General Electric rotary chopper wheel for radio
date: label: date made
content: ca 1922
name: label: maker
content: General Electric Company
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: GE model PX-1638 rotary grid chopper wheel with Brush model PX-1642 contact in original box. Marked on box: "Manufactured for Radio Corporation of America by / General Electric Co., U.S.A." Unit is employed in series with the keying circuit of a vacuum tube transmitter to "interrupt" the CW signal and thus give a "pitch" characteristic to the signal, allowing reception by crystal detectors. The interrupter wheel is built with 34 conducting and 34 insulating segments, making 34 interruptions per revolution at a speed determined by the driving motor. Reference: RCA Catalog, "Radio Apparatus for Amateur and Experimental Use," 1922, page 33.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Electricity
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: from Franklin Wingard
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: EM.321224
label: catalog number
content: 321224
label: accession number
content: 241556
objectType: label: Object Name
content: radio component
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: wheel: 1 1/2 in x 4 in; 3.81 cm x 10.16 cm