GOWER RECEIVER

The Gower Receiver
This has been extensively used by the British Post Office authorities and by many of our railway companies.  It is more powerful than
the Bell, but is more cumbrous.  Its points of difference are that it has a larger and thicker diaphragm (about 4.25 inches as compared with 2.25 inches diameter), a powerful horse-shoe magnet of the shape shown below, the two poles of which are brought close together, and each furnished with a flat, soft iron pole-piece, on which is fixed a flat coil of wire.  The magnet is placed inside a shallow brass box, furnished with two binding screws, to which the coils, which are joined up in series, are connected.

The diaphragm of tinned iron is clamped in the lid of the box by a brass ring and screws, as shown at M.  On the other side of the diaphragm a brass tube is fixed, into which a flexible tube with mouth or ear-piece is inserted, or, in place of this for the Gower-Bell telephone, a Y tube is often connected with two flexible tubes. The coils are wound to a resistance of 100 ohms each.

An attachment used in the early days, when the instrument served both as transmitter and receiver, is shown at A, and on a larger scale at L T (centre of picture below).  It was for the purpose of signalling from one station to another, and consisted of a flat tube bent at right angles, furnished with a vibrating reed.  On blowing into the flexible tube this reed was set in vibration, and caused corresponding vibrations in the diaphragm, producing powerful pulsatory currents, which, passing through the instrument at the other end, set its diaphragm in powerful vibration, making sufficient noise to call attention.

From the dimensions given it will be evident that the instrument is too heavy and bulky to put to the ear, and the consequent necessity of using flexible tubes detracts considerably from its effectiveness, as they enclose a large body of air, all of which has to be set in vibration, the amplitude of the vibrations which reach the ear being thereby lessened.

Taken from "The Practical Telephone Handbook" by J. Poole (1892)

This receiver, in the form shown in the picture, were used on switchboards.  On the Bell-Gower telephone the mechanism was mounted so that the sound outlet was facing downwards and this was connected to a Y shaped tee piece with two flexible listening tubes attached.

Last revised: October 30, 2023