Last time I "bought" one, the seller turned out to be a scammer, and I never got the phone, since then I've bid and not won on a few, or just not had the money when a cheap one popped up, but seems I have finally gotten one, or at least, purchased one, still have to let it arrive... ;D
I already have it's cousin, the Geemarc "Mayfair" in glorious Black, which is a pushbutton phone styled to look like a GPO 746, and that particular one does (another one I got in ivory also looked like it, but was super-flimsy and poorly made, so sacrificed its' guts to save the black one), and for those who don't know, the Direct Line version is a GPO 782-style in red, and with wheels, as it was an advertising gimmick for the Direct Line insurance company which had a little red phone tooting its horn and playing a little tune as it came to the rescue of people in need of insurance claims (yeah, like the insurance would ever pay out!!)... ;D
Anyway, this one apparently has a receiver fault, as it can transmit, but apparently not receive, so has something to fix, which is okay with me as I like fixing things, hopefully a simple issue like a broken solder joint, but we shall see...
£12.99 paid, free P&P so rather cheap really... :)
And finally, the auction pics:
Nice find, congrats
Thanks, I just hope that this one actually arrives!!! ;D
I must confess I have de-wheeled both of mine so it sits in the 700 series display.
I was going to suggest blocking all four wheels to keep it from rolling away!
Quote from: Owain on September 14, 2019, 02:46:41 PM
I must confess I have de-wheeled both of mine so it sits in the 700 series display.
Just need to sit the phones on a stack of Lego bricks, give them that "Visiting Liverpool" kind of vibe... ;D
My jinx has not happened, the phone arrived today safely and looks in good condition, bar a few spider poo spots on it (so presumably either left on display, or sat somewhere that a spider used as a toilet!!), and as for the receiver fault, it was a simple fix, just a bad crimp on one of the wires to the receiver inside the phone on the main PCB, quick squeeze with pliers and it was fixed... :)
One nice thing about the Cortelco-esque ball bearing-chucker ringer is that unlike the one in my black "Mayfair" is this Direct Line phone's bells are actually in tune, so they sound correct, well, for a north american telephone at least (but odd for a UK phone!), so should sound good when ringing, haven't plugged it in to test it out yet, just probulating with my multimeter to find the fault...
Not taken photos yet, in a state of zero energy after fixing my shed roof yesterday and trying to continue with tidying it (and failing) today, but all in due course... :)
Not really done much with this phone as yet, have hooked it up to my PAP2T intercom setup and it rings, receives, transmits and dials perfect, so I'm happy in that regard, just need to clean it and it'll be all good, but I thought I'd at least put up a new picture of it... ;D
You will get faster speeds with racing stripes.
JMO,
Jim
I could, but it might look a bit silly... ;D