Mystery Phone: Of extraterrestrial origin?

[bingster]

There's one of these up for sale on ebay right now.  It's got a copper base instead of a black painted one.  Awfully cool:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290276152578

[Dennis Markham]

That handset sure looks like an F1 from Western or Northern Electric.  Different from the one here that Mark displayed.

[GG]

Hi y'all.  First posting:

What that is: ATEA, Belgian Automatic Electric, key system telephone for 1 - 2 CO lines and up to 5 stations.  These were also used in Norway in which case the dial will be numbered backward similar to the A/B Elektrisk Bureau convertible wall/desk sets (any standard AE 51-A dial number plate will work as a replacement).   They were manufactured at a plant in Antwerp Belgium if I recall correctly. 

The two keys at the far left and right were for CO lines.  The five keys at the bottom were for intercom connection to other stations.   Intercom conversations were private between calling and called party, rather than using a common speech channel. 

The odd round thing to the left of the dial is a "cat's eye" or "doll's eye" indicator.  The way it works is, when current passes through it, the electromagnet rotates a disc behind the visible cut-outs, to show a contrasting color (typically white) to show that the CO line is in use.  Thus there is no line-in-use lamp that would eventually need to be replaced.  (These indicators were common on European multi-line phones for decades, there are many versions.)

The example you have is a variation for 1 CO line because it only has one cat's eye indicator.  The other CO line key could be used for something else.  My guess would be a "conference" line (common talk path) whereby all intercom stations could be on the line at the same time: this would just be a DC power supply hooked up across the line.   

The dials on those were basically identical to AE type 51-A dials but without the pawl silencer so you'll hear the ratchet when winding up the dial.  The handsets were a Belgian variant.  The rest of the phone is unique to this design.  The cradle switch is a large bakelite molding that is somewhat fragile and often found chipped or broken so be careful with it.  These phones were commonly available in certain places in the early 1980s (I didn't pick one up at the time but friends had them).  They can still be made to work as viable 2-line sets, plus or minus figuring out the wiring and adding external ringers.   

[HarrySmith]

Great info Mark! Thanks! Welcome to the forum.