Telegraph Register
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: This tape reel pulled a strip of paper through a telegraph register in a fire alarm system. Many early telegraph registers used a weight to power the tape reel but this unit used a steel spring that the user wound with the key seen below the paper tape. The spring kept tension on the paper tape so that when the register began printing, the paper flowed smoothly.
label: Description (Brief)
content: Telegraph registers are electrically-activated printers that receive Morse code messages. The message travels as a series of electrical pulses through a wire. The pulses energize the register’s electromagnets which move a lever-arm holding a pen or stylus. A clockwork mechanism pulls a strip of paper across the pen or stylus, recording the message. Short pulses draw or emboss a dot, slightly longer pulses a dash. The sequence of dots and dashes represent letters and numbers.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: web subject
content: Communication, telegraph
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Electricity
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content: Telegraph Registers
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content: Communications
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: from Richard Pitman
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1988.0179.02
label: accession number
content: 1988.0179
label: catalog number
content: 1988.0179.02
objectType: label: Object Name
content: telegraph register
label: Object Name
content: telegraph tape reel
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: brass (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: glass (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: steel (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 8 in x 5 in x 5 1/2 in; 20.32 cm x 12.7 cm x 13.97 cm