telegraph repeater
Date: 1900-1920
Inventory Number: 1997-1-0581
Classification: Telegraph Relay
Dimensions:12.6 × 22.7 × 12.4 cm (4 15/16 × 8 15/16 × 4 7/8 in.)
DescriptionTelegraph repeater mounted on a rectangular wooden base, the wooden base sitting on a further black metal base. A binding post stands in each corner of the base, with a further binding post on each of the longer sides of the base. A handle with a wooden knob sits between the two front as well as the two back binding posts. A brass plate lies in the center of the base. At the back of the base stand two vertical, black, metal cylinders (an electromagnet) connected on the top by a black metal plate. A brass bar runs through the black plate, each end terminating within the center of a u-shaped piece of brass attached to a leg that extends down to the brass plate. A rod, with a double adjustment knob on either end, runs through the middle of the bar. A further rod hangs down from the rod, and is attached to a spring that runs between the cylinders to the back leg.
A blue triangle is painted on the back-right corner of the wooden base, signifying it was used in the department of physics at Harvard, most likely for didactic purposes.