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Automatic Electric 3C "step" candlestick with mercedes dial

Started by Nessie, May 28, 2017, 08:47:58 PM

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Alex G. Bell

Quote from: unbeldi on June 06, 2017, 11:44:39 AM
I have to disagree with that.   The diagram appears a proper and accurate wiring diagram, because it shows the exact physical arrangement of a wooden desk set box of the time.  The ringer and capacitor were mounted on the rear of the door which is clearly indicated in that diagram, and that four-terminal connecting strip is a separate little plate used in wiring optional extension sets. It was not located in or near the desk stand, but either in the subscriber set or on the wall.

You're sort of right about this point.  I misinterpreted the diagram initially, realized it later but didn't think it was important enough to post further about.  But I'll stand by the statement that it is misleading.  The dotted box around the ringer and condenser should also include the terminal strip at the bottom since they are within the ringer box.  The fact that you can infer that the dotted box shows the rear door is moot since it's not identified in the diagram as such and is not particularly important.  It would be more beneficial to delineate the boundaries of the ringer box with a dotted line around the whole thing.



It's also ambiguous what "1. Wire strap between contact 5 & 6" means.  That could easily be read as an indication that it must be installed under the screws to complete the circuit rather than that it is factory soldered on the hidden side of the plate.

Beyond all this, it fails to show which connections are soldered and which are spade tipped and to that extent provides no insight into what can be changed with a screwdriver.

Alex G. Bell

#31
Quote from: unbeldi on June 06, 2017, 11:52:16 AM
Quite frankly, I would not turn this desk stand into some semi-modern hybrid of parts, but be patient and look for proper receiver and transmitter and operate it as a series circuit to show that stage of telephony evolution. An original wooden desk set box is probably not terribly difficult to find.

That said, next best choice to my taste would be to use an AE mini-network and place it directly into the base. This saves the original appearance the most, requires only a cheaper cord, and enables the use of best possible receiver and transmitter elements, when the set is actually for daily use.   A 634 subset seems a very undesirable solution.
Taking this approach to its logical conclusion one should not add a varistor either since that would prevent the user from experiencing first hand authentic hearing damage which results from acoustic shock.  If you watch old movies carefully sometimes you see scenes where a phone call is placed and usually see that people hold the receiver away from the ear until they hear the click from the call being answered but today people are not in the habit of doing that so a varistor is an appropriate unauthentic modernization.

I don't know of any network, certainly not any AE mini, that will fit into the available 1/4" space.  Maybe one of Phoneco's networks that's integrated into an electret transmitter to replace a solid back transmitter would work but that's not exactly a purist's solution either.

Jack Ryan

Quote from: Alex G. Bell on June 06, 2017, 03:20:18 PM
But I'll stand by the statement that it is misleading.  The dotted box around the ringer and condenser should also include the terminal strip at the bottom since they are within the ringer box.

That is not correct. The terminal strip is the wall connection box - it is not part of or within the subset.

Quote
The fact that you can infer that the dotted box shows the rear door is moot since it's not identified in the diagram as such and is not particularly important.  It would be more beneficial to delineate the boundaries of the ringer box with a dotted line around the whole thing.

Actually that dotted line represents the cabinet of the subset which housed the ringer and the capacitor. The diagram accurately represents the physical wiring showing where the parts were and (relatively) where the terminations were.

Quote
It's also ambiguous what "1. Wire strap between contact 5 & 6" means.  That could easily be read as an indication that it must be installed under the screws to complete the circuit rather than that it is factory soldered on the hidden side of the plate.

Context is important here. The notes were written for an installer at the beginning of the 20th century and I'm sure they knew what it meant immediately. The notes are statements - not instructions; note 1 says that there is a link between 5 & 6.

Quote
Beyond all this, it fails to show which connections are soldered and which are spade tipped and to that extent provides no insight into what can be changed with a screwdriver.

As I said, the notes were written for an installer - not a manufacturer.

Regards
Jack

Alex G. Bell

#33
All the images of the AE step base wiring diagram posted so far are 1197x813 pixels or 96 dpi.  I need a good starting point for creating a version showing connection to a WECo AST induction coil subset.  I'm not going to waste effort editing a low resolution version to end up with a pixelated looking result. 

Does anyone have a real 300 or at least 200 dpi version?  I don't mean one created by resizing a 96 dpi version.  I mean one scanned at 200 or 300 dpi, i.e. 2394x1626 or 3591x2439 pixels or something on that order.  Thanks.

Nessie

Finally, connected the phone using an AE mini network mounted in an AE wood ringer box using an 8-conductor cable.  Thanks