News:

"The phone is a remarkably complex, simple device,
and very rarely ever needs repairs, once you fix them." - Dan/Panther

Main Menu

Need to identify an SC phone

Started by Bill, August 19, 2010, 02:40:47 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Bill

Browsing around my local Junque Shoppe this AM, spotted an unknown (to me) SC phone. The phone was in bad shape, but the dial looked to be OK, and  though missing the fingerwheel, operated smoothly with a lovely clickety-clickety sound. Since I need a dial of this (apparent) vintage, I considered buying it, but would like to ID the dial before I shell out the dough. Wish I had had a camera, but I didn't.

Sitting on the shelf, the phone looked kind of chunky, kind of like a 500 desk set. But when I picked it up to look at it, it was clearly intended to be wall mounted. Picture a 500 screwed to a wall. When wall mounted, the ears that hold the handset were at the top, and pointed upward (a 500 set, if glued to wall, would have the ears pointing forward, toward the user). Each ear had a metal hang-up button. In the area between the ears was a small metal plate that said something like "Stromberg Carlson / Press to Talk or Dial". This plate was hinged, and obviously is a switch of some kind, but I have no idea what it does. The junque shoppe will not allow me to disassemble the junque to see what is inside.

The handset was the rather blah design similar to an F-1. In other words, a flat cover over the transmitter, not a bulldog/spit cup design. No markings anywhere on the handset that I could see.

I examined the entire outside of the case, including the base, and could find no other markings.

Does this suggest anything to anyone? Or is there a source of S-C pix I could scan through? Myers 2nd Ed. doesn't picture anything similar. Any help is much appreciated.

Bill

LarryInMichigan

Bill,

It sounds like you saw a SC1543/1573.  There are some pictures on Paul Fs website: http://paul-f.com/500style.html.  Black 1543s can often be found on ebay or craigslist for cheap.  I payed $4.20 each for my first two, then bought a 1586 (same phone with a different shell and handset) for $1.99 all on ebay.  Colors go for much more.

Larry

Bill

Oooh, we're close, Larry. Thanks. That's better than anything I've uncovered. Paul's pic of the "SC 1573 set up for wall mounting" is almost it. Correct handset, correct chunky 500 style desk set, as opposed to the slimmer style of a 554 wall phone. But in Paul's pic, the ears are the bottom, below the dial. The unit that I saw had the ears near the top, above the dial. I don't think I had it upside down - the dial would have looked weird.

Since I don't really care about the phone, but am looking for a dial - what can anyone tell me about this dial? Right away I see that the fingerstop is located a bit more clockwise than on a WE dial.

Bottom line, though, it sounds like I should be glad I didn't drop $24 on a broken-up phone, just to get a dial with a missing finger wheel. I  love this group! Thanks again, Larry.

Bill

LarryInMichigan

Bill,

Now, I am thinking that it might have been an SC1250.  How bad was the condition of the phone?  It probably had an SC dial, but AE dials tend to appear on many older phones.  All manufacturers other than WE/NE placed their finger stops near the 05:00 position.  WE placed theirs around the 03:30 position to be different.

If the dial is an AE, finding a replacement finger wheel assembly is fairly easy, but a replacement for an SC dial is probably more difficult and expensive.  Chances are, the phone had an SC dial.  The SC dials make louder clicking sounds than the AE ones.



Larry

paul-f

Quote from: Bill on August 19, 2010, 02:40:47 PM
<snip>  In the area between the ears was a small metal plate that said something like "Stromberg Carlson / Press to Talk or Dial". This plate was hinged, and obviously is a switch of some kind, but I have no idea what it does.


I'm with Larry.  The metal plate you describe is typical of the 1243-family. Here's a photo of the cradle for a 1250 wall set...
Visit: paul-f.com         WE  500  Design_Line

.

Bill

#5
That's the one, guys. Thanks! I believe I will pass on this one - you have saved me some money.

The transmitter cap on the one I saw was broken and held together with tape. I believe there was a crack in the case, though not a bad one. There is the missing finger wheel, of course, though the dial appeared to be in very good condition otherwise. And of course grubby grubby grubby!

By the way, what was the purpose of the Push to Talk or Dial plate? Yours doesn't seem to say that, Paul.

If anyone wants it despite this, I would be pleased to pick it up and drop it in the mail. A medium flat-rate box would probably hold it.

Bill

rdelius

That telephone has a 2 step hookswitch. On a party line you would pick up the handset and listen. If the line was not busy, you would push the metal plate and the switch would release all the way so you would be able to talk or dial
Robby