Telegraph Transmitter

(Russian, telegrafnyi peredatchik), a device designed to generate telegraph signals and transmit the signals to a communications channel. The signals consist of current pulses, combined in such a way as to transmit characters in accordance with a telegraph code. The telegraph transmitter is a fundamental component of modern start-stop printing telegraphs.

A transmitter consists of a keyboard similar to that of a typewriter, an encoder, a distributor, and several auxiliary devices. Pressing down a key on the keyboard transfers the transmitted character to the encoder and the distributor, where the character is converted to a combination of elementary signals of a telegraph code. The signals, the distinguishing feature of which is the presence or absence of current, are then transmitted to a communications channel.