Chester telegraph relay
date: label: date made
content: ca 1860
name: label: maker
content: Chester, Charles T.
notes: label: Description
content: Telegraph relays amplified electrical signals in a telegraph line. Telegraph messages traveled as a series of electrical pulses through a wire from a transmitter to a receiver. Short pulses made a dot, slightly longer pulses a dash. The pulses faded in strength as they traveled through the wire, to the point where the incoming signal was too weak to directly operate a receiving sounder or register. A relay detected a weak signal and used a battery to strengthen the signal so that the receiver would operate.
label: Description
content: This relay includes a marble base and was made by Charles T. Chester of New York City. The electromagnet coils are fixed but the steel core can be moved to adjust the strength of the magnetic field.
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Electricity
label: See more items in
content: Communications
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content: Telegraph Relays & Repeaters
label: Exhibition
content: Lighting a Revolution
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: from Janet Lewis
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: EM.335588
label: catalog number
content: 335588
label: accession number
content: 323535
label: serial number
content: 589
objectType: label: Object Name
content: relay
label: Object Name
content: telegraph relay
label: Other Terms
content: telegraph relay; Telegraphy
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: brass (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: marble (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: fabric (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: copper (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 3 1/2 in x 8 3/8 in x 5 3/8 in; 8.89 cm x 21.2725 cm x 13.6525 cm