Discover the technological development of wireless telegraphy through objects relating to the history of radio, and television transmission and reception.
Radio Communication
1936-1955
Six-stage super heterodyne receiver processed on the ECME system, probably made by Sargrove Electronics Ltd, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England, 1936-1955
1955-1960
'Channel' Band III television converter, type C2, s/n2337, made by Channel Electronic Industries, Burnham on Sea, Somerset, England, 1955-1960
1953
Pye 'Cambridge International' 11-band broadcast receiver, type PE80, made by Pye Limited, Cambridge, England, 1953
1946
Ekco AD75 receiver, designed by Wells Coates for E K Cole Limited, Leigh-on-Sea, England, 1946.
1922-1925
Main part of Marconi 1.5kW transmitter (minus central rack), 1922, used by the BBC London station 2LO between 1922 and 1925, as rebuilt c.1954.
1934
Home made 30-line televisor, made by Robert (Bob)Albert Lampitt, Wolverhampton, England, 1934.
1920-1940
Special aerial wire for use with home broadcast receivers, manufactured by Aerialite Limited, Stalybridge, Greater Manchester, England, 1920-1940
1905
Experimental form 1 (Licence to use Wireless Telegraph for Experimental purposes) dated 14 November 1905 and made out to Ernest Dundas Gledall Esq BSc, issued by the General Post Office on behalf of the Postmaster General, British, 1905
1925-1930
Crystal set in the form of a book, made by Kenmac Radio Limited, Hammersmith, London, England, 1925-1930
1902
Original wheel or steel-disc coherer (thin-film detector), made by E E Robinson, England, 1902. Made for Oliver Lodge and Alexander Muirhead
1875-1880
Clockwork interruptor made and used by David Edward Hughes (1831-1900), England, c. 1879
1929-1935
Home-made equipment for 30-line television reception, unknown maker, British, 1929-35. Comprises Nipkow disc, neon lamp, viewing lens, phonic-wheel unit, home recorded discs of signals, square punch for Nipkow disc).
1889
Spark gap or knob coherer, unknown maker, England, 1889. Used by Sir Oliver Lodge to first show the coherer effect and detect electric surgings by closing the circuit of a galvanometer during experiments on lightning guards.
1949
Model (scale 1:4) of wire screen in octagonal frame used by Heinrich Hertz, made by the Science Museum Workshops, South Kensington, London, England, 1949
Voigt condenser microphone, probably made by Voigt Patents Limited, Sydenham, London, England, 1920-1940.
1898
Receiving ‘jigger’ or oscillation transformer, single layer primary and secondary coils (split), used by the Marconi Company, probably made by Marconi's Wireless Telegraphy Company, Chelmsford, Essex, England, 1898
1903
Bas-relief head and shoulders of Guglielmo Marconi on brass lamina, engraved "1903, R. Bravi, Milano", made by R Bravi, Milano, Italy, 1903
1901
Billi condenser, or adjustable receiving capacitor, used for tuning the aerial in Newfoundland for the first wireless communication across the Atlantic, probably made by Marconi's Wireless Telegraphy Company, Chelmsford, Essex, England, December 1901.
Moulded unprocessed bakelite panel ready for ECME machine after roughening in the machine, probably made by Sargrove Electronics Ltd, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England, 1936-1955
1927-1956
Part of Rugby transatlantic telephone transmitter, made by Standard Telephones and Cables, New Southgate, England, 1927
Ampex videotape recorder, type VR 1000A, serial number 329. Since television signal contained frequencies up to about 5MHz, the speed at which the tape passed the head must also be very high – much higher in fact than the speed at which it was practicable or economical to move the tape from reel to reel. In the case of the Ampex VR1000, this problem was solved by causing the four heads to sweep rapidly across the tape, whilst running the tape at only 38cm/sec. In this way, the signal was recorded as a series of narrow tracks across the tape, the head-to-tape speed being about 100 times higher than the forward speed of the tape. The heads were carried on a rapidly spinning wheel. The double bay of equipment with the console contained control equipment necessary to ensure a steady picture: servo-mechanisms and their associated electronics for controlling the speed of tape movement and head-wheel rotation and the means of switching the replay signals from one head to another as the wheel rotated.
1954
Murphy 14-inch Band I/Band III television receiver, Model V240, made by Murphy Radio Limited, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England, 1954
1933
'Wireless World' diary for 1933, published by Iliffe and Sons Limited, City of London, England, 1933
1927
Two-valve, short wave radio - telephonic receiver, made for the Science Museum by Frederick H Walker, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England, 1927
1951-1953
Reporter mobile radiophone type PTC 116, serial No. 6744, made by Pye Limited, Cambridge, England, 1951-1953
1963-1965
One Pye Bantam radio telephone set, labelled as 'Museum A', made by Pye Telecommunication Limited, Cambridge, England, 1963-1965
1962-1967
Telstar maser assembly with magnet, made by Mullard Research Laboratories, Redhill, Surrey, England, 1962-1967
1935-1936
Short-wave adaptor for broadcast receivers, made by BTS Ltd, Brighton, England, 1935-1936.
1900-1910
Branly tripod coherer, probably made by Edouard Branly, France, 1900-1910
1917
C.W. (continuous wave) transmitter/receiver, Mk.I**, also known as Trench set C.W. Mk.I, made by W/T Factory, W.D. Soho W. (Wireless Telegraphy Factory, War Department), England, 1917
1880-1889
Two syntonic Leyden jars, unknown maker, Germany, 1880-1889. Possibly the actual ones used by Oliver Lodge in March 1889 at the Royal Institution to demonstrate resonance in adjacent circuits when at the same frequency.
1922-1924
BBC printing stamp issued to the Willesden Wireless Company, British, 1922-1924.
1906-1916
Silicon crystal for wireless telegraphy, mounted in a locket, unknown maker, England, 1906-1916
1899-1901
Carbon-mercury-iron semiconductor diode detector, of the type invented by J C Bose in 1899, modified version, unknown maker, 1899-1901. Known as the ‘Italian Navy coherer’, used by G Marconi in Newfoundland to receive the first wireless communication across the Atlantic, December 1901.
Crystal set with Braille dial marking, supplied by the British Wireless for the Blind Fund and made by Burne-Jones and Company, London, England, 1929-1935.
Model (scale 1:4) of two parabolic zinc reflectors used by Heinrich Hertz, one with oscillator and the other with resonator, made by the Science Museum Workshops, South Kensington, London, England, 1949
1924-1927
Brownie crystal receiver and pair of Lissen headphones, made by the J W B Wireless Company and Lissen Limited, London, England, 1924-1927
1944-1945
Wartime civilian receiver A.C.mains type, Wartime Joint Enterprise, British, 1944-1945
1935-1965
'Standlens' liquid-filled plastic lens for magnifying a television picture, mounted on adjustable wooden stand, probably made by Lumex, probably British, 1935-1965
1928
Volume 1 number 1 of "Television" monthly magazine, "The Official Organ of the Television Society", published by Television Press Limited, British, March 1928.
1969-1970
Sony 'Trinitron' colour television set, model type KV-1320UB, manufactured by Sony, Japan, 1969-1970. Serial No. 505704
Four aerial inductances, wired together, used in Newfoundland in series with the balloon and kite aerials for tuning to the Poldhu (Cornwall) transmitted wavelength for the first wireless communication across the Atlantic, probably made by Marconi's Wireless Telegraphy Company, Chelmsford, Essex, England, December 1901
1890-1896
Ebonite coherer with adjustable contacts, unknown maker, British, 1890-1896. Used in August 1896, in experiments carried out by Captain Henry Jackson
1925-1935
Marconi-Reis transverse-current carbon microphone, invented by Georg Neumann, unknown maker, British, 1925-1935.
1939-1945
Headphones DLR no. 5 from wireless set no. 38 Mk. II serial no. 6319, unknown maker, British, 1939-1945
Marconi coherer and Admiralty pattern decoherer, unknown maker, British, 1900-1910
Three-valve receiver used in a Derbyshire colliery test, unknown maker, Derby, England, 1922-1925. Ref. Wireless World 2/12/22 p.314
1938 and 1951
Two amateur radio call books: RSGB Amateur Radio Call Book First Edition, published by the Radio Society of Great Britain, British, Autumn 1951; Radio Amateur Call Book Magazine Vol.19. (worldwide), unknown publisher, Summer 1938.
Experimental model of Marconi's magnetic detector with moving magnet, unknown maker, England, 1900-1910
