Telegraph Siphon Recorder by Muirhead

Catalogue number #141077841

Telegraph Siphon Recorder by Muirhead	Telegraph Siphon Recorder by Muirhead	Plaque on Muirhead Siphon Recorder	Lord Kelvin's original Siphon Recorder of 1867	Ballinskellings Cable Station	Telegraph Siphon Recorder by Muirhead

Description:

Telegraph Siphon Recorder by Muirhead & Co. Ltd. from the Ballingskelligs cable station in the Irish Republic. This station was opened in 1873 only nine years after the epic voyage of the Great Eastern which laid the first successful submarine cable across the Atlantic. The Siphon Recorder was invented by Lord Kelvin in 1867 for use with the new trans-Atlantic telegraph cable laid successfully at the third attempt in 1865. Due to the length of the cable- 4,000 + miles - there was an immediate requirement for an instrument of unparalled sensitivity and Lord Kelvin devised the Syphon Recorder to satisfy this need. As sensitive as the mirror galvanometer it had the advantage of also creating a permanent record of the received signal. The recorder translated the incoming signal into a series of squiggles on a paper ribbon. These were then interpreted by a telegraph clerk. Syphon recorders were highly complex and expensive and were only used on long distances where the usual equipment was insufficient, in consequence they were never common and most surviving examples are in museums. The example on offer is one of the first and probably dates from the 1890s. After the Ballinskelligs cable station was closed was presented to a local museum by the Western Union International Inc. in 1966. A plaque on the recorder records this. The land on which the museum was located was subsequently sold and the museums contents were disposed. This instrument is missing the arm which fits into the bracket on the side for holding the reel of paper tape and two small pieces of wood molding are missing from each side of the drawer in the base. The coil suspension is broken at the top but could be fixed without much difficulty, otherwise it appears to be complete. 13" x 16" x 17"high By 1900 there were fifteen cables across the Atlantic, and a few years later Australia and New Zealand were joined to Asia and North America. For the history of the first Atlantic cables and more details on the Siphon Recorder go to http://www.goonhilly.bt.com

Sale Details:

I am interested in this item [Email us about it] | Have you registered yet?