Magnetic detectors

The coherer had long been used but was a particularly insensitive element within the overall radio communications system. It needed a very large spark discharge to cohere. As a result new forms of detector were investigated and after much work Marconi patented the magnetic detector as an invention.From around 1902 ships that had Marconi radio communications equipment installed on them used the magnetic detector. It provided a higher level of sensitivity, better discrimination of interference, and faster signalling speeds.The magnetic detector had been developed by Marconi from an original experimental detector that had been used by Rutherford in 1985 as part of his radio communications experiments.