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I was wondering how they managed such an impressive signal fan-out - I thought that telephones at that time were purely powered by acoustic energy moving the co
by camtarn 2y ago
I was wondering how they managed such an impressive signal fan-out - I thought that telephones at that time were purely powered by acoustic energy moving the coil in the microphone. Turns out that the amplifying telephone repeater had just been invented a few years previously, enabling transcontinental phone calls and - in this case - splitting a signal to be played in many places.
It must have been an incredibly exciting time to be alive.
https://ethw.org/First_Telephone_Repeater https://ethw.org/First_Telephone_Repeater
- Aloha 2y agoBear in mind, before this there was a mechanical repeater as well, which was a transmitter and receiver which were mechanically coupled. A carbon mic is somewhat self-exciting and does provide an amplification factor.
- camtarn 2y agoAha! For some reason I had it in my mind that early telephones were moving coil type, and the carbon mic came along later. You're absolutely correct - thanks for setting me right.
- Aloha 2y agoIts really an ingenious device, I've wanted to build one, just because I'm a phone nerd, think its cool.