclined to suggest the provision of a 10-kilowatt station, but on further consideration he agreed that the smaller power would suffice.
5. In answer to an inquiry by Mr. Wilkins as to the financial aspect of the proposal, Mr. Johnson said that Hong Kong could, without difficulty, pay for a 5-kilowatt station, which would not cost more than 4,000/., and that in view of the large amount of shipping at Hong Kong, he had little doubt that such a station would produce a profit.
6. The Committee accordingly recommended the establishment of 5-kilowatt stations at both places as Mr. Johnson had proposed.
It was understood that this arrangement was quite independent of the Imperial scheme; except that as Mr. Johnson observed, the sites for the low-power stations could not be selected without regard to the probable sites for the Imperial stations. Mr. Farnall said that the Post Office would pursue enquiries with regard to the latter as quickly as possible, and he thought that with the assistance of the Admiralty they would soon be able to arrive at some preliminary conclusion; at any rate, it should be possible to specify some localities where the low-power stations could certainly be placed without danger of interference from the Imperial stations,
7. In this connexion Mr. Wilkins asked whether it was possible to take effective steps for the selection of sites for the Imperial stations until it was known certainly that the Marconi system would be adopted. Mr. Farnall said that according to the information at his disposal all known systems would require similar sites, and there was no real prospect, so far as he knew, of dispensing with aerials a mile or more in length for long-distance work for some years to come. It was true, as Colonel Macdonogh observed, that only three masts were being used at the new American high-power station on the Fessenden system at Arlington, which was to have a range of 3,000 miles, but that station was not yet in working order, and there was some doubt whether its effective range would be as great as had been anticipated.
(Signed)
F. H. NICHOLS,
Secretary,
(Signed)
31st October 1912.
J. M. ROBERTSON (Chairman),
E. W. FARNALL.
G. P. W. HOPE,
GEORGE W. JOHNSON.
H. A. KIRK.
A. LAW.
G. M. W. MACDONOGH. ROLAND WILKINS.
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