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Where To Mount A Radome For Best Performance

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No matter how big, how powerful, or how expensive your radar is, its performance may be limited by the way you mount the antenna.

Most fast powerboats run with a slight bow-up angle, which can be compensated for by placing a wedge under the dome or array during installation. In the case of some custom or semi-custom boats, this angle may already be built into the radar-mounting platform.

The radome or open-array antenna sitting atop your boat is your radar's eyes and ears, and like the eyes and ears upon your own head, the way it's situated can make a world of difference in what it sees and hears. When it comes to radar, of course, the way it sees is the way it hears. Think of your radar antenna as a loudspeaker and microphone, all in one. The loudspeaker shouts — with a microwave pulse — and the antenna listens for an echo. Then the processor crunches a few numbers and, voila, a blip appears on your screen.

Broadband radar uses a lower-powered continuous wave transmission instead of a magnetron pulse, producing exceptional target resolution close to the boat.

The radar antennas on most boats today transmit microwave pulses with a magnetron, then listen for those reflections that bounce back from solid targets. A mathematical calculation using the amount of time the pulse takes to be reflected determines the exact distance to the target. The latest technology, Broadband radar, broadcasts a continuous transmission wave that increases in frequency as it moves away from the radome, hits a target, and is reflected back. The unit's brain then uses the difference between frequencies of the transmitted and returned waves to determine target distance.

Walking Tall

When it comes to mounting a radar antenna, higher is better, to a point (see sidebar). First off, getting the dome above head level is a must because you don't want to bake yourself and your crew with microwave pulses every time you use the radar. (This is less of an issue with Broadband, which emits a much lower burst of power.) Beyond the safety concerns, height is important because the biggest limiting factor relating to radar's performance is the Earth's curvature. Those microwave beams can't be bent to follow that curvature, so the height of your radar antennas and the height of the target you're looking for will always limit the distance your radar can see. Ready for some basic math?

(1.22NM x square root of the Height of Target) + (1.22NM x square root of the Height of Radar Antenna) = range

For example, a radome mounted 12 feet off the water might first spot a small powerboat, with a maximum height of 9 feet, at a distance of just under 8 nautical miles. No matter how big and powerful your radar may be, no matter how much it cost, you can never expect it to see beyond that. Nor will it commonly see all the way out to this range; this is merely the maximum you can hope for. Target shape and density, atmospheric conditions, and other variables usually will have an effect on range as well.

Sailboaters have a natural advantage regarding height because they have a tall mast to work with. But in some cases, back-stay or post-mounting options make more sense. This is a judgment call: Is it more important to you to gain range, or to have easy access to the radar antenna? Do you need to use the radar often when heeling? If so, you need a mount that matches your needs, and this may affect whether you use the mast or go a different route (see below).

Higher Is Not Always Better

On a sailboat, the greater range of a radar mounted on the mast must be weighed against these advantages of mounting it lower:

• The scanner is less vulnerable to damage from an errant halyard or sail.
• The "cone of silence" is reduced so that targets close to the boat can still be "seen" by the radar.
• The motion in a seaway is reduced, enhancing radar accuracy.
• The radar is easier to service.

Powerboaters, on the other hand, may need to add a mast or pedestal to gain elevation if they want to maximize range. How much is necessary? The above equation holds the answer, but for those of us who aren't math whizzes, let's use the example of a 35-foot cruiser with a hardtop that's elevated 10 feet over the water.

Never cut the plug off a radar cable during installation. Damaging the cable's shielding will reduce the radar's performance.

If you mount the radome right on that hardtop, you'll be able to see a 300-foot-tall building or water tower on shore from just over 25 miles off. You'd see a 100-foot-tall freighter at around 16 miles. And you'd see other boats of the same size as yours at around 8 miles. Raising the dome 10 feet above the hardtop on a mast does add range; however, not as much as you'd think. That tall building might now be visible at just over 26 miles. The freighter could appear onscreen at 18 miles. And a boat like yours would come into radar range at around 9 miles. So is an extra nautical mile of collision warning worth it?

The first consideration in mounting a radome is to get it above the heads of the crew to avoid blasting them with microwave energy.

Given that a boat traveling at, say, 30 nautical miles per hour takes two minutes to traverse that mile or, worst case, two boats of similar size and speed headed directly at each other take one minute to close that gap, you may decide the answer is no. You'll have to decide exactly how much range is enough, and how much height is therefore enough. Remember, radar is most often needed for collision avoidance, when visibility is restricted. For radar to operate well in close, how you mount your radome matters.

Visual Acuity

Remember the "cone of silence" from the TV show, "Get Smart" ? Radar suffers from its own cone of silence, which is affected by the angle at which your antenna is mounted. Once you know how high you'll mount your antenna, you need to determine the angle at which you'll mount it. There's another big difference here between sailboats and powerboats. Most modern planing powerboats run with a bow-up attitude while sailboats cruise at a more or less flat angle. Sailors (and owners of displacement powerboats) can skip this part and simply mount the dome at zero degrees.

The rest of us will want to pick up a clinometer (an inclination meter), which will tell you the angle at which your boat runs. These cost less than $20, can be found at any West Marine, and are used by sailors to determine angle of heel. You can also get an app for Android and iPhone smartphones for a couple of dollars that will do this accurately. Even though you should travel slowly in poor visibility, and therefore off plane, this angle may still have a noticeable effect on radar performance and it's worth figuring out what it is.

Radar antennas come in both small, closed-arrays (radome) or larger open-arrays. Larger open-arrays give better target discrimination.

Powerboaters will orient the clinometers fore and aft in the boat, making sure it reads zero while the boat is at rest, then run the boat at a moderate cruising speed, on calm water. The clinometer will tell you the running angle of your boat, which is usually somewhere between three and six degrees. Now you know what angle wedge you'll need to keep that radar antenna at the ideal angle when you're running. Note, in the case of some large boats and custom-built boats, the manufacturer may predetermine the mounting angle and build it right into the hardtop or mounting area.

These few degrees may not seem like a big deal, but radar beams are functionally narrow, vertically, offering around 25 degrees (12.5 degrees above and below the centerline) of effectiveness. Not correcting for your boat's running angle can leave a large area around your boat uncovered, the cone of silence. At the same time, the narrow angle of the beam means mounting your radome way up the mast of a sailboat can have a similar effect, putting targets close to the boat "under" the radar and rendering them "invisible."

Sailboaters have another issue to address, as their boats tend to heel for long periods of time. When a sailboat's heeling, the leeward side sees a reduction in range and on the windward side, close-in targets may be missed in some of the unit's sweeps. The best solution is putting the antenna on a gimballed mount, which stays level as the boat heels. The downside to this solution is expense — a good gimballed mount can cost as much as some inexpensive radar units. Another option is to mount the dome in such a way that it can be adjusted for heel on the fly. Some mounts have a manual clamp, but these don't do you any good if your antenna is mounted out of reach. If it's too high up on the mast for manual adjustment, you can also mount an electric-leveling device (essentially a trim tab) athwartship under the radar antenna and use it to level out the heel when necessary.

When post-mounting, if possible mount the radome on the boat's starboard side. Masts, rigging, and gear are bound to cause some shadowing (blockage of the radar's signals). Boats to starboard are most often the stand-on vessel; therefore maximizing the radar's view in this direction makes sense.

Wired For Success

Let's say you've decided on the best mounting option for you and your boat. The next question is, who will mount that antenna? This is a fairly easy project that most competent DIY mariners can handle. But a few cautions are in order because the most common radar installation problem is cable failure. And often, that failure results from the installation job.

Don't try to cut the plug end off a radar antenna cable and think you'll be able to splice it back together properly, and don't stress a wire while pulling it through pipe work or a chase. If the shielding of a radar antenna cable takes even minor damage, saltwater may intrude and eat the cable from the inside out. In fact, protecting the radar antenna's cable should be considered a top priority. Treat it gently during installation, and make sure it's supported with cushioned clamps.

If you have any doubts about your ability to install the antenna and cable, don't attempt it. You can always go to an NMEA-certified electronics installer and have confidence that the job will be done right. Remember, that radar is an important tool in your arsenal of safety gear, and you need its eyes and ears to be as sharp as possible.

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The cone of silence.

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Cone of Silence

The Cone of Silence is one of many recurring joke devices from Get Smart , an American comedy television series of the 1960s about an inept spy .

Invented by "Professor Cone", the device is designed to protect the most secret of conversations (aka "C.O.S. security risks") by enshrouding its users within a transparent sound-proof shield. Unfortunately, Control had purchased the device from a "discount place" rather than the federal government, so it has never worked properly. Naturally, this frustrating situation provides fuel for comedy.

Whenever Maxwell Smart ("Agent 86") wants to speak to his boss ("Chief") about a top secret matter, "86" would insist on using the comically defective technology despite being reminded that it never works. The Chief, usually with annoyed skepticism, would press a switch, causing the device to descend from above his desk, surrounding the heads of the two would-be conversers. The awkwardly impractical device appears to be constructed of clear plastic in the shape of a large oblong box with two interconnected inverted bowls on top.

Part of the humor is in the irony that Agent 86 and Chief cannot hear each other clearly, while bystanders outside the Cone of Silence can hear everything they say as well as speak to them. Sometimes the bystander would even act as a relay so that Chief and "86" inside the device could communicate. Often at the end of the labored conversation, Chief would become terribly frustrated and upset as it quickly becomes clear that the Cone of Silence is (as expected) worse than useless.

Variations on the Cone included a portable version, made of two globes for the participants' heads connected by a tube; the "Umbrella of Silence", which supported up to four people, and the "Closet of Silence," into which two people were uncomfortably squeezed. In one occasion where the Cone wasn't even available, Smart convinced the Chief to use the (more efficient) "Coughing Code", where both parties communicate through strategic coughing, despite the Chief's claims that the Coughing Code wasn't used for years due to "too many agents giving each other colds".

Although Get Smart popularized the term, the "Cone of Silence" actually originated on the syndicated TV show Science Fiction Theatre in an episode titled "Barrier of Silence" written by Lou Huston and first airing September 3, 1955, 10 years ahead of the NBC comedy. The story focused on finding a cure for Professor Richard Sheldon, who had been returned to the United States in a confused, altered state of mind after abduction by enemy agents while visiting Milan. Scientists discovered that placing Sheldon in an environment of total silence was the means of brainwashing , a precursor to later ideas of sensory deprivation , celebrated in such films as Altered States and sundry spy thrillers. He was placed on a chair in the "Cone of Silence" which consisted of a raised circular platform suspended by three wires tied to a common vertex. Although the cone's surface was open, noise canceling sound generators located just below the vertex would shroud anyone sitting inside in a complete silence impossible in natural surroundings. Only a speculative possibility at that time (and so science fiction ), such technology is now commonplace in Active Noise Canceling electronics for personal and industrial use. It was also demonstrated that anyone speaking inside the cone, could not be heard outside, the feature later used in Get Smart .

An episode of Mission: Impossible [ when? ] featured an inverted cone of silence (outside sounds were blocked and replaced). A government official attending a theater play hears subversive dialogue in place of the original lines, and the playwright is jailed for subversion.

The larger, plastic version of the "Cone of Silence", appeared in the pilot episode of Get Smart, entitled " Mr. Big ", which aired on September 18, 1965. Mel Brooks and Buck Henry , the original screenwriters for the series, devised many of the running jokes. Henry either borrowed or independently came up with the Cone of Silence concept, which debuted in the pilot along with other show standards, like Fang, the improperly trained dog-agent, and Max's shoe phone. The Cone of Silence scene was shot ahead of the rest of the pilot episode, and was used to sell the series to NBC . [ citation needed ]

Cones of Silence appear in The Nude Bomb (1980), the first attempt at a theatrical Get Smart movie. Max, the Chief, and the delegates all have their own cone placed over them. Neither the characters nor the audience hear what is being said. In the later sequel movie, Get Smart, Again! (1989), when Maxwell is reactivated as a secret agent, he insists on following protocol to ensure secrecy by using the Cone of Silence. However, the device is considered to be completely outdated (however Max and 99 still have one at home), and the current methods used were the following:

• Hover Cover: The participants converse on the roof of a building while helicopters hover nearby, drowning out all sounds with their rotor blades, thereby preventing anyone from eavesdropping. However, this also prevents those involved from hearing their own words and the intense winds caused by the helicopter's blades throws the participants about.
• Hall of Hush: A chamber with sound-suppressing walls that allow a person's words to appear in front of him like subtitles in a movie. The problem with this device is that the words do not disappear and will eventually fill up the chamber, smothering the speakers in their own dialogues.

A new version of the Cone Of Silence appears in the 2008 Get Smart film. One of the early versions of the Cone used in the television series is on display in the CONTROL museum seen in the beginning of the film. The new version has an appearance more consistent with the cones of silence used in The Nude Bomb than in the television series. It was apparently constructed by the lag guys Bruce and Lloyd, and was untested at the time it was used. It seems much more high-tech, being a small handheld device which, when the button is pressed, creates a cone-shaped beam of light shining down from the ceiling, forming a force field around the person highlighted. This field ought to block all exterior sound, making external communication all but impossible. However, as usual, this updated version is ineffective. The force field was shown to be solid, though, to the point where a panicking Larrabee found he could not escape, to the cause of his greater panic. When Max himself attempts to use the device to hide his glee at being named field agent, it malfunctions and does not even raise the field, permitting everybody to hear his embarrassing shouts. However, in fairness to the manufacturers, this was because max didn't push the button hard enough.

Variations within the show

Throughout the five seasons of Get Smart , the Cone of Silence appears many times. For security reasons, Maxwell Smart insists upon using it to discuss his case. Despite this, it is always defective in some way, such as in the examples below.

• During the first episode of the show, the Cone of Silence is lowered. Once it's in place, Max and the Chief can barely hear each other. The frustrated Chief then asks Hodgkins (a CONTROL scientist) to raise it, but Hodgkins can't hear him either.
• The Cone of Silence produces a very strong echo that gives both characters a headache.
• In perhaps one of the most comical moments involving the Cone of Silence, the Chief and Max can't hear each other. Hodgkins, outside the Cone, can hear them perfectly and acts as a relay between the two.
• After the Cone of Silence is lowered, it randomly raises and lowers. As Max and the Chief stand and sit to accommodate it, the Cone finally goes so low that it breaks through the Chief's desk, forcing them both the sit on the floor.
• In an episode where Max is asked to investigate KAOS headquarters, the Chief asks him what he found out, he once again insists upon the Cone of Silence, which the Chief reluctantly agrees to do. When it is lowered Max says he found out nothing, leaving the Chief highly frustrated. This is one of the few occasions where the Cone of Silence itself did not malfunction. Instead, its use was completely unnecessary.
• Another episode involves Max and the Chief using cards with words written on them to communicate. Max made a mistake at one point: The card that reads 99 was upside-down. The Chief responds with "Who is 66?"

Gadgets related to the Cone of Silence

Closet of silence.

In one episode, when the Cone of Silence isn't working, Max insists on using the Closet of Silence . In the Closet, there are so many coats and jackets, they can barely hear each other, and can't get out of the Closet, so Max shoots the lock off, injuring Larabee in the process.

Portable Cone of Silence

In one episode, when Max and Chief aren't in the office, Max brings along a portable Cone of Silence, for them to use. This Cone seems to work, as the two can hear each other perfectly. Of course, the audience can hear them too. This cone apparently obscured the Chief's vision, and echoed violently when struck. When they try to take them off, Max succeeds but has to help the chief get his off. He uses his shoe and the butt of his gun, but the Chief finally breaks out after falling off a stage.

Umbrella of Silence

In one episode, Max, 99 and Chief go to England where they meet the Chief of English CONTROL, who has an Umbrella of Silence which can fit more people in, but the disadvantage is that since the Chief of English CONTROL smokes a lot, he intolerably pollutes the air inside.

The term cone of silence is also used when people are overtly zealous in trying to keep a secret: here the term usually refers to the fact that the "outsider" can see something is there, but is unable to find out exactly what. [ citation needed ]

The term cone of silence has been adopted in pop culture for any system that prevents eavesdropping, usually by creating a private or encrypted link between the clients. VPNs ( Virtual Private Networks ) are a good example, as is any form of encrypted or hidden instant messaging. [ citation needed ]

The term cone of silence has been adopted in online chat rooms [ citation needed ] as a method by which troublesome trolls are excluded from conversations. The shorthand term "COS" is invoked whenever a troll appears warning "regulars" not to engage the troll or encourage their behavior.

The term cone of silence has been adopted in weather related terminology to mean a small conical area around radar which data is not accurate or visible.

Cone of silence was the name given by Stanford University students at Synergy House for their method of muting the morning crows of the roosters in their chicken coop at the campus residence; it consisted of a wooden pyramid inside the coop into which the roosters were individually placed after dark and removed from in the morning. [ 1 ]

Technical and transportation

The term is originally from a 1930's airplane instrument navigation system, the AN (or "four-course") range. Flying along the range and listening to the signal, the pilot knew he was over the transmitter and therefore at the only uniquely knowable point when the sound died. This region over the transmitter was known as the "cone of silence." This inverted instrument, signaling as it did the desired point by loss of sound, may have been Brooks' inspiration for the comic effect.

The term was later used in radar technology . As the radar beam projects outward, a volume in the shape of an inverted cone is created above the radar station where objects cannot be detected by the radar operator. This is known as the cone of silence.

The Cone Of Silence is also a Reichel-Pugh designed "Super 30" sailboat which has raced extensively in Australia and North America. [ 2 ]

Literature and music

A "cone of silence" is mentioned in the 1965 science fiction novel Dune when Baron Harkonnen has a private discussion with Count Fenring on the planet Giedi Prime .

Cone of Silence is also a music piece by Matt Ragan. It appears in the video game Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 .

The Cone of Silence is also the name of a song by Yo La Tengo on the album Ride the Tiger .

Cinema and television

Cone of Silence is a British aviation drama film made in 1960 and directed by Charles Frend .

The term "cone of silence" was used in one episode of Everybody Loves Raymond (Boy's Therapy), by Frank Barone ( Peter Boyle ), after his wife Marie ( Doris Roberts ) said that she couldn't wait to talk more about his therapy session that he just got back from, Frank told her that he needed a "cone of silence" whenever he felt bad Frank coming on.

The term "cone of silence" was used in the 1996 movie Twister , though used inaccurately during the events of the scene.

The term was also used in the 2009 comedy I Love You, Man , when Sydney Fife ( Jason Segel ) asks his new friend Peter Klaven ( Paul Rudd ) to consider his " man cave " to have a "cone of silence" and that Sydney would not reveal to anyone anything Peter said in the room.

Jurisprudence and politics

Cone of Silence is used as a metaphor for a lawyer's response to successive representation conflicts of interest by the court in Nemours Foundation v. Gilbane.

The term "cone of silence" was also used in the Civil Forum on the Presidency on August 16, 2008. Host Rick Warren stated, "Now, Senator Obama is going to go first. We flipped a coin, and we have safely placed Senator McCain in a cone of silence." [ 3 ] In fact, however, McCain did not even arrive at the church until nearly half an hour later. [ 3 ] A minor controversy arose over the question of whether McCain had actually been able to hear Obama's answers to Warren's questions. [ 4 ] [ 5 ] One journalist dubbed the controversy "Cone-of-Silence-Gate". [ 6 ] Some commentators noted the irony that the hypothetical "cone of silence" at the forum may have worked no better than its Get Smart namesake. [ 7 ] [ 8 ] [ 9 ] [ 10 ]

• The Zone of Silence a purported area of radio silence in Mexico
• Radio silence
• Andrea Mitchell , reporter who broke the 2008 "cone of silence" story in the 2008 election
• WouldYouBelieve.com: The Get Smart Web Page
• Radar Glossary - Radar Evaluation Squadron (RADES), US military
• History of the AN range and its "cone of silence"
• ^ Synergy History
• ^ Scuttlebutt: Transpac , describing the Cone of Silence performance in trans-Pacific race.
• ^ a b Brusk, Steve; Dana Bash, Mike Roselli (August 17, 2008). "Warren: McCain did not violate 'cone of silence'" . CNN . http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/08/17/warren-mccain-did-not-violate-cone-of-silence/ . Retrieved 2008-08-18 .  
• ^ "'Meet the Press' transcript for August 17, 2008" . Transcript . msnbc.com . August 17, 2008 . http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26252093/page/5/ . Retrieved 2008-08-18 .  
• ^ Seelye, Katharine Q. (August 18, 2008). "Despite Assurances, McCain Wasn’t in a ‘Cone of Silence’" . The New York Times : pp. A12 . http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/18/us/politics/18mccain.html?ex=1219723200&en=94776108e2c6ce71&ei=5070&emc=eta1  
• ^ Tapper, Jake (August 18, 2008). "Saddleback Spokesman on Cone-of-Silence-Gate" . ABC News . http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/08/saddleback-spok.html . Retrieved 2008-08-17 .  
• ^ Cupples, Deb (2008-08-18). "Did McCain Violate the "Cone of Silence"? Most Americans Don't Care -- and Neither Should our Media" . Buck Naked Politics . http://bucknakedpolitics.typepad.com/buck_naked_politics/2008/08/weekend-guffaw.html . Retrieved 2008-08-20 .  
• ^ Spencer, Libby (2008-08-18). "McCain cheated on 'cone of silence'" . Newshoggers . http://www.newshoggers.com/blog/2008/08/mccain-cheated.html . Retrieved 2008-08-20 .  
• ^ "Angela" (2008-08-18). "The “Cone of Silence”: More McCain lies." . From the Office of the Principal . http://principalquattrano.com/blog/2008/08/18/more-mccain-lies/ . Retrieved 2008-08-20 .  
• ^ Hauslaib, David (2008-08-18). "Cone of Silence Not Respected During Debates: Controversy Erupts over McCain Escaping Non-Existent Device" . Jossip.com . http://www.jossip.com/cone-of-silence-not-respected-during-debates-20080818/ . Retrieved 2008-08-20 .   [ dead link ]

External links

• Fictional technology

Wikimedia Foundation . 2010 .

• HMS Indomitable (92)

Look at other dictionaries:

cone of silence — tylos zona statusas T sritis Gynyba apibrėžtis Apversto kūgio formos erdvė virš radijo antenų, kur radijo signalas yra visai negirdimas arba girdimas labai silpnai. atitikmenys: angl. cone of silence pranc. cône de silence ryšiai: dar žiūrėk – Z… …   NATO terminų aiškinamasis žodynas

cône de silence — tylos zona statusas T sritis Gynyba apibrėžtis Apversto kūgio formos erdvė virš radijo antenų, kur radijo signalas yra visai negirdimas arba girdimas labai silpnai. atitikmenys: angl. cone of silence pranc. cône de silence ryšiai: dar žiūrėk – Z… …   NATO terminų aiškinamasis žodynas

Cone of silence — Ein Ungerichtetes Funkfeuer (engl. Non Directional Beacon, (NDB)) ist eine Sendeanlage am Boden, welche ununterbrochen in alle Richtungen (ungerichtet) Funkwellen ausstrahlt. Ungerichtete Funkfeuer dienen als Strecken oder Anflugfeuer sowie zur… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

cone of silence — i. An inverted cone shaped space directly over the aerial towers of some forms of radio beacons, in which signals are unheard or greatly reduced in volume. ii. In some repeater installations using high gain antennae, located above the level of… …   Aviation dictionary

Cone of Silence (1960 film) — Cone of Silence Theatrical poster Directed by Charles Frend Produced by …   Wikipedia

cone of silence — a space, in the shape of an inverted cone, above a radio beacon, in which there is a sharp reduction in the intensity of transmitted signals. * * * …   Universalium

cone of silence — noun an inverted cone shaped space directly over the aerial towers of some forms of radio beacons in which signals are unheard or greatly reduced in volume …  

cone of silence — a cone shaped region directly above a radio signal beacon in which signals from the beacon are not received by aircraft …   Useful english dictionary

false cone of silence — A phenomenon in radio range similar to that of a cone of silence above a transmitting station. It is likely to occur over mountains, areas near ore deposits, and other places where various factors can cause dead spots in reception. See also cone… …   Aviation dictionary

Cone — This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article …   Wikipedia

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'Cone of silence' keeps conversations secret

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Would you mind not listening?

(Image: OJO Images / Rex Features)

IN Get Smart , the 1960s TV spy comedy, secret agents wanting a private conversation would deploy the “cone of silence” , a clear plastic contraption lowered over the agents’ heads. It never worked – they couldn’t hear each other, while eavesdroppers could pick up every word. Now a modern cone of silence that we are assured will work is being patented by engineers Joe Paradiso and Yasuhiro Ono of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Their idea, revealed in US patent application 2009/0097671 on 16 April, is to make confidential…

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The Cone of Silence explained?

Gov. Dayton and GOP legislative leaders have been mum about their private negotiations. After nearly every meeting, the two sides decline to discuss specifics saying they want to respect the "Cone of silence" between the two parties. The idea is that negotiators can be more frank about their discussions if they don't discuss the ideas in public.

No one knows why Dayton and legislative leaders came up with that term. Several reporters say GOP Rep. Kurt Zellers first coined the term to the press on Sunday.

Fans of the TV show, Get Smart, may remember that "the cone of silence" was used to keep top secret talks private.

The only problem, as you see in this video, is that those within the "Cone of silence" couldn't hear what the others in the "Cone of silence" were saying.

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For evidence of how the big-screen version of TV's Get Smart went so terribly awry, look no further than the classic "Cone Of Silence" gag. The Cone Of Silence is a special apparatus in which people can discuss highly sensitive, top-secret information without the possibility of being overheard; trouble is, the device works so well that they can't hear each other, either. On the 1960s show, created by up-and-comers Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, the cone was hilariously unwieldy, a Plexiglas monstrosity that descended from the ceiling and encased the participants. In the movie, the cone is just a malfunctioning digital effect, which betrays the clunky analog charm of the original, and in the process completely misses the joke. In fact, there are many stretches when it's easy to forget that Get Smart is a spoof; it's more like a third-rate James Bond with pratfalls.

Given Steve Carell's gift for amiable buffoonery, there's probably no one better to step into the role of Maxwell Smart, the bumbling Inspector Clouseau-like secret agent immortalized by Don Adams. And yet Carell can't capture the inimitable tenor of Adams' voice and delivery, which leaves only his willingness to look like a fool. After the evildoers known as KAOS infiltrate his spy agency CONTROL, Max gets a long-sought-after promotion from nerdy analyst to active field agent in an effort to bring KAOS' ringleader (Terence Stamp) to justice. A humorlessly humorless Anne Hathaway plays his reluctant partner, the sexy Agent 99, and the two head off to Chechnya to thwart KAOS' nuclear ambitions.

For some unfathomable reason, Adams' original Max has been reconceived here as a considerably more competent operative, a brilliant analyst who can also kick a little ass when 99 isn't rescuing him from various scrapes. How is that funny? Carell will do anything for a laugh, and as with his character in The Office , Max's obliviousness to other people and to his own ineptitude plays to Carell's strengths. But Get Smart is too slick by half, and there's little in the script to support the star but a series of warmed-over spy games punctuated by pain humor and strained banter with Hathaway's snippy, scolding 99. In updating a beloved TV show, the filmmakers have gone out of their way to excise everything that was fun about it.