Telegraph Key

Description (Brief):

Telegraph keys are electrical switches used to send coded messages that travel as a series of electrical pulses through a wire. Due to special difficulties in sending pulses through long underwater cables, so-called double-current keys were used. Instead of the short dots and long dashes of land-line telegraphs, submarine telegraphs sent positive pulses and negative pulses that made the receiver move right or left. The operator pressed one lever on the key to send a positive pulse and another to send a negative pulse. The code consisted of the sequence of left and right movements recorded on a paper tape. One lever is missing from this specimen.

Maker: Elliott Brothers

Location: Currently not on view

See more items in: Work and Industry: Electricity, Telegraph Keys, Communications

Exhibition:

Exhibition Location:

Credit Line: from Western Union Corporation

Data Source: National Museum of American History

Id Number: EM.332170Accession Number: 294351Collector/Donor Number: 100-690Catalog Number: 332170

Object Name: telegraph keycable keysubmarine telegraph key

Physical Description: brass (overall material)metal (overall material)plastic (overall material)Measurements: overall: 6 in x 4 1/4 in x 4 1/4 in; 15.24 cm x 10.795 cm x 10.795 cm

Guid: http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a7-105c-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

Record Id: nmah_891271

Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.

If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions.