INLINE PICTURES VERSION:
EACH Section of the Museum may be Browsed with ALL PICTURES VISIBLE INLINE:

WARNING! - WARNING!
Very High-Speed Broadband required !!
(It could take many hours or even days to load these pages with dial-up or slow broadband.)

These online MUSEUMS are dedicated to the PRESERVATION of TELEGRAPH and SCIENTIFIC History, Lore, and Instrumentation: These are no-frills museums designed for rapid and easy searching and downloading to facilitate research by serious collectors and historians but accessible to anyone who is interested in telegraph and scientific instruments. As a telegraph operator and collector for over 50 years, I have assembled a collection of over 3000 telegraph and scientific instruments and photographs. I am always looking to acquire or photograph very old and unusual keys and instruments!!

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS:
* * VINTAGE BUG NET: Put your favorite bug on the air on the Vintage Bug Association Net: Wednesdays at 9:30PM Eastern Time on 3570 AND Wednesdays at 10:00PM on 7070 KHz. All are welcome !!

* * TELEGRAPH COLLECTORS REFERENCE CD - (SECOND Edition) * * (Details & Ordering Information)
Thousands of Inline Photographs, Descriptions, Books, & Reference Information. A complete Telegraph Reference Library for PC and MAC!.$15.

* * Perera's TELEGRAPH COLLECTORS GUIDE (2nd. Edition) * * (Details & Ordering Information)
100 pages, 300 photographs, descriptions, prices, 1200 item index, for only $20.00 !
(Latest Internet-Revised Price Guide) ** (Corrections) ** (Info & Updates for the 1st. Edition)

* * HOW TO RESTORE TELEGRAPH KEYS: W.R. Smith, W4PAL * * (Details & Ordering Information)
The best and only book of its kind; displays every procedure !

* * THE STORY OF THE ENIGMA CD: History, Technology, and Deciphering (NEW 4th Edition!) * * (Details & Ordering Information)
This newly expanded CD tells the complete story of the ENIGMA ! Thousands of pictures, 9 books, Enigma simulator programs, construction projects, other cipher machines, 4 action videos, a 30-minute M-209 training video... and much more. $15. ** (Updates & Corrections for all editions)

* * The Antique Wireless Assocation TELEGRAPH ANTHOLOGY CD: Every telegraph article ever published by AWA and much more! $15.

My TELEGRAPH MUSEUM will be at the:
DAYTON HAMVENTIONS: www.hamvention.org (May. Dayton, Ohio) -->> Usual SPACES 2555-2551
ANNUAL ANTIQUE WIRELESS ASSOCIATION CONVENTIONS: http://www.antiquewireless.org: (August. Rochester, NY)
Once again, I will be exhibiting hundreds of keys dating from before the Civil War to the present. Bring your old, and unusual keys, photographs, and stories. I'll be buying, trading, and photographing keys to expand the information in my museum. Free appraisals, history, and pretzels !! See you there !!

WEBSITE MAP: - - In This Website, You Will Find (In this order):

• GENERAL INFORMATION: about the ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.


• THE TELEGRAPH MUSEUM: (INLINE PICTURES VERSION) The Entire Telegraph Museum with (copyrighted) Inline Browsable and Downloadable Descriptions & Illustrations of Thousands of Keys. (Now includes keys owned by other collectors.)


• ** SEARCHABLE TELEGRAPH INDEX ** & MUSEUM INVENTORY (Updated: 11-23-2006) The **Searchable** and Downloadable Database and index to all telegraph items. (--New updates are constantly being added to the internet online museum.)


• SPECIAL REPORTS and NEWS:


• ADDITIONAL MUSEUM: THE ENIGMA, CIPHER MACHINE AND COMPUTER MUSEUM: An On-Line Museum with (copyrighted) downloadable descriptions & illustrations of Enigma and other Cipher machines and Computers.


• OTHER MUSEUMS: of Early ENIGMA CIPHER MACHINES, SCIENTIFIC, MEDICAL, & PSYCHOLOGICAL INSTRUMENTS, RADIOS, MICROPHONES, and COMPUTERS.


• OTHER TELEGRAPH COLLECTORS: and samples from their COLLECTIONS.


• INTERNET TELEGRAPH LINKS: to other telegraph-related sites.

GENERAL INFORMATION:
(To SEARCH this Website, click on: ** SEARCHABLE TELEGRAPH INVENTORY **: Search this big page with the EDIT/FIND-ON-THIS-PAGE function of your browser: Identify the Inventory Number you want: and then find it in the TELEGRAPH MUSEUM SECTION.)

• * * TELEGRAPH COLLECTORS REFERENCE CD (SECOND Edition) * *
  Thousands of Inline Photographs, Books, and Reference Information ! A complete Telegraph Reference Library. See this link for description and ordering information.
  
• * * Perera's TELEGRAPH COLLECTORS GUIDE (SECOND Edition) * *
  100 pages, 300 photographs, descriptions, current prices, and a 1200 item index - See this link for ordering information, updates, and corrections, and downloadable price list.)
  
• BACKGROUND INFORMATION:(4KB) How the telegraph works:
  Theory, and Construction of the "Electric Telegraph":
• How to BUILD a simple telegraph set:(10KB)
  
• How to BUILD a simple WIRELESS telegraph set:(10KB)
  
• The MORSE CODE and the CONTINENTAL CODE:(2KB)
  
• A Brief OUTLINE HISTORY of the TELEGRAPH: (6KB)
  
• THE AMAZING TELEGRAPH KEY RESTORATIONS BY W.R. SMITH - W4PAL: (200kb)
  
• SOME SIMPLE SUGGESTIONS FOR CARING FOR OLD TELEGRAPH APPARATUS: (5KB)
• BIBLIOGRAPHY: INTERNET LINKS, REFERENCES, and PERIODICALS:(6KB)
  Includes publications and periodicals of interest to collectors:
  
• PHILOSOPHY and Information about this Cyber-Museum: (3KB)
• CREATING your own Cyber-Museum: (3KB)
• "SAMPLE" PICTURES of Telegraph and Scientific Instruments: (2K)

THE TELEGRAPH MUSEUM - INLINE PICTURES VERSION:
(***PLEASE WAIT FOR ALL PICTURES TO LOAD !***)
***Some pages will take MANY minutes to load***

• ( 0000 ) Batteries: Voltaic, "Crow's Foot" or "Gravity" Battery, etc.: (.8MB; 21 Photos)
• ( 0001 - 0050 ) Early Pre-Morse Telegraph Equipment: (pre-1860s) (1MB; 43 Photos)
• ( 0051 - 0161 ) Very Early Land-Line Equipment (1): (pre - 1860s) (7MB; 207 Photos)
• ( 0161 - 1000 ) Very Early Land-Line Equipment (2): (Approximately: 1860s-1880s) (9MB; 266 Photos)
• ( 1001 - 1500 ) Early Land - Line Equipment (1): (Approximately: 1880s-1890s) (4.5MB; 206 Photos)
• ( 1501 - 3000 ) Early Land - Line Equipment (2): (Approximately: 1890s-1960s) (6MB; 157 Photos)
• ( 3001 - 3500 ) Code Practice & Automatic Sets & Equipment: (2MB; 68 Photos)
• ( 4001 - 5500 ) Spark Keys & Wireless (Radio) Keys: (8MB; 268 Photos)
• ( 5501 - 6000 ) Paddles & Electronic Keyers: (1.3MB; 44 Photos)
• ( 6001 - 7000 ) Vibroplex BUGS (Semi-Automatic Keys (1)): (3MB; 90 Photos)
• ( 7001 - 8000 ) Non-Vibroplex BUGS (Semi-Automatic Keys (2)): (15mb; 411 Photos)
• ( 8001 - 9000 ) American Military Keys: (3MB; 125 Photos)
• ( 9001 - 9200 ) British, Australian, NATO Military & Recent Keys: (1.3MB; 56 Photos)
• ( 9201 - 9300 ) Canadian Military & Recent Keys: (.2MB; 11 Photos)
• ( 9301 - 9400 ) French and Italian Military & Recent Keys: (.1MB; 6 Photos)
• ( 9401 - 9600 ) German Military & Recent Keys: (1MB; 47 Photos)
• ( 9601 - 9700 ) Japanese & Chinese Military & Recent Keys: (.9MB; 42 Photos)
• ( 9701 - 9750 ) Russian, Czech & All remaining Countries. Military & Recent Keys: (1.3MB; 38 Photos)
• ( 9751 - 9800 ) Light and Visual Morse Code Signaling Equipment: (.3MB; 15 Photos)
• ( 9801 - 9900 ) Home-Made Keys, & Novelty Keys: (4.1MB; 129 Photos)
• ( 9901 - 9999 ) Miscelaneous Telegraph Items: (1.6MB; 42 Photos)

• The ** SEARCHABLE ** MUSEUM INVENTORY & TRADE LIST (NO "INLINE PICTURES"): (Annotated)(Downloadable): (500KB)
  A list of all of the museum's telegraph items. The entire list may be searched directly with your internet browser's search function or it may be downloaded as an ASCII text file and searched using the search function of any word processor as an aid in finding and identifying unknown keys. (all of the keys currently owned by the museum are available in trade for very early or unusual telegraph instruments.) (NOTE: This is a large 500KB file and it may take a while to load.)

• "INLINE PICTURES" VERSION OF THE ABOVE ***SEARCHABLE*** INVENTORY: (100MB!) (2200 Photos)
  WARNING***WARNING***NOTE*** NOTE !! : To LOAD in all of these pictures, you will need an EXTREMELY FAST COMPUTER with a VERY LARGE MEMORY and it will still TAKE MANY MINUTES !. Probably the best way to do this is to save the entire CD on your hard disk so all the pictures can be accessed quickly. (Example: It took 2.5 minutes to load this entire list from the HARD DRIVE of a 1GHz. computer with 512M memory and over 10 minutes from the CD DRIVE).
  

SPECIAL REPORTS and NEWS: Telegraph-Related Activities:

• REPORT ON TELEGRAPH KEYS AT THE 2000 DAYTON and ROCHESTER, NY HAMFESTS:(3KB)


• REPORT ON TELEGRAPH KEYS AT THE 1999 DAYTON HAMFEST:(3KB)


• REPORT ON TELEGRAPH KEYS AT THE 1998 DAYTON HAMFEST:(3KB)


• REPORT ON TELEGRAPH KEYS AT THE 1998 ROCHESTER, NY HAMFEST:(3KB)


• PERHAPS THE EARLIEST TELEGRAPH DAGUERREOTYPES:(2KB) (Courtesy of Mark Koenigsberg)


• RECREATING NEWSCASTER WALTER WINCHELL'S TELEGRAPH SETUP FOR HOLLYWOOD:(80KB)


• REPORT ON A FILMING OF THE MUSEUM'S EARLY TELEGRAPH EQUIPMENT FOR PUBLIC TELEVISION SPECIALS:(4KB)


• SHARK DIVING EXPEDITION IN CONJUNCTION WITH DIVING FOR SUBMARINE TELEGRAPH CABLES:


• REPORT ON 1998 DIVING EXPEDITION TO RECOVER EARLY SUBMARINE TELEGRAPH CABLE:(2KB)


• REPORT on 1997 Diving Expedition to Recover Early Submarine Telegraph Cable:(4KB)

With Detailed photos of all layers of the cable: (BIG slow-loading (3min) file!)

TOM PERERA'S OTHER INTERESTS AND HOBBIES:

Extra Class Licensed Amateur Radio Station - W 1 T P 
     First licensed in 1953 as K2DCY. All Bands. All Modes. Mobile/Fixed. 
     Member: OOTC, QCWA, AWA, MTC, NEARC, ARRL, AREC, RACES, RCC
     Specializing in Telegraph Keys dating back to before the Civil War.

Licensed Private Pilot: Single-engine, land, and instrument ratings.
     Owner of Piper Cherokee 180 Aircraft.

Certified Advanced Open Water Scuba Diver - Over 500 dives.

Hobbies:
     Sailing; Mountain Climbing; Spelunking; Diving; Running; Electronics.