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Party line ringers

Started by jfrutschy, June 13, 2013, 11:49:41 PM

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jfrutschy

Hi everyone,

I'm looking at the Ivory ae50 on EBay for$799.  The seller informed me that it has a party ringer and will not ring.  Could someone explain why it doesn't ring, how to tell the difference between the party line ringer and a regular ringer on the ae50. And if a party ringer doesn't ring then why does it have one?  I have been fortunate enough restoring my first three not knowing there are different ringers and get them to ring using the BK1045, does this mean they are regular ringers or am I being fooled by the machine?  My others all ring as many times as I want to hear it, they also receive and transmit and the dial reads properly.

I would hate to be mistaken on what I have done.  They have came out beautiful

tptech302

Well I am not an expert on this matter, but any phone that I have bought that was a "party line ringer" was done by the way the ringer was connected, usually one of the ringer leads going to ground and re-wiring the ringer to Tip and Ring fixed it. Now if it would be a frequency ringer that would be a different story. Of course my understanding of this may be totally wrong?

Josh

G-Man


Telephone companies used various ringing schemes to selectively ring subscribers on party-lines so that only they, and not the rest of the subscribers, would hear it.

In this case the ringer installed in the ivory AE50 is most likely a frequency ringer that responds only to a specific ringing frequency assigned to an individual subscriber. In a few instances A.E. used the Bell System's superimposed ringing scheme but that is rather rare.

Since party-lines have since been eliminated, only 20~ (or less common 30~) ringing is now employed.

Consequently only straight-line (rings on all frequencies) or 20~ (or in a few exchanges 30~) ringers are now useable. 

Most likely up to now, the ringers you have come across were either straight-line or 20~ ringers.
A few members on this list have been able to jerry-rig some frequency ringers to make them work on today's pstn/VoIP systems.

The good news is that replacement ringers are available though some may sell at a higher price.
Some of the older systems employed involved harmonic, decimonic, and syncromonic ringing frequencies.

In the instance of two-party divided ringing, a simple wiring change can be made to have the instrument ring on modern systems.

jfrutschy

I have the entire guts to 2 Ae50 sets, if I Connect them to the BK1045 do both frequency ringers and straight line ringers act the same thru the machine???  Would I be able to tell the difference or rule out one or the other?

Hate to pay more if I have the parts I need.

poplar1

Look for a biasing spring on the straight line ringers. The spring pulls the clapper toward one of the gongs.

The AE party line ringers will have various sizes of clappers. Just as a pendulum on a wind-up clock, the larger the clapper, the lower the frequency. You will also notice that in the straight line ringer, the clapper moves in a different way.

The frequency of an  AE ringer may be listed on the label on the ringer itself.

There are pictures posted in other topics here.
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

jfrutschy

How are these phones more historically restored using the party line ringer or changing them?

And would you know why it rings normal thru the analyzer? 

And thank you I have identified one of my sets as a party ringer, unuseably large clapper (remember I'm a novice) no spring.  It has tested out and rings normal also thru the analyzer???

So little time and so much to learn......


poplar1

Can you post pictures of your ringers? Also, do you see a label on any of them; if so, it may say something like 33.3 and a symbol afterward for HZ. The clapper would have a screw on the top of it
if it is a party line ringer.

I think most of us would want a straight line ringer if we want the phone to ring, hopefully the same type that would have been used in that model phone. If you disconnect the ringer, then it doesn't really matter. Usually, you want to have at least 16 phones hooked up at any one time, but maybe only 5 ringing!

Will these AE 50s ring on your telephone line?

Someone who has a BK1045 can answer your questions about it. It may have different settings for various frequencies.


"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

poplar1

I'm still looking for some good pictures of AE ringers for AE 40 and 50; here is the older style straight line ringer: Notice the long spring and the shape of the clapper.
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

poplar1

Later style AE 40 or AE 50 ringer---this one is a frequency ringer for party lines

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=9087.15
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

poplar1

#9
Later style straight line ringer for AE 50 or AE 40--See reply #22 (Dennis)


http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=562.0



"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

poplar1

Older style AE 40 or 50 frequency ringer; the size of the clapper varies depending on the frequency.
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

jfrutschy

Well first...you got me freaked out!  I do not have a phone line in the house, that was the reason for the BK1045.  So if they test properly on the the analyzer...why would they not operate on the phone line?

I will do this test for the forum...my curiosity will kill me itself, let alone my pride.

Second, I have distinquished that i have the guts of two party line ringers.  the ones displayed on my wall are straight line...thank god.  My third which is almost done (chrome trim) is a party line so, dam, not a ringer expert yet, but thanks to you all again, at least I am no ringer novice anymore.  I though they wer just different and of course since I am a novice...they looked cool

Regarding this I have posted pix of the two AE50's, the extra ones...damaged in shipping, cracked two cases.  I got the best view of them I could.  So my chrome addition will be a little behind schedule

Thanks To All

G-Man

The telephone shown on the left-side in the first two photos and again in the bottom photo is a straight-line ringer.

The photos are a bit blurry but I think you can make out the SL on the label affixed to ringer coil. The second is definitely a frequency ringer and the frequency should be printed on the label.

They should look something like this:

16.6~ 25~ 33.3~ 50~
66~ 20~ 30~ 42~ 54~ 66~


Also keep in mind that a ringer marked 20~ will also work even though it is tuned to 20-cycle ringing since it is the de facto* frequency for ringing telephones as will a straight-line ringer since it will work at any frequency.


*Note that there are a few exchanges that output 30-cycle ringing but they are in the minority.