Telegraph Sounder
Social Media Share Tools
Object Details
- J. H. Bunnell & Co.
- Description (Brief)
- Telegraph sounders convert electrical pulses into audible sounds and are used to receive Morse code messages. The message travels as a series of electrical pulses through a wire. Short pulses make a dot, slightly longer pulses make a dash. The sequence of dots and dashes represent letters and numbers. The pulses energize the sounder’s electromagnets which move a lever-arm. The arm makes a loud “click” when it strikes a crossbar and the operator translates the pattern of sounds into the original language. This sounder was made by J. H. Bunnell & Company, one of the major suppliers of telegraph equipment in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Credit Line
- from Western Union Corporation
- ID Number
- EM.331512
- accession number
- 294351
- catalog number
- 331512
- Object Name
- telegraph receiver
- telegraph sounder
- Physical Description
- wood (overall material)
- brass (overall material)
- rubber (overall material)
- Measurements
- overall: 3 1/2 in x 3 1/8 in x 5 3/4 in; 8.89 cm x 7.9375 cm x 14.605 cm
- See more items in
- Work and Industry: Electricity
- Communications
- Telegraph Sounders
- National Museum of American History
- Record ID
- nmah_890836
- Metadata Usage (text)
- CC0
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a7-1cd1-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.