[en] A nonlinear system possessing a natural forbidden band gap can transmit energy of a signal with a frequency in the gap, as recently shown for a nonlinear chain of coupled pendulums (Geniet and Leon 2002 Phys. Rev. Lett. 89 134102). This process of nonlinear supratransmission, occurring at a threshold that is exactly predictable in many cases, is shown to have a simple experimental realization with a mechanical chain of pendulums coupled by a coil spring. It is then analysed in more detail. First we go to different (nonintegrable) systems which do sustain nonlinear supratransmission. Then a Josephson transmission line (a one-dimensional array of short Josephson junctions coupled through superconducting wires) is shown to also sustain nonlinear supratransmission, though being related to a different class of boundary conditions, and despite the presence of damping, finiteness, and discreteness. Finally, the mechanism at the origin of nonlinear supratransmission is found to be a nonlinear instability, and this is briefly discussed here