Wheatstone ABC telegraph receiver, 1942

Made:
1842 in England
inventor:
CHARLES WHEATSTONE
Early ABC telegraph receiver Early ABC telegraph receiver Early ABC telegraph receiver Early ABC telegraph receiver Early ABC telegraph receiver Early ABC receiver (c. 1842)

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

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

License

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

Buy this image as a print 

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

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Early ABC telegraph receiver
King's College, London| Enquiries to Science Museum, London
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Early ABC telegraph receiver
King's College, London| Enquiries to Science Museum, London
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Early ABC telegraph receiver
King's College, London| Enquiries to Science Museum, London
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Early ABC telegraph receiver
King's College, London| Enquiries to Science Museum, London
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Early ABC telegraph receiver
King's College, London| Enquiries to Science Museum, London
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Early ABC receiver (c. 1842)
King's College, London| Enquiries to Science Museum, London
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Early ABC telegraph receiver, invented by Sir Charles Wheatstone, unknown maker, England, 1842.

Charles Wheatstone was always interested in developing electric telegraph systems that did not require knowledge of a code. The ABC telegraph worked like a rotary telephone dial and could be used with little training. To transmit, letters were selected by pressing the appropriate buttons and rotating the handle continuously. The indicator stepped round the dial until the desired letter was reached, sending the correct number of electrical impulses to the receiver whose indicator stepped round in unison. It was slow, only transmitting 15 words a minute, but was simple to us. As such, it was popular for private telegraphic communication in wealthy households and with the Post Office for their lightly-used telegraph services.

Details

Category:
Telecommunications
Object Number:
1949-320
Materials:
wood (unidentified), brass (copper, zinc alloy), paper (fibre product) and textile
Measurements:
overall: 265 mm x 180 mm x 162 mm, 3.02 kg
type:
telegraph
credit:
Lent by King's College London