Fred – “Well, who came up with the first ones, Volta?”
Well, I think way back in the very beginning, the pocket compass with a coil under it, like this one here…see the little compass? That was an electrical indicator. Then they evolved into more elegant forms.
I went to a prep school in Northern New Hampshire, and the road to get there went through Penacook, New Hampshire, which is a tiny little town. And in Penacook were a couple of manufacturers, which made these meters. There’s nothing more to the story, except that these Hoyt meters were made in these little towns…small Yankee industry.
Fred – “Okay. Now, Weston, that was a division of Bell Telephone, wasn’t it?”
Yes, yes. I can’t tell you all about Weston, but he was quite a noted engineer back in those early days.
That’s an ammeter that obviously carries a lot of amps. See the binding posts on top?
Text from the transcript of a tour of New England Wireless & Steam Museum’s Wireless Building given by Robert W. Merriam on a winter day in 2012. Transcription by Craig H. Moody, K1CHM. Edited by Fred Jaggi.