Haskins telegraph relay patent model
date: label: date made
content: 1872
name: label: maker
content: Haskins, Charles H.
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 is one of two pieces submitted to the Patent Office by inventor Charles H. Haskins of Milwaukee in 1872. He received US Patent 130,426 for an "Improved Telegraph Sounder and Relay" in August of that year. His idea was to create a sounder and relay combination that could operate automatically on both a local and a main-line circuit.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Electricity
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content: Communications
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content: Telegraph Relays & Repeaters
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: EM.320015
label: catalog number
content: 320015
label: accession number
content: 48865
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Haskins relay
label: Object Name
content: telegraph relay
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: brass (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: cloth (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: plastic (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 2 1/4 in x 9 in x 4 1/2 in; 5.715 cm x 22.86 cm x 11.43 cm