Family Telecommunications Exhibitions
Have you got a mobile phone ? Do you use email to communicate with your friends? Can you remember when telephones had dials instead of buttons?
Would you like to find out more about how telecommunications technology works? Would you like to try sending messages using flags or the Morse Code. Would you like to see how big mobile phones were 25 years ago? Would you like to know how the Internet works?
Then our Family Telecommunications Exhibitions are the place to find out! Come and enjoy an exhibition of over 170 years of telecommunications - from communication with flags to the evolution of the mobile phone - it’s all there for you to experience. Find out how engineering breakthroughs brought us the telegraph, the telephone, radio, mobile phones and the Internet. Our exhibition not only contains examples of equipment spanning 170 years but also includes plenty of demonstrations so that you can find out how it works too!
Sponsored by:
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Signalling by semaphore Learn how messages were sent before the invention of electricity. Have a go yourself at sending messages by waving signal flags and see how easy or hard it is! |
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Tin cans and string It's true, two tin cans connected by a piece of string really makes a communications system. Don't believe us, or want to find out how, then come along and have a go for yourself! |
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Needle Telegraph The communications revolution really took off once electricity was harnessed to send our messages. Charles Wheatstone and William Cooke were the first to demonstrate an electric telegraph. Come along and try sending a message using one of their needle telegraphs. But you'll have to send your message using only 20 letters. |
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Morse code It was the Morse telegraph that became the world's first global network – the Victorian Internet as it is now known. Within our exhibition we have constructed a fully working Morse telegraph using original equipment that is over 100 years old. You may have seen it in the cowboy films, now come along and have a go yourself. Learn how messages are sent using a sequence of dots and dashes. |
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Telephones galore One of the most popular parts of our exhibition is our telephone timeline showing how the humble telephone has evolved from a wooden box to a multi-function communications device. Enjoy looking for your first phone and reminiscing about a time when telephones had rotary dials instead of push button keypads. Maybe you have never used a rotary dial, maybe you just want to do it again. Several of these telephones are also wired up so that you can call one to another and learn a little more about how the telephone works. There's also a section devoted to novelty phones featuring the dog phone, a piano, a frog and even an animated Homer Simpson. |
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Mobile phones The mobile phone was introduced into the UK in 1985 but it looked quite different then. See how it has evolved and find out why and how it has shrunk to something which now fits comfortably into your pocket or bag. Do you know how many text messages are sent in the UK each day? |
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The Home Computer There was a time when people didn't have computers in their homes but this changed dramatically in the 1980s. Do you remember the Sinclair Spectrum, BBC Micro or PET? Can you imagine loading programs using cassette tapes and a time when 64K of memory was cutting edge technology? We have several working examples of these machines in the exhibition for you to use and experience those early days of the home computer. Remember that had it not been for the home computer we may well never have connected them to the telephone network and the Internet may not have grown into the global phenomena of today. Come and join us in our Ye Olde Computer room.
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The Internet The Internet dates his history back to 1969 but it was the invention of the world-wide-web in 1989 that truly fuelled its expansion. Do you know how the Internet works? Maybe you would like to take part in a video conference with your friends. Come along and find out more. |
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Fibre Optics Today's communications networks transmit information using light passing through fibre optics. Find out how your voice can be converted into light. |
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Seeing your voice You may have talked on the telephone but have you ever seen your voice? How exactly does the telephone convert your voice into electricity? With this demonstration you'll find out how and see your voice pattern on an oscilloscope. |
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Follow our telecommunications trail and learn how our ability to communicate has advanced. Talk to engineers about the future of telecommunications. Most of all - come along and have fun! We are delighted that our exhibitions are supported by the BCS, MOSI, BT Connected Earth and the THG. We also regularly feature contributions and demonstrations from industry.
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Dates for your diary Our next exhibitions are scheduled for: Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th October 2011 10:00am to 4:00pm both days, free entry. 
Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th March 2012 10:00am to 4:00pm both days, free entry. |
