The Collecting Adventure

The Pleasure of Collecting.

African Ethnic Stamps and Postcards

A Ethnic view of Africa. The Richness and Beauty of African Culture and People.

Germany - History On Stamps

100 years of German History told in Stamps, Letters and Postcards.

French Stamps

The Culture and the History of France in Stamps.

The Virtual Art Museum

The Art in Stamps. Painting, Sculpture and Art Personalities in a Virtual Philatelic Museum.

Sep 9, 2012

Stamps of France: Edouard Branly

 Édouard Branly

(23 October 1844 – 24 March 1940)





Édouard Eugène Désiré Branly was born in Amiens, France, and died in Paris, France. He was a French inventor, physicist and professor at the "Institut Catholique de Paris". He is primarily known for his early involvement in wireless telegraphy and his invention of the Branly coherer, around 1890.

The coherer was the first widely used detector for radio communication. Branly built it upon the discoveries of Temistocle Calzecchi-Onesti, who demonstrated in experiments made between 1884 and 1886 that iron filings contained in an insulating tube will conduct an electrical current under the action of an electromagnetic wave. The operation of the coherer is based upon the large resistance offered to the passage of electric current by loose metal filings, which decreases under the influence of radio frequency alternating current.

The coherer became the basis for radio reception, and remained in widespread use for about ten years, until about 1907 when British radio pioneer Oliver Lodge made the coherer into a practical receiver by adding a "decoherer" which tapped the coherer after each reception to dislodge clumped filings, thus restoring the device's sensitivity.

Without the work of Branly, Guglielmo Marconi would have been able to make 1895 the telegraph connections that made him famous.

Branly was three times nominated for a Nobel Prize, but he never received it.

Stamps of France: Claude Chappe

 CLAUDE CHAPPE

(25 December 1763 – 23 January 1805)






Claude Chappe was born in Brûlon, Sarthe, France. He created the first optical telegraph line that connected Paris to Lille. Around 1790, he experimented with different models of telegraphy and finally puts in place a system based semaphores. He makes an initial experience in Parcé, on 2 and 3 March 1791, then reiterated in Paris.

On July 26, 1793, his invention was adopted by the National Convention and was appointed telegraph engineer. In 1794, he completed the installation of the first line between Paris and Lille.

Gradually, Chappe's health, especially mental, decline, and he committed suicide in January 23, 1805.

In 1824 Ignace Chappe, his brother, attempted to increase interest in using the semaphore line for commercial messages, such as commodity prices; however, the business community resisted.

In 1846, the government of France committed to a new system of electric telegraph lines. With the emergence of the electric telegraph, slowly the Chappe telegraph ended in 1852.
The optical telegraph line
The optical telegraph line is a system of conveying information by means of visual signals, using towers with pivoting shutters, also known as blades or paddles. Information is encoded by the position of the mechanical elements; it is read when the shutter is in a fixed position.

The Chappe brothers, in the summer of 1790, set about devising this system of communication that would allow the central government to receive intelligence and to transmit orders in the shortest possible time.

The first achieved optical telegraph covering France with a network of 556 stations stretching a total distance of 4,800 kilometres. It was used for military and national communications until the 1850s.




Sep 2, 2012

Germany on Stamps: New German East Africa Occupation Postcards



Three new 10ct Postcards from belgian occupation of German East Africa (Ruanda-Urundi), at World War I.


Três novos Postais de 10ct da ocupação belga na África Oriental Alemã (Ruanda-Urundi), durante a Primeira Guerra Mundial.