Replica of Bell's 1875 harmonic telegraph transmitter, 1925-1958

Replica of Bell's harmonic telegraph transmitter, unknown maker Replica of Bell's 1875 harmonic telegraph transmitter, 1925-1958

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Replica of Bell's harmonic telegraph transmitter, unknown maker
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Replica of Bell's 1875 harmonic telegraph transmitter, made by Bell Telephone Laboratories Inc, Albany, New York, United States, 1925-1958.

Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922) thought of an idea for sending a number of telegraph message over a single pair of wires at the same time, and began experimenting in 1872. This replica represents a later experiment using vibrating reeds and electromagnets (rather than tuning forks). He used a number of reeds at the sending end, each tuned to a different frequency. By having the same number of reeds tuned to the same frequencies at the receiving end, he hoped he could make each respond only to the transmitting reed of the same frequency. Although this experiment was unsuccessful, it led to further experiments, and to his development of the telephone.

Details

Category:
Telecommunications
Object Number:
1958-31
Materials:
wood (unidentified), metal (unknown) and reed
Measurements:
overall: 80 mm x 126 mm x 75 mm, .34kg
type:
telegraph and telephone
credit:
Donated by Bell Telehpone Laboratories Inc