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Marconi’s First Radio Transmitter

A small table with radio equipment and wires.

Wdwd. April 20, 2016. Location unknown. “Marconi’s First Radio Transmitter.jpg.” Wikimedia Commons.

“Marconi’s first radio transmitter.jpg” by Wdwd is in the public domain.

From left to right, are a spark-gap transmitter, an induction coil, and a telegraph key. A copper sheet was hung above the table to act as an aerial. On the floor is the battery that powered the devices. Spark-gap transmitters interfered with nearby radios, so manufacturing  them was banned in 1929. Using them was—except in emergencies—banned in 1934.