Foote Pierson "pony" telegraph relay
date: label: date made
content: ca 1900
name: label: maker
content: Foote, Pierson & Co.
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: So-called “pony” relays like this unit made by Foote, Pierson & Co., serviced private lines and shorter branch circuits. The resistance of a given pony relay varied depending on the length of the circuit. This 20 ohm pony relay would have been used on circuits up to about 15 miles in length.
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 Relays & Repeaters
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: from Foote Pierson & Co.
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: EM.222132
label: catalog number
content: 222132
label: accession number
content: 41949
objectType: label: Object Name
content: relay
label: Object Name
content: telegraph relay
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: cast iron (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: brass (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 2 1/2 in x 6 1/2 in x 3 1/2 in; 6.35 cm x 16.51 cm x 8.89 cm