Although the Chuan Chuan Group's desire for telegraph machines is huge, Dr. Zhong rightly pointed out that the Chuan Chuan Group's leap-forward development in machinery and chemical industry was not enough to support the development of electricity. [Read the latest chapter] The development of electronics has a long way to go.
Now the Time Travel Group has established an electrical application system that far transcends this time and space, including simple electricity/transmission and distribution networks, radios, semi-automatic/manual telephone exchanges and mobile phone systems. But it's all based on equipment from the 21st century.
Compared with the machinery industry, which is now able to manufacture a variety of simple machine tools, standard parts, and bearings, Chuan Chuan Group's electrical industry is nothing. Not to mention the simplest equipment, even mass-produced wires were barely completed recently. The insulating material uses a native mixture of raw lacquer and tung oil as the basic raw materials. This material is now reluctantly used in telephone lines. Zhong Lishi believes that it will not be a big problem when used in wired telegraph. It was the wire telegraph that he chose to open.
Why build wire telegraph first? Dr. Zhong explained it this way: Among all communication equipment, wired telegraph was the easiest to manufacture using local methods. Many people have seen simple wired electrical equipment in "Mysterious Island". Dr. Zhong believes that although the manufacturing process on the mysterious island is too simple, the basic idea is correct. With his abilities and the equipment he has mastered, he should be able to create better equipment. The telephones of manual exchanges seem to be technically simple, but the manufacture of telephones itself has to overcome some technical difficulties. Secondly, the bit error rate of wired telegram is low and the transmission is reliable. Although the radio environment in this time and space is very clean, there is always interference from various weather factors. In fact, most commercial, civilian, and military telegrams in the past were taken using wire telegraph networks.
If Dr. Zhong traveled alone, it would be very difficult for him to do this job - he would have to rebuild a whole set of indigenous chemical industries, and he would have to rely on the primitive but at least existing metal smelting industry to create wired telegraphs. Making electrical instruments is an extremely difficult task, but now that he has various test instruments and equipment brought from another time and space, and a fairly modern industrial system, making wired telegraphs will not be too difficult.
First he had to get the power supply. The power supply system of the Traversing Group is AC, which obviously does not meet the requirements of a primary telegraph machine, so the power supply problem must be solved. This problem was not originally a big problem. Whether it was hand-cranked motors or lead-acid batteries, there was a lot of inventory in the warehouse of the Planning Commission. However, Dr. Zhong decided to fully rely on the industrial base of the Cross Group and turn on the power supply independently - there is always inventory for the 21st century. It will be used up in one day.
For the battery, he decided to use the Daniel battery, which is the least technically difficult. This battery consists of a copper drum with a porous tank inside. The copper drum is the positive electrode, and a zinc rod in the porous tank serves as the negative electrode. Dilute sulfuric acid is injected into the porous tank, and the outside is a saturated copper sulfate solution.
This battery was quite successful in design. It did not suffer from the acid mist problems that were common with early batteries, was able to operate for a long time when left unattended, and had a stable voltage output. In addition, the plates of this battery will not be corroded and can be used for a long time.
Denier batteries were the main power source for telegraph machines until 1875. Although its output voltage is only 2 volts, a ten-slot battery is enough to supply the telegraph with long-term stable operation. The biggest disadvantage is that it cannot be recharged. After the discharge is completed, the liquid must be refilled for maintenance, which causes great pollution to the environment and affects the health of the operator. However, compared with voltaic batteries that can only be used as laboratory toys, this kind of battery has high practical value.
The raw materials for Daniel batteries are all provided by the time-travel industry. Zinc is the Japanese lead of this time and space. The Time-travel Group imported a large amount of low-purity Japanese lead from Guangdong and re-smelted and purified it - the Industrial Energy Commission originally planned to use To make tinplate.
After Dr. Zhong drew the design drawing, the machinery factory soon produced a prototype. The outer tank of the battery was made of glass. The corrosion resistance and leak-proof effect of glass are better than ordinary materials, but the disadvantage is that it is fragile. Fortunately, ordinary wired telegraph machines are not moved around.
After the finished product came out, Zhong Lishi conducted a short-circuit spark discharge test to verify that the battery could work. He connected two rubber copper wires from the two electrodes of the battery, then put on protective gloves to prevent electric shock, and then slowly brought the two copper wires closer and made contact. A very small electric spark that was difficult to distinguish with the naked eye flashed at the moment when the two copper wires were connected. This spark was very small and had to be observed carefully to find.
Then he measured the battery with a multimeter and found that the output voltage was stable at 2 volts - the Daniel battery was a complete success. Dr. Zhong immediately named this battery "Zhong's No. 1 Battery". The reason why it was called No. 1 was because he planned to continue to steal the achievements of future generations - such as rechargeable lead-acid batteries.
There is still some room for improvement in Zhong’s No. 1 battery. Then he used the information from the technical data to process and manufacture a zinc sulfate solution himself to replace the dilute sulfuric acid in the battery. This approach is said to extend the service life of the zinc rods in the battery. He also asked the machinery factory to make a trial product and prepare two batteries to be used at the same time to see if this statement was valid.
After Dr. Zhong concentrated on researching batteries and wired electricity, Lingao had no choice but to continue using the traditional method of blowing the whistle. In the past, the Time Travel Group did not pay much attention to the timekeeping work, and simply used the Beijing time brought from another time and space.
Before traveling, travelers had replaced their timepieces with mechanical ones except for a few special-purpose places, and also carried a large number of mechanical watches as reserves. All public and private timepieces use the Beijing time calculated based on the Greenwich time calibration displayed by the navigation clock on the Fengcheng wheel.
In order to provide public time reporting to the indigenous people and travelers, the sirens are sounded four times at the thermal power stations in Bairencheng and Bopu every day at 6:00, 12:00, 18:00, and 24:00. In Bairencheng and Bopu Port, Lingao Cable Radio Station will report the time every hour.
Now they realize that it is unnecessary to continue to use this time system. First, Lingao and Beijing are not in the same time zone. Secondly, in the political territory of the Future Traversing Group, it is located in the north, with poor natural environment and not in the same time zone. The city of Beijing on the sea does not enjoy any special status - some extremists have proposed renaming it "Youzhou" once the crossing is successful in China.
The research team chaired by Wang Luobin discussed this issue several times and believed that they could enable local time in Lingao, which is the time in East Seventh District.
"To be honest, I don't see any practical significance for us from the East Eighth District to the East Seventh District. Apart from satisfying some people's inexplicable hobbies." Ma Qianzhu is more concerned about this mentality than reality. I don’t understand the changes made based on the factors of meaning.
"It's not a bad thing anyway." Wang Luobin said, "At least the timekeeping must be more accurate. After all, there is an hour difference - it seems that some people want to use Lingao time instead of Greenwich time."
"Don't, don't be fooled. With this change, a lot of technical information will have to be revised, it will be too troublesome." Wen Desi was not interested in this proposal either.
Wang Luobin didn't want to change the Greenwich time. The most accurate time they had now was the Greenwich time on the navigation clock on the Fengcheng ship. If he changed it to Lingao time, I'm afraid it wouldn't be as accurate as the original time.
"We want to set up an observatory in Lingao." Wang Luobin said.
The purpose of establishing an observatory is of course not to observe Halley's Comet or to see where there are signs of alien life. The basic purpose of this observatory in the Crossing Group is the same as that of the ancients, mainly for accurate calendar and time services.
"Not only an observatory, but also a meteorological observatory." Ma Qianzhu suggested, "Weather forecasting is very important to us. Not only must we have a meteorological observatory, but we must also establish a weather monitoring network."
"There is also a hydrological station." Wen Desi recalled that Yanquezhi had mentioned to him that in order to collect hydrological data on the main rivers in Lingao, at least a basin-wide observation station must be established in the Wenlan River Basin.
"Okay, this matter can be regarded as a systematic long-term plan." Wen Desi spread out a large-scale map of Lingao, "The observatory can be located in the high mountain ridge area."
“Isn’t this place going to engage in animal husbandry?”
"In addition to animal husbandry, observatories and weather stations can also be visited. I propose to make the high mountain ranges the focus of our next phase of construction." Wen Desi said, "Relocating our scientific research institutions and databases to mountainous areas will facilitate security and protection. Once the enemy launches an attack, Bairen City is likely to turn into a battlefield - flat ground on all sides, and it will be difficult for us to achieve comprehensive defense."
Another problem is the typhoon in Lingao. So far, the Crossing Group has not experienced the taste of a typhoon. According to the warnings of several amateur meteorologists, the late summer and early autumn are the peak periods for Lingao to be hit by typhoons. Although Lingao is an area along the coast of Hainan Island that encounters relatively few typhoons, the power of typhoons cannot be underestimated. It often causes floods. The main bases of the crossing groups are either in ports or on rivers. Very prone to disasters. Wind damage in the Gaoshanling area is much smaller, and floods are less likely to occur. As for mudslides, people from the Grand Library have searched through the information, and no such records have been found in the Gaoshanling area. Overall, it's a safe place.
Gaoshan Ridge has abundant water resources, a good natural environment, and the temperature is milder than that in the Wenlan River Basin. The geological conditions are also very stable - in the era of digging deep holes and accumulating grain, the local garrison dug large war-ready caves here. The high mountain ridge has certain feasibility as a strategic reserve base for the Crossing Group. (!~!
