SC 1211 - Guts Don't Match Diagrams

[nolacat]

Hello Everyone,

Several months ago I purchased my first old phone- an AE 80 from a junk shop near my house. After spending several hours trolling your forums I was able to get it working. Thanks so much!

Since then things have changed... I've fallen in love. When people call me on my cell, I hang up and call them back on the old phone. I'm officially hooked :-) 

After some research I picked up a Stromberg Carlson 1211 on e-bay for $28. It arrived yesterday and it's just so beautiful. I've been working on it for most of the day, and I've got it cleaned up nicely. More importantly, I've got a dial tone! Problem is, of course, no ringer action at all.

Undaunted, I returned to your forums. This time I'm stumped. I figure it must be wired incorrectly, so I downloaded all the wiring diagrams I was able to find. Unfortunately, none of the diagrams match my phone! The schematics are just totally different.

Is my phone not a 1211, after all? Does anyone have a wiring diagram that would match the phone I've got? Any idea how I can get this baby to sing?

[wds]

Beautiful phone, but it looks like it's an intercom.  I don't see a coil or condenser, and I'll bet that's a DC ringer.  It probably needs a subset to function properly as a phone.  I have a Kellogg 1000 wall phone/intercom, and when you press the button, it rings the DC ringer on another phone.  The ringer gets it's current from the DC current while on hook - 50 volts.  When you pick up the receiver, and the voltage drops, the ringer won't work on the lower voltage.  The wiring diagram seems to indicate this setup.

[AE_Collector]

Looks like an intercom.  I'll bet that's a DC ringer.

I was surprised to see a single gong ringer in there yet there doesn't appear to be room for a conventional ringer. Doesn't quite look like a conventional single gong ringer either. No network either so I'm with wds2185 "Intercom" in a real phone case. Still displays well but to work as a phone it is going to need a network and a ringer if you want it to ring.

Now you asre about to really get involved in phones Nolacat! Welcome to the forum.

Terry

[LarryInMichigan]

So you're the one that got that phone.  I was going to bid on it, but I was distracted and missed it.  I believe that the listing said that it was an intercom, and the push button on it would fit with that.  The guts of the phone are definitely not a 1211, but the shell most probably is a 1211 shell.  The thing which makes SC 1211s so desirable and valuable is the design of the shell.  You could certainly turn the intercom into a real working phone by adding a mini network and ringer.

Larry

[McHeath]

Welcome nolacat.  That's a sweet phone, and with a little tinkering you can make it a full fledged phone.

Here is a page with mini networks.  One of these will give you full functionality.

http://www.fivestarphones.com/index.php?cPath=59_181&page=4

This would allow the phone to receive calls and ring.  With a dial it would also be able to place calls.  A dial won't fit in the body as it's not made for one, so you could do an external dial.  You can get a touch tone dial, wire it up in a small box someplace handy, and make the calls.

Alternatively you can dial without a dial by tapping the switch hooks quickly.  It takes some practice but is a real party trick once you get it down. 

"Hey watch me dial a phone without touching the dial"

If you want to go with time period internal parts you could buy a junker Western Electric 302 and use the parts to make yours work. 

[McHeath]

Also I totally understand the fun of being able to make these ancient phone not only look great but function.  You can take this intercom you have and with a screwdriver and some parts turn it into a regular phone.  Few of us can do that with our cell phones, I can't, though some here can.  But these old phones can be fixed up by almost anyone who can follow a wiring diagram and turn a screwdriver, it's very satisfying. 

Be careful though, before you know it you will have a pile of them, they seem to multiply like rabbits once you get bitten by the bug! 

[Wallphone]

After you install a mini network you can get a dial shroud from Ray Kotke and turn it into a "Tombstone" phone.
Dougpav

[AE_Collector]

Well it CAN be a dial phone but the dial doesn't go inside the existing case. It is an add on to the top of the phone that REALLY looks retro!

>edit: Looks like Doug beat me by seconds but HE WINS as he posted a picture!!!!

Terry

[Greg G.]

Hello Everyone,

Several months ago I purchased my first old phone- an AE 80 from a junk shop near my house. After spending several hours trolling your forums I was able to get it working. Thanks so much!

Since then things have changed... I've fallen in love. When people call me on my cell, I hang up and call them back on the old phone. I'm officially hooked :-) 

Welcome to the forum and the madness!  Instead of hanging up and calling them back, do what some of us have discovered, get an Xlink and use it to dial out on your rotary phone using your cell network.  It's a device that acts like a bluetooth for your cell phone, but it has a modular port to plug in your rotary phone.  "Xlink" is a brand name for the device made by Xtreme Tech, their are other similar devices made by other manufacturers, Radio Shack for one.

[nolacat]

Thanks, everyone! I'm really grateful for the information and your suggestions. I suppose I just don't know what 'intercom phone' means. My assumption was that it was another way of saying 'extension phone' (because you can't dial out on it). But I *think* what you are saying is that this phone would be used to call other phones on the same home network (other phones in my house) by pushing the button. Right? 

I can't try that out yet because I only have one phone jack in my house. I'm having two more installed on the 24th (I told you I'm hooked!). After I have more than one phone jack I'll test to see if I can get this phone to make my AE 80 ring.

As I said, the phone does have a dial tone and while it does not ring, it does seem to function well as an extension phone- and the button has a new, modern function: it works great for call waiting & 3-way calling (like the 'flash' button on modern phones).

I would love to make it ring, though. So, is a mini-network all I would need? How would I wire it?

Is my gong ringer going to function as a regular ringer if I install a network? Or would I need a new ringer, as well?

I don't think I'll install the dial. I just love how cool and mysterious the phone looks as it is.

Thanks again, everyone.

[Wallphone]

If you use the network that McHeath mentioned > http://www.fivestarphones.com/product_info.php?cPath=59_181&products_id=5597 < ,
then you should be able to use your ringer. Does anyone know how to hook this network or a 425B up so that you can use a #4 or #5 dial?
I know that the N-205 mini network in the TCI Library is good for the older dials but you don't have a ringer option.
The newer networks give you the ringer option but they seem to be only for a #7 dial or pushbutton unit.
Am I on the wrong track or is there a simple solution?
Dougpav

[nolacat]

Welcome nolacat.  That's a sweet phone, and with a little tinkering you can make it a full fledged phone.

Here is a page with mini networks.  One of these will give you full functionality.

http://www.fivestarphones.com/index.php?cPath=59_181&page=4

This would allow the phone to receive calls and ring.  With a dial it would also be able to place calls.  A dial won't fit in the body as it's not made for one, so you could do an external dial.  You can get a touch tone dial, wire it up in a small box someplace handy, and make the calls.

Alternatively you can dial without a dial by tapping the switch hooks quickly.  It takes some practice but is a real party trick once you get it down. 

"Hey watch me dial a phone without touching the dial"

If you want to go with time period internal parts you could buy a junker Western Electric 302 and use the parts to make yours work. 

So, McHeath, you are saying this is what I need, right? http://www.fivestarphones.com/product_info.php?cPath=59_181&products_id=5515

I'll have to work on that party trick...

[McHeath]

Yup, that will do it.  You will the have a fully functional phone. 

The switch hook dialing party trick never ceases to impress people.

[KeithB]

The switch hook dialing party trick never ceases to impress people.

Learned that one when I was a kid, used it all the time on "locked-down" and dial-less phones everywhere. 

[Kenny C]

I FINALY DID IT LAST NIGHT!!!!!!! I DIALED 5 DIFFERENT #S