15 Facts About Semaphore line

1.

Semaphore line composed it from the Greek elements s?µa ; and from f????, or f??a from fe?e?? .

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2.

The first use of the word semaphore in reference to English use was in 1816: "The improved Semaphore line has been erected on the top of the Admiralty", referring to the installation of a simpler telegraph invented by Sir Home Popham.

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3.

Semaphore line returned to his idea in 1795, after hearing of Chappe's system.

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4.

Semaphore line even considered using electricity, but could not find insulation for the conductors that would withstand the high-voltage electrostatic sources available at the time.

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5.

In 1810, the plans for a south coast Semaphore line were revived but were scrapped in 1811 due to financial considerations.

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6.

Semaphore line employed rectangular framework towers with six five-foot-high octagonal shutters on horizontal axes that flipped between horizontal and vertical positions to signal.

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7.

The Semaphore line was operational from 1822 until 1847, when the railway and electric telegraph provided a better means of communication.

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8.

The Semaphore line is possibly the only example of an optical telegraph built entirely for commercial purposes.

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9.

The Semaphore line was kept in operation until 1860 when a railway Semaphore line and associated electrical telegraph made it redundant.

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10.

The Duke had envisioned the Semaphore line reaching as far as the British garrison at Quebec City, but the many hills and coastal fog meant the towers needed to be placed relatively close together to ensure visibility.

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11.

In Spain, the engineer Agustin de Betancourt developed his own system which was adopted by that state; in 1798 he received a Royal Appointment, and the first stretch of Semaphore line connecting Madrid and Aranjuez was in operation as of August 1800.

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12.

The Madrid-Cadiz Semaphore line was the first to be dismantled in 1855, but other segments of the optical system continued to function until the end of the Carlist Wars in 1876.

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13.

Semaphore line wrote the code book "Taboas Telegraphicas", the same for the 3 telegraph types.

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14.

The Semaphore line was decommissioned in 1849 in favour of an electrical Semaphore line.

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15.

The telegraph inspector for this network was Friedrich Clemens Gerke, who would later move to the Hamburg-Cuxhaven electrical telegraph Semaphore line and develop what became the International Morse Code.

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