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Stromberg Carlson 1179 - Complete at last! (and interesting transmitter mod)

Started by tubaman, May 01, 2018, 01:14:22 PM

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tubaman

A bit under 4 years ago I picked up a nice 'barn fresh' Stromberg Carlson phone and ringer on eBay.
At the time I thought it was an 1177, but more on that later.
Unfortunately, due to poor packing, the handset was smashed in transit (see photos).
Clearly someone - I'm not sure if it was the seller or eBay's Global Shipping people - thought it was ok to put a heavy metal ringer in a box with the phone with only polystyrene chips to stop the inevitable from happening.
To say I was upset is an understatement!
EBay eventually gave me a full refund, but I would rather have had a complete phone.
I did glue all the handset pieces back together, but it always made me sad to look at it :'(

Since then I have been looking for a new handset for a sensible price and have now finally found one ($12.99 +shipping = very happy :))).
While cleaning the new handset and fitting it to the phone I started to wonder if I did have an 1177 after all, as all the references I can find show them with no coil inside.
A close look at the diagram that was tucked inside shows that i actually have an 1179 - which is also odd as I thought these had a dial??

The replacement handset is also interesting as it has what looks like an official mod to allow the later screw-type transmitter to be fitted.
There's a ring that fits around the transmitter and the spitcup has a screw fitted that aligns perfectly with one of the transmitter holes to stop it turning.
Quite clever really!
:)

tubaman

Photos of (I assume) older type transmitter followed by modified version.


HarrySmith

Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

"There is no try,
there is only
do or do not"

LarryInMichigan

Those handsets are difficult to find.  You got one for a real bargain price.  Now you have a fine phone which is probably about as rare as can be in the UK.  They aren't very common here in the USA.

Larry

kleenax

Quote from: LarryInMichigan on May 01, 2018, 04:26:04 PM
Those handsets are difficult to find.  You got one for a real bargain price.  Now you have a fine phone which is probably is probably about as rare as can be in the UK.  They aren't very common here in the USA.

Larry
Yes, Larry is correct!  I am WAY surprised at how difficult it is to find one of those old SC "E1" type handsets in good condition! I did have some NOS receiver caps around here for them at one time, but now I don't know where they're at since I never found a use for them!
Ray Kotke
Recumbent Casting, LLC

tubaman

Thanks everyone.
I was really lucky with the handset find.
It was listed as a test handset as someone had put a couple of clips on the end of the lead.
It was rather grubby and sad looking in the photos with its tatty old lead wound around it.
The seller clearly didn't know what it was and couldn't find any makers marks, which is not surprising as there aren't any.
I knew what it was as soon as I saw it and hit the Buy It Now button without hesitation.
It's not quite perfect as it has a small chip on the edge of the transmitter ring (which I could see in the photos), but it has cleaned up really nicely and I can live with that small imperfection on something that's nearly 100 years old.
:)