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Old Rotary tester

Started by MagicMo, March 01, 2013, 08:58:49 PM

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MagicMo

I found and old rotary telephone tester. Anyone know anything about it?
Thanks
Mo
Practice Kindness :)

DavePEI

#1
Hi Maureen:

We will see what others say about it, but it looks like a  1011B pin dial butt set which has had a full size dial added to it over where the pin dial would have mounted.

Dave
The Telephone Museum of Prince Edward Island:
http://www.islandregister.com/phones/museum.html
Free Admission - Call (902) 651-2762 to arrange a visit!
C*NET 1-651-0001

MagicMo

Hi DavePEI,
I think you're right. It looks just like the other one. So, someone made it?
Thanks,
Mo
Practice Kindness :)

DavePEI

Quote from: MagicMo on March 01, 2013, 09:22:24 PM
Hi DavePEI,
I think you're right. It looks just like the other one. So, someone made it?
Thanks,
Mo
That would be my guess, Mo. The pin dials wore out, and this may have been your father or someone else's way of recycling it, by adding another dial and shroud above where the pin dial would have been.

Dave
The Telephone Museum of Prince Edward Island:
http://www.islandregister.com/phones/museum.html
Free Admission - Call (902) 651-2762 to arrange a visit!
C*NET 1-651-0001

WesternElectricBen

I thought it was a but set...

DavePEI

Quote from: WesternElectricBen on March 01, 2013, 09:37:53 PM
I thought it was a but set...
Yea, and.... That is what we said it was above... :)

Dave
The Telephone Museum of Prince Edward Island:
http://www.islandregister.com/phones/museum.html
Free Admission - Call (902) 651-2762 to arrange a visit!
C*NET 1-651-0001

HarrySmith

Butt Set

As in "Buttinski" ;D
Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

"There is no try,
there is only
do or do not"

MagicMo

Practice Kindness :)

G-Man

Nothing exotic but very nice Western Electric 1011G test set.

They were factory equipped with a large dial and were intended for use in central offices and not out in the field where the dial would be subject of abuse.

Generally, but not always, they had a special connector on the end of a short cord that allowed cords with various combinations of plugs and clips to be quickly connected when needed.

By the way, the interphone speakers shown in the background should bring a tidy sum on eBay.

WesternElectricBen

Quote from: DavePEI on March 01, 2013, 09:42:00 PM
Quote from: WesternElectricBen on March 01, 2013, 09:37:53 PM
I thought it was a but set...
Yea, and.... That is what we said it was above... :)

Dave

I must have not seen...

MagicMo

Quote from: G-Man on March 01, 2013, 10:43:00 PM

By the way, the interphone speakers shown in the background should bring a tidy sum on eBay.


Here is a few more pics
Thanks!
Mo
Practice Kindness :)

paul-f

Quote from: MagicMo on March 01, 2013, 09:22:24 PM

I think you're right. It looks just like the other one. So, someone made it?


Someone at Western Electric made it.

The 1011G (mentioned previously) is seen with other variations here:

   http://www.paul-f.com/weHandsets.html#1011
Visit: paul-f.com         WE  500  Design_Line

.

MagicMo

Quote from: paul-f on March 02, 2013, 12:48:32 AM
Quote from: MagicMo on March 01, 2013, 09:22:24 PM

I think you're right. It looks just like the other one. So, someone made it?


Someone at Western Electric made it.

The 1011G (mentioned previously) is seen with other variations here:

   http://www.paul-f.com/weHandsets.html#1011


Thanks Paul. I thought it was jerry-built/jerry-rigged.
Very cool
I appreciated the info
Mo


Practice Kindness :)

DavePEI

#13
Quote from: MagicMo on March 02, 2013, 12:09:15 AM
Quote from: G-Man on March 01, 2013, 10:43:00 PM

By the way, the interphone speakers shown in the background should bring a tidy sum on eBay.


Here is a few more pics
Thanks!
Mo
The four boxes without slots in the top are E1A ringers - quite useful for adding ringers to semi converted payphones with an internal network, and perfect for use with ringerless Princess Phones. There are versions with built in modular jacks, and those without - not sure if the numbering remained the same on both styles. Both WE and NE sold versions of these.

Never saw a 1011G without a C.O. cord. After all, true 1011Gs were  made for use in C.O.s. (At least those I have seen shown in the catalogs). However, it is quite easy to put a shroud on a 1011B and install a normal dial. This one does not have the 1011G C.O. cord.  So I would still place this then in the category of "maybe home modified". I think the only real way to be 100% certain either way would be to do a "forensic" examination of it and see how the shroud was attached. I have perhaps 1/2 dozen butt sets in my collection which have been converted to dial in his way (most of these started out as non-dial). IMHO, either way, it doesn't make them any more or less collectable.

Shown below them in one of the photos is what is commonly called a "Mickey Mouse" ringer or Mouse-ears ringer.

The last photo you posted, Maureen is an amplifier for the headset on a switchboard. It would plug into the headset jacks on the board, then the headset itself would plug into it.


Dave
The Telephone Museum of Prince Edward Island:
http://www.islandregister.com/phones/museum.html
Free Admission - Call (902) 651-2762 to arrange a visit!
C*NET 1-651-0001

G-Man

Absolutely not home modified!
During my years of being employed by the telephone company, I have used many 1011-series hand telephone test sets with large dials that came from the factory with a plethora of cords and clips including those with Popper (P16E1670 clips as shown in Maureen's photos.

It is not easy to competently modify a pin-dial (103) version with a simple "shroud." There is a factory conversion kit that includes an assembly that fits into the hole vacated by the 103-dial which mounts the new dial housing (P248137) and a standard 52D adapter bracket for mounting  a 5 or 6-type dial.

It would be far more likely and much easier that the cord was changed to a W2BT equipped with P16E1670 test clips. While not encouraged, it was not uncommon either.

Maureen's father certainly had enough resources available at this finger-tips  as necessary that he did not have to resort to cobbling a simple hand test set together.

These sets (large dial) are documented in the Bell System Practices and Western Electric/Graybar catalogs.