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GPO 706 or 746? How to tell the difference?

Started by LM Ericsson, March 04, 2016, 04:31:11 PM

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LM Ericsson

I bought this nice two-tone gray GPO 746 for $7.00 BIN plus $17.75 Shipping. I say that was a pretty good deal due to the fact that I did not want to spend too much on a foreign phone that was in another country and having to spend an arm and a leg on shipping. This one is in pretty rough shape. There's dirt, discoloration, cobwebs near the bells and a damaged fingerwheel, which I have a replacement for it. The phone has already been converted to BT judging from the photos with the small white plug. Thankfully no cracks anywhere.
Regards,
-Grayson

Mr. Bones

Very nice find, Grayson!

I have one (beautiful!!!) GPO 746, would just love two-tone gray, and green ones. Patience!

Meanwhile, I am envious of your great deal.

Please, post 'after' pictures, if you doll it up, and enjoy!!!

Best regards!
Sláinte!
   Mr. Bones
      Rubricollis Ferus

twocvbloke

Looks to be a Mk1 case too which has the sloped hook section rather than the stepped hook, supposedly some people were careless in how they hung up the phone and the sloped hook caused the handset to not fully depress the switch and held the line open, hence the revised Mk2 case... :)

Also it appears someone has stuffed foam into one of the gongs, presumably to quieten it down... ;D

Matilo Telephones

Nice find Greyson!

I thought the white stuff in one of the bells was the result of insect activity. Some kind of silky stuff from an egg sack or coccoon.
Groeten,

Arwin

Check out my telephone website: http://www.matilo.eu/?lang=en

And I am on facebook too: www.facebook.com/matilosvintagetelephones

Jack Ryan

Quote from: twocvbloke on March 05, 2016, 01:57:15 AM
Looks to be a Mk1 case too which has the sloped hook section rather than the stepped hook, supposedly some people were careless in how they hung up the phone and the sloped hook caused the handset to not fully depress the switch and held the line open, hence the revised Mk2 case... :)

The GPO did get into strife with cradles. The 706 cradle landed them in court so they had to change it resulting in the 746 Mk1. Apparently the telephone design team had warned against using the Mk1 cradle and sure enough there was a significant call out rate for off hook receivers. The Mk2 cradle eventually solved that problem.

The original Mk1 cradle, the AE 80 cradle, was designed "capture" the handset - one of AE's "obsessions".

Jack

david@london

Quote from: Jack Ryan on March 05, 2016, 05:28:37 AM
The GPO did get into strife with cradles. The 706 cradle landed them in court so they had to change it resulting in the 746 Mk1.

jack -
that's v interesting - i've never heard this.
the 706 cradle certainly does resemble that of the AE80.......did Automatic Electric take the GPO to court for plagiarism/patent infringement ?
do you have a link to any information on this?  - i can't seem to find anything.

LM Ericsson

#6
The phone arrived and this phone's a mess. Firstly, there is a small crack in the left corner, but it is no big deal and it was not caused by shipping. The phone was packed with handset-on-cradle, but there was no damage from shipping. Next, I checked the inside of the phone and there is a tremendous amount of corrosion. The stuff under the bell was two cotton balls and there was tape inside it, too. Looking at the switchhook, there has been a wire tied on it, but I have no idea what the purpose of it was, so I took it off. It did not affect it at all. The dial was a complete mess. The finger wheel is busted, but I have a replacement. I noticed that the dial was very stiff and when I tried to wind it down to resting position, it kept going. It turns out that the spring was busted and the stopper on the gear that holds the fingerwheel was broken off (I used a screw in place of it). Overall, the phone is in good shape.
Regards,
-Grayson

LM Ericsson

Last pictures
Regards,
-Grayson

Jack Ryan

Quote from: david@london on March 05, 2016, 09:49:18 AM
Quote from: Jack Ryan on March 05, 2016, 05:28:37 AM
The GPO did get into strife with cradles. The 706 cradle landed them in court so they had to change it resulting in the 746 Mk1.

jack -
that's v interesting - i've never heard this.
the 706 cradle certainly does resemble that of the AE80.......did Automatic Electric take the GPO to court for plagiarism/patent infringement ?
do you have a link to any information on this?  - i can't seem to find anything.

Sorry, I missed this post David.

Once I saw the similarity I asked on the THG list and one of the members, an ex member of the GPO telephone design group (I forget his exact position), confirmed that there was a legal issue. I don't know the details but I have posted another question. If I learn more, I'll post more.

Regards
Jack

andy1702

I think this thing about the 746 Mk1 case not hanging up properly might be an urban myth. I've got one here and I've tried to recreate the problem without success. There is no way I've found to replace the handset that results in it not pushing down the switch hooks. If you hang it up too near the front of the case (towards the dial) the handset caps hit the side of the case and slide down forcing the handset to the correct position. If you hang it up too near the back the handset wobbles on the points of the case and either falls off completely (which they'd see) or falls the other way into the correct position.

So here's my challenge to you all... Try to hang one of these phones up without the switch hooks depressing and post a photo. My bet is nobody can actually do it.  :D

Andy.
Call me on C*net 0246 81 290 from the UK
or (+44) 246 81 290 from the rest of the world.

For telephone videos search Andys Shed on Youtube.

AE_Collector

Can someone post a shot of the 746 Mk2 case from the side?

And oh what the heck, how about the 706 from the side?

Terry

twocvbloke

Quote from: andy1702 on January 09, 2017, 03:58:45 PMSo here's my challenge to you all... Try to hang one of these phones up without the switch hooks depressing and post a photo. My bet is nobody can actually do it.  :D

I have managed to do it myself in the past, while trying to see if it was true or not, but it's a very random event, and seemingly only really happens if whatever the phone is sat on is a bit lop-sided and the front of the phone is slightly lower than the back, such as on a slightly wonky telephone table being pushed up at the back by a carpet gripper or a sagging desk that has too much in its drawers, as long as everything's level, the case is fine as you say... :)

twocvbloke

Quote from: AE_Collector on January 09, 2017, 07:46:18 PM
Can someone post a shot of the 746 Mk2 case from the side?

And oh what the heck, how about the 706 from the side?

Terry

Give me a few, just took 4 pictures just now... :)

twocvbloke

First off, hookswitch failed first time I tried, so, there's the Mark1 problem, but like I said, front lower than the rear where I had it sat, and it was only a slight difference! ;D

The other three, well, they're marked as 706, 746 Mk1 and 746 Mk2, so easy to see the differences... :)

AE_Collector

Ahh, thanks twocv. Hard to figure how there could be a problem with the 706 hook unless it wasn't related to not hanging up properly.

Terry