FIG. 61–A TELEGRAPH SOUNDER
FIG. 62–MORSE'S FIRST TELEGRAPH INSTRUMENT
A pen was attached to the pendulum and drawn across the strip of paper by the action of the electromagnet. The lead type shown in the lower right-hand corner was used in making electrical contact when sending a message. The modern instrument shown in the lower left-hand corner is the one that sent a message around the world in 1896.
Photo by Claudy.
Morse repeatedly said that, if he could make his telegraph work through ten miles, he could make it work around the world. This promise of long-distance telegraphy he fulfilled by the use of the relay. The relay works in the same way as the sounder. The current coming over a long line may be too feeble to produce a click that can be easily heard, yet strong enough to magnetize the coils of the relay and cause the armature to close another circuit. This second circuit includes the sounder and a battery in the same station as the sounder, which we shall call "the local battery." The relay simply acts as a contact key, and closes the circuit of the local battery. Thus the current from the local battery flows through the sounder and produces a loud click. Sometimes a relay is used to control a second very long circuit. At the farther end of the second circuit may be a sounder or a second relay which controls a third circuit. Any number of circuits may be thus connected by means of relays. This is a form of repeating system used for telegraphing over very long distances. Fig. 63 shows a circuit with relay and sounder.
