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Swiss Grey Bakelite

Started by tubaman, August 30, 2018, 01:00:14 PM

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tubaman

I've just picked up this sweet little Swiss phone, in grey Bakelite, for only £8 + £3.99 P&P.
The seller claimed it was 'untested', but as he sells converted phones this seems somewhat unlikely.
Someone had clearly had a go at getting it going before as a micro-switch had been very neatly installed to bypass the hookswitch contacts, and a new GPO handset cord added.
I've removed the micro-switch, and after adjusting the original hookswitch contacts, together with a few other wiring tweaks it's now working.  ;D

The circuitry is really odd as it seems to use all the transmission coils in series to form the bell coil - not something I've ever seen before. The bell shown on the circuit diagram is actually an external one, which confused the hell out of me while I was trying to get it working!
Also, the dial connects to contact strips when you screw in the main board - it's not wired as such.

The grey Bakelite has yellowed a little, but as it's pretty even it still looks really nice. I'm not going to mess with it.
The actual colour less brown than the Ebay photo but not quite as grey as mine.

All in all I'm very happy with it.

Ebay link - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Swiss-Albiswerk-Zu-rich-A-G-Rotary-Desk-Telephone-UNTESTED-1963-/372403205554

LarryInMichigan

It looks like you got a nice deal.  That model is one of the cutest European phone IMO, and it looks very nice in grey.  I have the Yugoslavian version in black.  The handset is a bit uncomfortable to use.

Larry

tubaman

Hi Larry,

I also have a black Yugoslavian one!
The circuitry in that is totally different, and far more conventional than this Swiss version.
Quite agree about the handset - very nice looking, but not very comfortable to hold.
:)