Open AccessVII. A self-contained standard harmonic wave-meter
Author(s) -
D W Dye
Publication year - 1924
Publication title -
philosophical transactions of the royal society of london. series a, containing papers of a mathematical or physical character
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2053-9258
pISSN - 0264-3952
DOI - 10.1098/rsta.1924.0007
Subject(s) - vibrator (electronic) , harmonic , acoustics , metre , electrical engineering , physics , engineering , quantum mechanics
Following a brief introductory survey of the various methods of measuring radio-frequency, the principles of a highly accurate standard harmonic wave-meter are developed. The essential principle is an arrangement of three-electrode valves, known as a multi-vibrator, the invention of H. Abraham and E. Bloch. The arrangement produces a discontinuous wave, the frequency of which may be adjusted to have any value within very wide limits. When a current of such wave form acts by induction on another circuit, this circuit receives what may be considered as a series of electrical blows at equal intervals of time. If the circuit operated upon is highly resonant, then when its resonant frequency is set so as to be an integral multiple of the frequency of the blows, a large oscillatory current is built up, of a persistent kind and of a frequency whose ratio to that of the blows is quite exact.