News:

"The phone is a remarkably complex, simple device,
and very rarely ever needs repairs, once you fix them." - Dan/Panther

Main Menu

Western Electric 302 Trial Base D161583

Started by Doug Rose, December 17, 2011, 02:38:41 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Doug Rose

I bought a box of really beat up broken 302s this summer and I was breaking them down today. This base has all D markings on all parts. the base is D161583, ringer D161769 and the coil is D161107 and has the only date of III42. It must have fallen into the hands of a quick fix guy as it has a thermoplastic cover with two ears missing and cracked everywhere, dial was a  6A with an AE handset on it.

It is my understanding the the D marks were trial numbers by WE. Even a schematic on the bottom with SC5634A. Notice the cords are real cloth!! Really cool....Doug
Kidphone

Doug Rose

forgot the hks, metal...check out the color cloth wires!! ...Doug
Kidphone

bingster

I wonder what sort of 302 trial was still going on in 1942.  It's a nice little mystery, that one.
= DARRIN =



rdelius


GG



Yeah, I'm with Robby there: military. 

US Army Signal Corps had their own part numbers for everything including 302s and 500s.  And many of those phones had schematics on the bottom so techs could service them more readily in the field. 

So it's not a field trial of some kind, but it did see service in WW2, and that counts.

paul-f

As has been pointed out, D- nu8mbers were used for many other uses than field trial sets.  Basically any modification that was done to match a standard alternate wiring diagram was also marked with a D- number for reference.

The wiring diagram tells us the set was originally manual with a 6-conductor mounting cord.  The extra conductors were used to separate the ringer and voice circuits and to provide a hookswitch contact closure.

This is consistent with a set that sat behind a PBX, which could have been in either a military or civilian commercial installation.

There's no detail to explain the D- markings on the ringer or coil -- perhaps custom impedance values needed by the installation.

The use of the D- number could be as simple as the need to repurpose existing equipment for a different use, due to wartime shortages of new equipment.
Visit: paul-f.com         WE  500  Design_Line

.

Dan/Panther

When did they switch from brass to Steel gongs ?
D/P

The More People I meet, The More I Love, and MISS My Dog.  Dan Robinson

Sargeguy

They must have switched in 42-43, around the same time pennies were switched to steel in order to conserve brass and copper for the war.
Greg Sargeant
Providence, RI
TCI /ATCA #4409