CHAPTER XIX
A STARTLING CONFESSION
AS SOON as the crewmen took off in the jeep, Tom sat down to a hasty conference with the two engineers. “Let’s see if we can map out the general design of the new retroscope in a hurry,” he told them.
Tom’s pencil fairly flew over the paper as he sketched the various circuits. “I believe we can use the old brain and reproducer units-but above-ground,” he decided. “We’ll just run longer cables from the scanning rig, and change the input and output impedance.”
“You mean you’ll take only the camera down to the underground room?” Dick Folsom asked.
“Yes, and I’ll divide that into two parts; the scanner and a cabinet to hold certain electronic components.”
“You’ll have to build your field transmitters into the camera housing,” Jack spoke up.
“True,” Tom agreed.
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168 ELECTRONIC RETROSCOPE
Dick Folsom came up with a suggestion. “Getting rid of all the tubes would cut the size of the camera.”
“Right. We’ll transistorize everything.”
“And let’s install smaller transformers,” Jack Murray added. “Here, for example, the new X-24’s should do it.”
Tom nodded. “We’ll start itemizing the stuff to send for.”
With the list completed, Tom hurried topside to the radio compartment.
“Contact Shopton,” he told the operator. “Give Billing this list. Ask him to shoot them down here on a cargo jet as fast as possible.”
Tom returned to the laboratory. This amazing compartment was divided into cubicles-each one equipped with the latest devices for research in specialized fields of science. Dick and Jack were already busy in the metalworking shop, turning out the chassis and housing for the new two-part camera.