Why Forgotten Acoustic Mirror Networks Stand | ABANDONED

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Acoustic mirrors are bizarre, monolith-like structures once used to detect incoming aircraft. Their usefulness was cut short as they were replaced by the radar. Today, we have a look at what remains of the once-vast network.
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Chapters:
00:00 - What are acoustic mirrors?
00:37 - The history of acoustic reflection technology
03:00 - Development of the acoustic mirror
06:57 - The early forms of Radar
07:23 - British Chain Home Radar system
07:44 - The oboe Radar system
08:29 - What Remains of America’s acoustic mirrors
09:40 - Why the U.K. built so many acoustic mirrors
10:00 - Why remains of the U.K. acoustic mirror network
1200 - The legacy of Acoustic mirrors in modern technology
IT’S HISTORY - Weekly Tales of American Urban Decay as presented by your host Ryan Socash.
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» CREDIT
Scriptwriter -Ryan Socash
Editor - Sebastian Ripoll,
Host - Ryan Socash
» NOTICE
Some images may be used for illustrative purposes only - always reflecting the accurate time frame and content. Events of factual error / mispronounced word/spelling mistakes - retractions will be published in this section.

Опубликовано:

5 авг 2024

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Комментарии : 146

@RCAvhstape Год назад

Years ago I was at the Franklin Institute science museum in Philadelphia and there were two acoustic mirrors on opposite sides of a large exhibit hall, aimed at each other. I stood at the focus of one and my brother stood at the other, and we were able to carry on a conversation with each other across the room even with loud people and kids walking between us. I don't know if it's still there but it was pretty cool.

@joewoodchuck3824 Месяц назад

I saw those too. Nice museum. They also had an operating ham radio station which was of great interest to me.

@richardmassoth8237 Год назад

The Saint Louis Missouri Union Station has a whispering arch incorporated into the main entryway from the east side of the station. The building is from the 1890s. I would imagine that architects may have incorporated these into other structures from antiquity. A review of known whispering halls and arches may be an interesting topic.

@justinhobart8747 Год назад

🤔 Never thought about it, but I do love ❤️ that St. Louis Union Station Hotel! 😉👍 It's amazing and magical!!! 🚂🚃🚃 🏨🏫🏨 🦈 ⛳️ 🎡⛲️ 🔥 😲

@frisk151 Год назад

Thanks Richard! I hadn't planned to visit Saint Louis again anytime soon, but I'm going to look it up and likely put it on my must see lists.. This is one of the more "cool" factors when it comes to watching and reading online here, and a few other places.. ;). It opens some people's eyes to the world outside of their orbit...

@scottnyc6572 Год назад

This concept was more common than previously thought.Grand Central Station in NYC has a whisper chamber in a certain area.

@philpots48 Год назад

At the entrance area of the Oyster Bar restaurant.

@savage.4.24 Год назад

The center of the universe is in tulsa it also does this.

@Ramzi1944 Год назад

@@savage.4.24What?

@dougadams9419 Год назад

Grand Central TERMINAL.

@BigDonKedick Год назад

@@Ramzi1944It takes two seconds to use Google. Quit being so lazy.

@jeanjaz Год назад

My dad, born in 1938, would tell stories about his mom taking him and his brothers and sister to Green Peak (near Eugene, Oregon) to watch for Japanese airplanes. The people in the area took shifts watching for these airplanes. My dad told us the things his mom would bring to entertain them, including jokes and stories, knitting, carving whistles, and such. That was one early warning system we had instead of ecoustic mirrors.

@Michael_Brock Год назад

BTW the acoustic mirrors did provide an excellent jumping off point for radar. Some pioneers worked on the mirrors then on radar, at least in the UK.

@neiloflongbeck5705 Год назад

As did the concave mirrors using in car lights and search lights.

@joewoodchuck3824 Месяц назад

I think England was at the forefront of radar development. Great going my friends across the ocean.

@puertoricanboy100 Год назад

They still work, never obsolete in a world where tech grids can fail in an instance and in phases.

@asn413 Год назад

i like that kind of thinking :)

@TerribleShmeltingAccident Год назад

Did u say phasers?!

@naughtiusmaximus830 Год назад

I don’t think our current government wants to protect us. Citizens are a nuisance to them.

@neiloflongbeck5705 Год назад

Obsolete as in no longer made or used.

@joshuabessire9169 Год назад

"Hey, I think I hear a supersonic bomber incoming just outside our airspa-" and then the observer disappears in the flash coming from behind.

@fire304 Год назад

RDF is not radar, it is Radio Direction Finding. Radio Detection And Ranging literally is RaDAR...

@markdavis7397 Месяц назад

Yes, and this video mixes the two unrelated concepts haphazardly. A system that transmits a radio wave and looks for a reflections (e.g., bouncing off planes) is for "detection and ranging" as the name implies. That is the acronym RaDAR. The plane plays no part in the system except reflecting (which is hard to avoid), so it requires no cooperation. In contrast, systems like RDF just transmit and do not listen for a reflection at the ground station. This is for friendly planes to use as a navigation beacon, for "direction finding." The plane avionics are designed to receive the beacon. It is a cooperative system. Modern day VOR is similar. Oboe was a navigation beacon (RDF), Chain Home was radar. These are two unrelated things for unrelated purpose.

@patrickasselin2326 Год назад

There was a pair of acoustic mirrors on the grounds of the Science North science centre in Sudbury, Ontario for a few years. I’d been thinking about them lately and wondering why they were removed. And then this video comes along!

@Michael_Brock Год назад

BTW the Soviet Union did have an extensive acoustic network during the cold war, this was partially how Garry powers was shot down. IE the acoustic network helped tracking the U2 until the radar managed to get a lock to launch rockets. The U2 was semi stealthy in some radar frequencies.

@henrybowden9907 Год назад

The US was NOT ahead of the curve as stated in the narrative. The British GAVE to the US radar technology - specifically the cavity magnetron - as part of a bundle of technologies in September 1940. There were also designs for rockets, superchargers, gyroscopic gunsights, submarine detection devices, self-sealing fuel tanks and plastic explosives. Further, there were designs for the proximity VT fuse and for Frank Whittle's jet engine. This was done in order to enlist assistance from American scientists who had access to vastly greater wealth and were able to develop use those technologies.

@finscreenname Год назад

I'm surprised you didnt bring up parabolic microphones like spies use or they use on the sidelines of every sporting event.

@joewoodchuck3824 Месяц назад

It's essentially the same device with a sensor in place of ears.

@jetsons101 Год назад

Ryan, I have seen quite a few videos on this same subject, but you filled in many many gaps. This takes the saying "Keep it Simple" to the limit. Thanks to Ryan for his time and work.....

@__shifty Месяц назад

this reads like a morning after text to your gay lover ryan.

@1906Farnsworth Год назад

7:00 I don't think RADAR was called RDF. RDF is Radio Direction Finding, which needs no outgoing signal, in contrast to RADAR, which emits a signal.

@dcallan812 Год назад

I know of two about 5 miles from my home. They are listed so cant be removed. They were built to listen for enemy aircraft, until RADAR came in. Grand Central Station NYC has an area of whispering arches.

@x689thanatos Год назад

very interesting video on this topic. I've never eard before about acoustic mirrors, but from the design, it was definitively a step to what exist today. Thank you very much for the work done on this topic and the willigness to share about it. the subject was clear, well documented and gave an enjoyable time to learn about it.

@Allan_aka_RocKITEman Год назад

Great video...👍

@CJLinOHIO Год назад

Very interesting, thanks for posting. I've never heard of these before.

@OwenPhillipsMBA Год назад

Satallite network sounds like a great idea for a future video!. Loved this one, really interesting/ Scary how quickly stte of the art technology falls into disuse

@toadhouse7homestead871 Год назад

10:25 mark! Haha you are hilarious! I absolutely love your channel. You say it out loud! Thanks for all the great research. You really make it all make sense, acoustic mirrors. Now I know!

@bongwelll Год назад

This is so cool!

@russc788 Год назад

My first time listening to you. I enjoyed it.

@ITSHISTORY Год назад

Thanks for listening

@Telcom100 Год назад

The National Statutory Hall in the US Capitol is also a whispering hall where a whisper can be heard across the room.

@lukelee7967 11 месяцев назад

There's a medieval fortress in India called Golconda with a really cool echo feature. Where four hallways intersect if you stand in a specific spot and clap, it will echo throughout the building. If you stand a couple inches off, it's just a normal clap. I'm sorry, but I likely explained it poorly. Look it up, it's really cool

@brandywell44 Год назад

Birmingham Science Museum used to have a pair on display inside. You could have a whispered conversation with someone 50ft away. Amazing!!!

@MarkBarrack Год назад

And now we know. I appreciate your efforts. Now I am ready for trivia night.

@josephwarra5043 Месяц назад

Stand in the center of a power plant cooling tower and you can hear a person near the doorway speaking in a whisper, move to that doorway and you have to shout to be heard.

@TheNapchop Год назад

The US wasn't 'ahead of the curve'. They were able to learn from UK and others during their period of distancing themselves from world events. Also aircraft range factors made it unlikely that the US coast would come under attack.

@E_Legal_Alien Год назад

So bitter 😂

@scronx Месяц назад

Terrifically interesting and weird!

@claudiamiller7730 Год назад

Does the Museum of Science & Industry in Chicago still feature the “whispering hall”? Same concept, I imagine. Hung out at that museum A LOT in my youth…time very well spent!💕

@BOBXFILES2374a Год назад

Been studying the Great War for years, never heard about Acoustic Mirrors. Fascinating!

@dennisboulais7905 Год назад

Wow, I'm a military history buff and I'd never readabout this. Thanks.

@cuddlepaws4423 4 месяца назад

Knowledge of acoustics predates Roman times and goes way back to neolithic times. It was noticed that Stone Henge has a concave profile on the inner sides. Also, there is a long barrow that was investigated by a historian and when he was inside using his Dictaphone he noticed that there was a certain chamber where the acoustics were bolder and clearer. He then looked at the rocks and discovered that the chamber was made up of curved stone. He tested his hypothesis by trying some shamanic drumming and singing. The result was very impressive.

@ryanjedrzejas Год назад

In our great museum in chicago; the museum of science and industry has an whispering walls like these. Been there for years.

@engineeranonymous Год назад

There are some research in detection of UAV's with acoustic mirrors so acoustic mirrors might make a comeback.

@SocialistDistancing Год назад

It's interesting how similar they resemble radar dishes and even the pave-paws early warning radars.

@svensimpson4130 Год назад

Functionally they serve the same purpose... They do exist to funnel waves after al.

@ninmaxwell3848 Год назад

Grand Cenral Station NYC also has this phenomenon. Ive tried it out myself and its pretty crazy!!

@Josh-yr7gd 5 месяцев назад

9:11 "The US was ahead of the 'curve'..." Am I the only one who noticed this great pun?

@stuffedbeagle Год назад

North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC has these on their property and they are called "The Wolf Ears".

@harrowgateguy 3 месяца назад

In the late 1800s a city block long project to create a collection of large townhouses was built in the Venetian gothic style in Philadelphia. These grand homes had upper floor balconies and several had covered roof decks with arched openings on all four sides. The block truly looked like it could have been in Venice but without a canal. Today only three of the homes still exist.

@donise8406 Год назад

Have you done a story on the Defense Towers along the New Jersey Shore?

@ronanzann4851 Год назад

You were all so close. With the right kind of sub-sonic generator, you would have had a genuine "Disruptor". Just imagine having the ability to project a magnitude 9 earthquake to any point, (range limited by the size and or placement of the acoustic mirrors).

@RBMD2A Год назад

Yes, please make a video covering satellites.

@joesutherland225 Год назад

You forgot the still used parabolic michrophone .

@Satori-Automotive Месяц назад

10:25 this mirror is the cover of the album "Soul Mirror" by Stereofeld

@bradrichards8122 Год назад

Radio detection and ranging is RADAR not RDF. RDF is radio direction finding. RDF later became TACAN, tactical air navigation, a now obsolete network of radio transmitters that aided in aviation navigation to airports.

@garyradtke3252 Год назад

Mariners had LORAN navigation which was fixed radio transmitters and LORAN charts which was used before GPS.

@5argetech56 Год назад

The AT&T Microwave telephone long lines system, used horns to focus microwaves. We used to call them "Sugar Scoops" 😆

@deannamcbride329 Год назад

My father was in radar maintenance in WW2. Landed with 4 body guards to set it up.

@SirKenchalot 11 месяцев назад

What about the band shell in Central Park? Isn't that also a kind of reflecting acoustic mirror?

@michaelmoore7975 Год назад

What a coincidence. Me & my dad were just talking about this a couple days ago. The conversation started off with the Chain Home early warning radar The Brits had in WWII.

@Buck1954 Год назад

I can think of one good reason they are still standing without even watching the video. It will cost too much to fully demolish.

@CaymanIslandsCatWalks Год назад

They still function with graffiti on them

@anthonydilligaf823 Год назад

No question that the parabolic shape continued into early radar and even satellite receivers.

@johnhopkins6658 11 месяцев назад

Acoustic mirror technology can be considered a step in the development of Radar technology.

@scottfranco1962 Месяц назад

I'm surprised they didn't try a steerable one.

@krude-ck3wy Год назад

We still have many in England across the South Coast

@asn413 Год назад

any idea what's up with the DEW line these days?

@garymckee8857 Год назад

Excellent question 👍

@christineweaver3090 Год назад

That one guy painted looks like he's wearing headphones 😁

@TerribleShmeltingAccident Год назад

How about the temple at Chican Itza?

@user-xh3lz9xt4l 11 месяцев назад

There is a Zeppelin warning post at Fulwell Quarry in Sunderland. Dont forget The Royal Albert Hall in London .

@magnemoe1 Год назад

The US was so far from enemies an air attack would impossible in 1920-30's. Yes you could use an carrier but that make it an naval problem.

@perrylc8812 Год назад

The Greeks used this to do the same idea with sunlight to light fires hundreds of years before.

@b43xoit Год назад

"Adapt" and "adopt" -- they are two different words, with different meanings, and different pronunciations.

@JamesCrouchX Год назад

George Rogers Clark Memorial in Vincennes, Indiana, USA... Round stone interior whisper effects.

@TradieTrev Год назад

Now the system is redundant it's only purpose in remote locations here in Australia is just a passive antenna to push telco gsm to the extreme!

@readhistory2023 11 месяцев назад

The Vietcong used a to do something similar except they'd dig a dish shaped hole and sit in the middle. The hole acted like a big ear.

@berryrijnbeek5938 Год назад

13:20 this is/was a experimental SOLAR mirror to collect solar energy it's situated on Tenerife

@jwoody8815 Год назад

Yes.

@podcast-this26 10 месяцев назад

dude those are for landing an air craft . the pole is where the light goes to signal a landing ...

@towgod7985 Год назад

Ummmm.............no! The US was 10 years behind in the development of Radar when compared to GB. The TRANSFER of technology to the US was something Churchill adamant about to assuage concerns of large casualties when it joined the war.

@graveperil2169 Год назад

also we had already given them all our gold so tech was the only thing left to bribe them

@CaymanIslandsCatWalks Год назад

My thoughts exactly

@whispermason8052 Месяц назад

Could be used for drone detection

@handlesarethelaststrawiquit Год назад

Gave the concrete guys who were too old to enlist something to do while construction is halted during the war.

@ellen4956 Месяц назад

So, it's an amplifier, essentially.

@DennisFreitas-bn7nh Месяц назад

👍👍👍

@cliffwoodbury5319 Год назад

I wonder if the tech could have been improved in any way

@theldun1 Год назад

Acoustic mirrors could be improved greatly with modern materials They would be undetected by wild weasels and might even detect stealth aircraft... interesting.

@malcolm2587 Год назад

Tip them on the back fill with water have fun

@jimlipscomb3236 Год назад

Does anyone else want to paint these concrete structures silver and attempt to cook hotdogs on the mic stand?

@kcain64 Год назад

Yes. RADAR dishes and Antenna's.

@robertlussier2944 Год назад

Imagine if these structures survive a thousand years into the future, when everything else has turned to rust and dust. What will future archaeologists think their puropse was?

@finscreenname Год назад

The way they are already falling apart they will wonder how a pile of river gravel got on top of the hill because that's all that will be left.

@campkohler9131 Год назад

The Vietnamese used mirrors with multiple pits dug into the ground to detect American aircraft. The operator would sit the focal point and be able to tell the direction from which the aircraft were coming.

@SirKenchalot 11 месяцев назад

Dude, what happened to your studio?

@UQRXD Год назад

Love that hair.

@trevormurphy7041 Год назад

You said the technology was obsolete yes I kinda agree but I kind of don’t agree if it was an operational Workable condition it still could be used specially if it was upgraded the technology work

@Nobody85746 Год назад

Acoustic mirrors are common in childrens museums.

@DetroitMicroSound Год назад

Wait.... concrete.....lost forever?

@bobbyp7403 Год назад

I thought Stonehenge was acoustic mirrors

@meanunclebob1819 Месяц назад

I got as far as "Roman theders".

@maxpayne2574 Год назад

Another example is an A frame house be aware of that before buying one.

@rvanhees89 Год назад

Whats that?

@Jpk.722 Год назад

I i believe they trained dogs to sit in front of them and that started to make a difference

@user-xh3lz9xt4l 11 месяцев назад

They were used in WWI in North East England.

@alanmccabe5927 Год назад

Your non-energy use, low tech device that still works when the electricity goes off...👍🏾

@seha6391 Год назад

lol In 20 k years acoustic mirrors are going to be as Strange as Stonehenge or easter Island

@ecocodex4431 11 месяцев назад

Ok, what is with the evil empire MMORPG background music?

@dickslocum Год назад

Radio Airborne Detection And Ranging. RADAR. get the abbreviation correct please.

@crippleguy415 Год назад

So if I fart a mile away they can her it ? 😃 That's AWESOME 😂

@ronanzann4851 Год назад

probably smell it too ! ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha