powerful signal is required. Gongs, usually of Chinese manufacture, were formerly in use on board English light-ships and are still used to some extent abroad. These are being superseded by more powerful sound instruments.
Explosive Signals.—Guns were long used at many lighthouse and light-vessel stations in England, and are still in use in Ireland and at some foreign stations. These are being gradually displaced by other explosive or compressed air signals. No explosive signals are in use on the coasts of the United States. In 1878 sound rockets charged with gun-cotton were first used at Flamborough Head and were afterwards supplied to many other stations.[1] The nitrated gun-cotton or tonite signals now in general use are made up in 4 oz. charges. These are hung at the end of an iron jib or pole attached to the lighthouse lantern or other structure, and fired by means of a detonator and electric battery. The discharge may take place within 12 ft. of a structure without danger. The cartridges are stored for a considerable period without deterioration and with safety. This form of signal is now very generally adopted for rock and other stations in Great Britain, Canada, Newfoundland, northern Europe and other parts of the world. An example will be noticed in the illustration of the Bishop Rock lighthouse, attached to the lantern (fig. 13). Automatic hoisting and firing appliances are also in use.
Whistles.—Whistles, whether sounded by air or steam, are not used in Great Britain, except in two instances of harbour signals under local control. It has been objected that their sound has too great a resemblance to steamers’ whistles, and they are wasteful of power. In the United States and Canada they are largely used. The whistle usually employed consists of a metallic dome or bell against which the high-pressure steam impinges. Rapid vibrations are set up both in the metal of the bell and in the internal air, producing a shrill note. The Courtenay buoy whistle, already referred to, is an American invention and finds favour in the United States, France, Germany and elsewhere.
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| Fig. 53.—St Catherine’s Double-noted Siren. |
Reed-Horns.—These instruments in their original form were the invention of C. L. Daboll, an experimental horn of his manufacture being tried in 1851 by the United States Lighthouse Board. In 1862 the Trinity House adopted the instrument for seven land and light-vessel stations. For compressing air for the reed-horns as well as sirens, caloric, steam, gas and oil engines have been variously used, according to local circumstances. The reed-horn was improved by Professor Holmes, and many examples from his designs are now in use in England and America. At the Trinity House experiments with fog signals at St Catherine’s (1901) several types of reed-horn were experimented with. The Trinity House service horn uses a 15 ℔ pressure with a consumption of .67 cub. ft. per second and 397 vibrations. A small manual horn of the Trinity House type consumes .67 cub. ft. of air at 5 ℔ pressure. The trumpets of the latter are of brass.
Sirens.—The most powerful and efficient of all compressed air fog signals is the siren. The principle of this instrument may be briefly explained as follows:—It is well known that if the tympanic membrane is struck periodically and with sufficient rapidity by air impulses or waves a musical sound is produced. Robinson was the first to construct an instrument by which successive puffs of air under pressure were ejected from the mouth of a pipe. He obtained this effect by using a stop-cock revolving at high speed in such a manner that 720 pulsations per second were produced by the intermittent escape of air through the valves or ports, a smooth musical note being given. Cagniard de la Tour first gave such an instrument the name of siren, and constructed it in the form of an air chamber with perforated lid or cover, the perforations being successively closed and opened by means of a similarly perforated disk fitted to the cover and revolving at high speed. The perforations being cut at an angle, the disk was self-rotated by the oblique pressure of the air in escaping through the slots. H. W. Dove and Helmholtz introduced many improvements, and Brown of New York patented, about 1870, a steam siren with two disks having radial perforations or slots. The cylindrical form of the siren now generally adopted is due to Slight, who used two concentric cylinders, one revolving within the other, the sides being perforated with vertical slots. To him is also due the centrifugal governor largely used to regulate the speed of rotation of the siren. Over the siren mouth is placed a conical trumpet to collect and direct the sound in the desired direction. In the English service these trumpets are generally of considerable length and placed vertically, with bent top and bell mouth. Those at St Catherine’s are of cast-iron with copper bell mouth, and have a total axial length of 22 ft. They are 5 in. in diameter at the siren mouth, the bell mouth being 6 ft. in diameter. At St Catherine’s the sirens are two in number, 5 in. in diameter, being sounded simultaneously and in unison (fig. 53). Each siren is provided with ports for producing a high note as well as a low note, the two notes being sounded in quick succession once every minute. The trumpet mouths are separated by an angle of 120° between their axes. This double form has been adopted in certain instances where the angle desired to be covered by the sound is comparatively wide. In Scotland the cylindrical form is used generally, either automatically or motor driven. By the latter means the admission of air to the siren can be delayed until the cylinder is rotating at full speed, and a much sharper sound is produced than in the case of the automatic type. The Scottish trumpets are frequently constructed so that the greater portion of the length is horizontal. The Girdleness trumpet has an axial length of 16 ft., 11 ft. 6 in. being horizontal. The trumpet is capable of being rotated through an angle as well as dipped below the horizon. It is of cast-iron, no bell mouth is used, and the conical mouth is 4 ft. in diameter. In France the sirens are cylindrical and very similar to the English self-driven type. The trumpets have a short axial length, 4 ft. 6 in., and are of brass, with bent bell mouth. The Trinity House has in recent years reintroduced the use of disk sirens, with which experiments are still being carried out both in the United Kingdom and abroad. For light-vessels and rock stations where it is desired to distribute the sound equally in all directions the mushroom-head trumpet is occasionally used. The Casquets trumpet of this type is 22 ft. in length, of cast-iron, with a mushroom top 6 ft. in diameter. In cases where neither the mushroom trumpet nor the twin siren is used the single bent trumpet is arranged to rotate through a considerable angle. Table IV. gives particulars of a few typical sirens of the most recent form.
Table IV.
| Station. | Description. | Vibrations per sec. |
Sounding Pressure in ℔ per sq. in. |
Cub. ft. of air used per sec. of blast reduced to atmospheric pressure. |
Remarks. | ||
| High. | Low. | High. | Low. | ||||
| St Catherine’s (Trinity House) | Two 5-in. cylindrical, automatically driven sirens | 295 | 182 | 25 | 32 | 16 | The air consumption is for 2 sirens. |
| Girdleness (N.L.C) | 7-in. cylindrical siren, motor driven | 234 | 100 | 30 | 130 | 26 | |
| Casquets (Trinity House) | 7-in. disk siren, motor driven | .. | 98 | 25 | .. | 36 | |
| French pattern siren | 6-in. cylindrical siren, automatically driven | 326 | .. | 28 | 14 | .. | A uniform note of 326 vibrations per sec. has now been adopted generally in France. |
Since the first trial of the siren at the South Foreland in 1873 a very large number of these instruments have been established both at lighthouse stations and on board light-vessels. In all cases in Great Britain and France they are now supplied with air compressed by steam or other mechanical power. In the United States and some other countries steam, as well as compressed air, sirens are in use.
Diaphones.—The diaphone is a modification of the siren, which has been largely used in Canada since 1903 in place of the siren. It is claimed that the instrument emits a note of more constant pitch than does the siren. The distinction between the two instruments is that in the siren a revolving drum or disk alternately opens and closes elongated air apertures, while in the diaphone a piston pulsating at high velocity serves to alternately cover and uncover air slots in a cylinder.
The St Catherine’s Experiments.—Extensive trials were carried out during 1901 by the Trinity House at St Catherine’s lighthouse, Isle of Wight, with several types of sirens and reed-horns. Experiments
- ↑ The Flamborough Head rocket was superseded by a siren fog signal in 1908.
