VMARS Heliograph Demonstration 2

This rather unique Heliograph Demonstration is presented by VMARS Member Chris Suslowicz and was recorded at Bletchley Park's Armed Forces Weekend, July 2010.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Heliograph
• VMARS
• Demo

[rafowell]

Glad to see the helio video - its the only modern video I"ve seen of one, though there are a few small historical clips around.

[MattyQ95]

@rafowell My thoughts at the time that's way I made it. Thank you for the comment,,

[ufoengines]

Thanks for this vid. I like building simple project out of junk from around the house, and I was thinking of giving a heliograph design I have in mind a try. Instead of a tilting mirror, I am going to using a shutter to make it flash . I read that 189 miles in the American southwest was the greatest distance that a heliograph was able to be seen. Don't know if it was able to send a readable message.

[MattyQ95]

@ufoengines I'm wondering if you can make the shutter operate quickly and cleanly enough to send an intelligible message. Good Luck with the project .

[agassizbeekeeper]

I have plans I found in an old Popular Mechanics magazine.

[twistlaw]

This device is mentioned in Winston Churchill's book, "The Story of the Malakand Field Force," which describes the events surrounding a bloody military siege of British military forces in 1897. The heliograph operator was often exposed to hostile gunfire, depending on the position of the sun and the location of friendly forces on the receiving end of the transmitted message.