Colombian signal apparatus

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Colombsche Signalapparat was invented by the English Admiral Philip Howard Colomb (1831-1899), which generated remote signals from ship to ship during the day on the principle of the Morse system . A black, very large canvas cylinder ( furnished like a chapeau claque ) was suddenly hoisted up on a clearly visible part of the ship and folded up again after being visible for a longer or shorter period of time. The longer appearances, lasting around 6 seconds, signify the dash, the short appearances, lasting around 1 second, signify the period of the Morse alphabet and the Morse numerals. At night, signals were similarly signaled by long and short flashes of light from an electric or other bright light generating device. Instead of the canvas cylinder, a blind or fan-like device was used, in which the figure appeared filled or broken by turning the blind strips.

literature