Telegraph Key
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Object Details
- Silvertown Telegraph Works
- India-rubber, Gutta-percha, and Telegraph Works Company
- Description (Brief)
- Telegraph keys are electrical switches used to send messages in code. The message travels as a series of electrical pulses through a wire. This British key was designed for use on underwater telegraph cables. Typical telegraph keys turn the current on and off in the line. This double-current key keeps the battery on the line and reverses the direction of the current flow when the operator presses down on the lever. Setting the small lever to “receive” sends the current to a separate relay instead of through the main section of the key.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Credit Line
- from ITT World Communications, Inc., thru John Van Ingen
- ca 1895
- ID Number
- EM.330242
- catalog number
- 330242
- accession number
- 288763
- Object Name
- telegraph key
- cable key
- submarine telegraph key
- Physical Description
- brass (overall material)
- glass (overall material)
- wood (overall material)
- Measurements
- overall: 6 1/4 in x 4 3/4 in x 8 1/4 in; 15.875 cm x 12.065 cm x 20.955 cm
- See more items in
- Work and Industry: Electricity
- Telegraph Keys
- Communications
- National Museum of American History
- Record ID
- nmah_706729
- Metadata Usage (text)
- CC0
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a5-2966-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
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