New Wrinkles

Smallest Transmitter. A 20-mm. shell is less than an inch in diameter, but Roy J. Smollet of the Naval Ordnance Laboratory, Silver Spring, Md., has built a radio transmitter that fits into its nose and leaves room to spare. The transmitter has one transistor, a coil half an inch across, and a mercury battery considerably smaller than a dime. When the shell is fired, it sends out a wave that tells how the shell is spinning and whether it is wobbling in its flight.

Radiation Spotters. The National Bureau of Standards has worked out for the Atomic Energy Commission a handy system for following radioactive clouds as they drift cross-country. Throughout a large region around AEC's Nevada testing ground are radiation detectors perched on poles. Each detector has a telephone number, so AEC can dial it and ask it how much radiation it feels in its vicinity. The detector answers with an audible tone whose pitch (frequency) indicates the intensity of radiation. By calling many detectors, AEC can tell just where its clouds are drifting.

Radar Beacons. The Civil Aeronautics Authority has tested and approved radar beacons for use on civilian airports. Most big airports already have surveillance radar beacons that display all airplanes in the vicinity as moving "blips" on their scopes, but when traffic is heavy, it is often hard to tell which blip stands for which airplane. The beacon system leaves no doubt. As each airplane comes into a control area, it is called by voice radio and assigned a "code pulse." Then the "transponder" carried by the plane answers when the beacon at the airport sends that particular code. Since the transponder's signal is comparatively strong, it makes an unusually bright blip on the radar scope. Then the radar operator knows which blip stands for the airplane that his beacon is calling.

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