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I will soon have a candlestick.

Started by Stephen Furley, July 27, 2009, 03:34:42 PM

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Stephen Furley

I have spent a lot of money which I shouldn't have to buy two 'phones.  The latest is a GPO 150 candlestick, and in a separate auction, a Bellset No. 1 for it.

This may be the last British standard 'phone to join the collection; when it arrives I will have:

150 Candlestick with bellset No.1.
232 Bakelite with bellset No 26.
328 Bakelite.
706 'Modern' plastic (several).
746 'Modern' plastic (several).
764 LD push button based on the 746.
782 DTMF push button based on the 746.
722 Trimphone (dial).
766 Trimphone (LD push button).
776 Compact Telephone with bell unit.

Plus various more modern ones:

Contempra.
Ambassador.
Statesman (about 15 of them, LD or DTMF, earth or timed break recall, or neither or both).
Tribune.
Viscount.
Vanguard.
Slimtel.
Rhapsody.
Venue 24.

There is a DTMF model of the Trimphone, which I don't have, but they're not that common, and tend to be expensive.

Plus a few more recent BT models, Decor, Converse, Duet etc.

Plus several engineer's test sets including 2 GPO telephone No. 280 and a few modern ones.

Then I've got one unknown German one.

Then there are the American ones:

WE 302 (metal bodied).
AE 40.
WE 500.
AE 80.
SC 1543.
CMC Trub-L-Shooter.

McHeath

That's a nice collection of British phones.  I only have the one, the 706, which my wife is so fond of that I'm forbidden to rotate it out of service on her desk for other American models. 

foots

Impressive, very impressive. I'm going to have to look up some of these since I have no idea what they look like.
"Ain't Worryin' 'Bout Nothin"

Stephen Furley

Quote from: foots on July 29, 2009, 03:40:23 AM
Impressive, very impressive. I'm going to have to look up some of these since I have no idea what they look like.

I'll post some pictures one day; I've got about 40 sheets of film that I need to process first, but in the meantime take a look at these three sites:

http://www.telephonesuk.co.uk/

Has colour pictures of just about all of them.  The telephones are on three pages; scroll down to see them listed in the sidebar menu.

http://www.britishtelephones.com/telelist.htm

If you know the model number this site has more information on them, but any pictures are only black and white.

http://www.samhallas.co.uk/collection/index.htm

This site also has some pictures, but also has a large library of technical information, including the original GPO N-Diagrams, instructions to engineers as to how to set up equipment.

http://www.samhallas.co.uk/repository/n_diagrams/index.htm

For telephones you generally add 100 to the model number, so the 706 is described in N-806 for example.

bwanna

stephen,

impressive collection. how many of those do you use? how do you display them all?

thank you for the websites. i enjoyed viewing your phones from across the pond. will look forward to photos of your collection.

donna

ps out of curiosity, (if you don't mind my asking)what do you do for a living? in your pic, looks like you are standing next to a main frame.
donna

Stephen Furley

Quote from: bwanna on July 29, 2009, 09:09:40 AM
stephen,

impressive collection. how many of those do you use? how do you display them all?

At home, none.  I live as a lodger, and there's no telephone line in my room, so I use Skype.  At the moment I have four in various places at work, My landlord has two, and his son has another in his bedroom.  A few others are loaned out to various people, and the rest are in store.  Every few weeks they get swapped around, so all of them probably get used at some time during the year.

Quote
thank you for the websites. i enjoyed viewing your phones from across the pond. will look forward to photos of your collection.

donna

ps out of curiosity, (if you don't mind my asking)what do you do for a living? in your pic, looks like you are standing next to a main frame.

I'm an IT Technician in a college.  Strictly speaking, my job title is 'Network Analyst' but nobody, least of all me, knows what that means, and I don't analyse networks, so I tend not to use the term.  Until recently I also worked from time to time as a relief projectionist, 35mm and digital, at a local cinema.  Single-screen arts house type place in the local arts centre, just 68 seats.  Pair of Kinoton FP-30s and NEC NC-800C digital.  Also a Hortson 16mm machine, but that was very seldom used.

That's the frame at the college.   It's far bigger than it needs to be; we've got under 1000 extensions, and about half of these are now IP, and so don't use the frame.  I've just set up another 40 or so.  The side you can see has room for 1600 pairs on the right, connected to the PABX, and another 1600 on the left, connected to the 'phones.  There's the same again round the back, all on Krone disconnect strips; you can insert a peg or a four-pole test connector at each position, and it breaks the circuit at that point.  Depending on which way you insert the test connector you can listen, or test, either towards the equipment or towards the 'phone.  If you use a two-pole test connector you can monitor the line without disconnecting it.

The controller is a Mitel 3300 ICP, and the alalogue line cards are in Mitel SX-2000 Light cabinets, 16 lines on each card, 12 cards per cabinet, and we've got five cabinets, though some of the slots are spare.

Stephen Furley

The bellset No.1 arrived in the post today.  The 150 candlestick will take a bit longer; the seller wants to be paid by cheque, which will take a while to clear.  I'm hoping to have the 'phone in about 10-14 days.

The bellset is in good condition, and doesn't need any restoration.  Apart from the varnish which seems to be a modern type everything is original.