Located on the hills above Hobart, Mount Nelson Signal Station is the first signal station built in Tasmania in 1811.
Signalling was done using flags until 1831 when a three-armed semaphore, able to give 666 code signals. Seven years later, it was replaced by a six-armed semaphore, capable of over 900,000 code signals.
A semaphore is an upright post with a number of arms coming off of it. The arms were raised or lowered. A network of semaphore stations allowed messages to be quickly related between Battery Point in Hobart and the Port Arthur penal settlement.
The semaphore in Hobart can be found in Princes Park at Battery Point 
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