Buttsets, Buttinskis!

[DavePEI]

I have many buttsets, old and modern, but I was given one today I did not recognize, by one of the fellows in Charlottetown who worked on the old Strowger exchanges between the 50's and 80's.

One gentleman on another list identified it for me:

"Did this arrive with the collection of Summerside British switches?
You might notice the location of the letter "O" on the dial.

It's a G.P.O. Tele. 280, introduced sometime around the mid 1950's.  HA is
the manufacturer code and 70 the year of manufacture.

I've attached the G.P.O. N-diagram for the set, not that it's very
exciting!"

I thought this might give a chance to start a thread on butt sets!

Dave

[gpo706]

That is a nice 280, mine have mostly black matte paint over the dial, obviously refurbed, as they inner number details wear off the metal. the only decent dial I have on one is quite well worn off.

They are pretty indestructible, and you can rewire it to an RJ11or a BT 431A or mostly any connector  on 2 wires in.

Handy for  "defensive domestic apparatus" for any intruders too, like a 500 round the back of the head...

I will swap dials if you're interested  

I love "Buttinskis" will post some pics over the weekend...

[DavePEI]

I will swap dials if you're interested  

It probably got very light use, as it was the supervisor over the switchers who had it :-)

I will likely display it with the British Strowger demo when I finish building it. It is a chunky beast. Much heavier than comparable N.A. Buttsets. It is a nice, smooth operating rotary dial.

I see you are like me - I keep modifying my posts to add to them, too. Yes, I must post a photo of some of my others too. I have somewhere around 20 different ones.

Dave

[gpo706]

There's two milled aluminium end for the RX/TX, and a steel tube down the spine to connect the ends, the biggest hassle is peeling the rubber seals off the RX/TX ends like a tyre change to get into it, but it's possible with enough perseverance, then you have to get the rubber ends back on to seal it.

Its a real basic butt set, just an RX/TX and a dial, I have three and only one seems dead, its a good paperweight at the moment...

The red TX button can be troublesome, often crackles (just age) unscrew it and clean and lubricate the aperture, remember you push and twist lock to TX and you should get a dial tone.

What connector has it on it, and have you tested it?

[DavePEI]

What connector has it on it, and have you tested it?

I don't think it is an original cord on it - just something thrown on at Island Tel in the 70s - a cloth cord. It terminates in a pair of large alligator clips. I checked it yesterday, and it still works well, but the switch is a bit noisy - I may clean it someday..

My favorites for day to day use are the Harris Dracons - I have a TS-19 (used in the museum workshop), TS-21, and TS-22, but have slews of older WE, NE and AE sets as well, the majority of whom are rotary dial. I have from early 1900s, pin dial sets, right up to the latest.

Very fun to collect, and I display them in the AE and tool displays in the museum, along with a couple of older magneto test phones (WE, and West Test sets).

Anyone else collect any?

Dave

[gpo706]

280 dials and a bag of mystery!