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Western Electric A1 with E1 Handset

Started by LarryInMichigan, July 29, 2017, 11:21:27 PM

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HarrySmith

WOW! Looks great, now I am even more jealous ;D
Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

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

unbeldi

#16
Quote from: LarryInMichigan on August 07, 2017, 08:45:22 AM
I painted the base and shaft/cradle and reassembled the phone.  My painting skills are fair at best, but the phone looks much better now.  I also gave the handset a cleaning and polishing.  The phone works, but the sound quality from the bullet transmitter is poor, as is typical.

A collector told me yesterday that he had heard that these phones were only used in the New York area and that the "Dxxx" number indicates that this was an experimental phone.  Is there any truth to these stories?  My phone did come from a seller on Long Island


Larry

The D-numbers were used for equipment that was produced in low volume, for special orders, when it was not practical to assign a permanent apparatus code.  Field trials were also examples of these.

The early handset mountings before the A-series were field tested with the various early handset types in the NY/NJ area with AT&T staff. 'A History of Engineering and Science in the Bell System' reports that for example, 490 sets with Type A handsets were tested with employees at the NYC AT&T and WECo facilities in Sept. 1924.  Sept. 1924 was also the month the design received a patent, apparently not in time for the trials.  But later, formal A-type sets bear that patent date.


The comment (AA1) in the title of this thread should be removed.  The AA1 was a 302-type hand telephone mounting.

Doug Rose

Larry....Home Run!!   That looks fantastic. You done good....real good. I am envious.....super find...Doug
Kidphone

Alex G. Bell

Quote from: unbeldi on August 07, 2017, 10:22:24 AM
The comment (AA1) in the title of this thread should be removed.  The AA1 was a 302-type hand telephone mounting.
The best way to see to such changes is by reporting to moderator, which I will now do.

TelePlay

Quote from: Alex G. Bell on August 07, 2017, 01:49:37 PM
The best way to see to such changes is by reporting to moderator, which I will now do.

Missed that post by unbeldi but the change has been made now. Just so many posts and so much to read in each one of them that I miss such requests.

Alex G. Bell

Quote from: unbeldi on August 07, 2017, 10:22:24 AM
The early handset mountings before the A-series were field tested with the various early handset types in the NY/NJ area with AT&T staff. 'A History of Engineering and Science in the Bell System' reports that for example, 490 sets with Type A handsets were tested with employees at the NYC AT&T and WECo facilities in Sept. 1924. 
OTOH this one is not equipped with an A-type handset, it has an E. 

The fact that they were field tested as stated in "A History..." does not necessarily mean they were not deployed more generally elsewhere later with E handsets.  A phone company employee friend turned one up sitting in the basement of a NYC apartment building. 

The vast majority of reports I've see were for the D-# version but someone else I know turned up an A3 (party line version) in N. CA's Sonoma or Napa County.  Of course there is no way to know how it got there.  But suffice to say that they probably did not field test party line versions at AT&T and WECo NYC facilities but deployed these sets more generally or there would not have been any A3s produced.

unbeldi

#21
Quote from: Alex G. Bell on August 07, 2017, 02:01:28 PM
OTOH this one is not equipped with an A-type handset, it has an E. 
Of course.  A, B, C, D handsets were never distributed.
I gave an example for the reason that the D-numbered base existed in the first place.


Quote
The fact that they were field tested as stated in "A History..." does not necessarily mean they were not deployed more generally elsewhere later with E handsets.  A phone company employee friend turned one up sitting in the basement of a NYC apartment building. 

The vast majority of reports I've see were for the D-# version but someone else I know turned up an A3 (party line version) in N. CA's Sonoma or Napa County.  Of course there is no way to know how it got there.  But suffice to say that they probably did not field test party line versions at AT&T and WECo NYC facilities but deployed these sets more generally or there would not have been any A3s produced.

The "A" handset mountings ('A' marked) were regular catalog items with an apparatus code, so I doubt they were only regionally used.  A 1928 telephone directory of Southern Bell T&T for Atlanta, GA, shows advertisements with A1A telsets.  They were made in A1, A2, and A3 versions.

The A3 was not the party line version.  It was used in PBX systems and in the No.1 Residence System. It later became the 104 telephone with the B3 base (and others later).
The party line version was the A2, for two-party message rate service, like the later 103 telephone with a B2 base (and others).