Telegraph Sounder
date: label: date made
content: ca 1900
name: label: maker
content: British Insulated & Helsby Company, Ltd.
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: Telegraph sounders convert electrical pulses into audible sounds and are used to receive Morse code messages. The message travels as a series of electrical pulses through a wire. Short pulses make a dot, slightly longer pulses make a dash. The sequence of dots and dashes represent letters and numbers. The pulses energize the sounder’s electromagnets which move a lever-arm. The arm makes a loud “click” when it strikes a crossbar and the operator translates the pattern of sounds into the original language. This sounder was made for the British Post Office. Unlike in the United States where privately owned companies like Western Union controlled the telegraph system, many other countries considered telegraph systems to be public property and left them to government control.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Electricity
label: See more items in
content: Communications
label: See more items in
content: Telegraph Sounders
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: from Western Union Corporation
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: EM.332373
label: serial number
content: 9599
label: accession number
content: 294351
label: catalog number
content: 332373
objectType: label: Object Name
content: telegraph receiver
label: Object Name
content: telegraph sounder
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: brass (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: rubber (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 4 5/8 in x 3 1/4 in x 5 1/4 in; 11.7475 cm x 8.255 cm x 13.335 cm