News:

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

Main Menu

TP-6-A transmitter caps

Started by arsenicsauce, December 30, 2008, 10:37:11 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

arsenicsauce

Hi, I've been reading this forum for a little while now for help fixing up some cosmetic damage on a model 500 and in anticipation of doing the same for the North electric TP-6A signal phone I ordered a while ago, both phones I bought planning to use in my home. However, when the new phone arrived, there was more than cosmetic damage- the transmitter cap had broken during shipping, and the transmitting element was rattling around loose inside it. I thought I'd ask you guys about it since you really seem to know your stuff.

Pictures: (9/17/23 — all links below are dead)

http://i44.tinypic.com/2zi9f9j.jpg
http://i41.tinypic.com/4sd5ck.jpg
http://i43.tinypic.com/2z55gzd.jpg
http://i44.tinypic.com/rm0cj9.jpg
http://i40.tinypic.com/2eg447a.jpg
http://i39.tinypic.com/16m7i3k.jpg


I'm new to old phones, so I'm a little lost. I'm pretty certain a piece is missing, probably a rubber/metal ring or similar that's supposed to hold the transmitting element in place, right? But I'm not sure what it's called, or what type to look for. I'm also having trouble finding the correct replacement transmitter cap, since the broken part was basically crushed into dust and can't be glued back. The back of the phone says North Electric, but I don't seem to find any parts for North Electric phones except Ericofons, and I don't have the cash at the moment to just buy another TP6A and exchange the parts even if I could find one. The closest handsets I see being sold at the sites recommended in the sticky thread here seem to be for the Connecticut-made TP6As, which have differently curved handsets, and I can't tell from pictures if the transmitter caps are the same size and threaded in the same way or not.

I also suspect that someone before me broke the receiver cap, bought a replacement F handset cap and put it on the receiver end. On closer inspection the undamaged cap doesn't screw all the way down, there's a little less than 1/8 inch gap, and it has a molded line around it that the broken and better fitting cap does not.

So in summary, does anyone know/have a better-educated guess about whether these transmitter caps were ever used in other more common phones? It does look suspiciously like a Galion in general, but I don't see many parts for those either at the moment. Alternatively, are any other transmitter caps for other phones likely to be a better fit than an f-1, for temporary use while I wait however long for the right parts to become available?  :-\

Mark Stevens

I won't be able to get to it until tomorrow, but if you haven't gotten it figured out by then I'll pull a similar phone from my archives and see if we can get yours sorted out.

mienaichizu


arsenicsauce


McHeath

Hi and welcome to the forum.  I know totally nothing about these phones, so I'm a big help.   ;D  But I'm sure that someone here knows every fact ever known about these phones.

Dennis Markham

Welcome to the forum from me as well.  After reading your post I checked both of my North Electric "Galion" phones.  I don't see a designation for the transmitter caps other than both are marked inside H-307.  On one phone the handset is dated 1960 and the other 1948.  Both appear identical and look like the one in your photo.  I put an F1 grooved cap on the Galion phone handset and it fit very well and screwed down tightly.  So I would conclude that they are interchangeable but obviously not the right cap.  I'll attach a couple photos showing the two caps.  The cap on the right is the F1 grooved cap.

I don't know where you'd get one except to watch for parts on eBay or check with www.oldphoneworks.com to see if they might have that cap.

Dennis


Perry

My "Galion" phone has caps that are similar to the transmitter cap on yours (and Dennis'). These have no grooves, like the F caps have. The transmitter cap is marked H-306, and the receiver cap is marked H-307. I had never noticed before, but the transmitter element is an F1, seemingly the same as the Western Electric model. To answer your other question, the transmitter element fits loosely, and is only held in place by screwing on the cap.

arsenicsauce

#7
Wow, interesting stuff. I went looking for better pictures of galion phones online and the handset looks the same alright, but neither cap on my phone is stamped h-307. The (probably) original receiver transmitter is marked 1 A, followed by what may be a half-worn off circle with a smaller capital I in the center. I'm not sure if this means it's a different piece or if it only means it was specially produced for the army or what. Someone has very lightly scratched with a pin "h 145" on the opposite side of it, but I'd guess that's not relevant. I'm not sure when the phone was made, the numbers 51 and 52 seemed to stand out when I opened the phone up but there don't seem to be any dates on the handset I can see, except for the transmitter element which says 1-55 (and TI, of course).

The F-1 cap definitely does not fit on mine my receiver, I've included pictures of it screwed on as tightly as I could get it. However if Dennis can make it fit I am wondering if that's a different problem. The part underneath, which is stuck or maybe glued so tightly in that I can't remove it, does look newer to me than the rest of the phone, though it's worn a bit. If it's the wrong piece, maybe it's stopping the cap from screwing all the way down? Which would be bad, because if the original transmitter reciever cap looks like the one Dennis photographed, I bet it would have the same problem.

I eventually found separate Connecticut ti-86 transmitter and receiver caps on oldphoneworks, though only the whole handset was listed in the "handsets" section where I was looking before- if I can't find anything better I may hedge my bets for now with an f-1 and a Connecticut, the latter look suspiciously similar to what I have when removed from the phone, and shipping costs will eat up the benefit of ordering only one or the other if I'm wrong and it completely doesn't fit.

The transmitter and transmitter receiver element? and receiver cap (the f-1): http://i39.tinypic.com/2nr0yab.jpg
http://i42.tinypic.com/530ldk.jpg
http://i44.tinypic.com/24oojgw.jpg

The marks on the receiver transmitter cap (the probably original one):
http://i40.tinypic.com/91iiqx.jpg
http://i42.tinypic.com/2vsra5i.jpg

To everyone who said welcome, and to people with help, thank you!

Dennis Markham

Your photo labeled "transmitter and transmitter cap" looks to me like that is a U1 receiver piece, not a T1 transmitter.  Both of those would be modules designed for the model 500 handset (the "G" series handset) and are probably something someone added.  That is definitely a receiver element, not a transmitter.  My Galion also has F type handset elements.  That explains why it rattles when shaken (yours) as it is not the right element for the handset.

arsenicsauce

#9
Whoops, I mislabled those ones. It is the receiver as I understand it., the earpiece. It doesn't rattle, it's very tightly stuck.

Edit: oh dear, I see I completely switched terms through my post. Sorry, I just got home from work.

Dennis Markham

Did you mention that the T1 was loose inside the cavity??

arsenicsauce

It is! I may just have my terms mixed up. The top part/receiver/earpiece is the f-1, with the silver part photographed above wedged into it. The bottom/transmitter/mouthpiece part, which I photographed open in the very first set of photos in this thread, is the one that is broken, and the one that has a transmitter labeled T1 in it- that part is not stuck in at all, it just sits on top of the contact points and rattles around when the cap is screwed on. If it would help I could take some more pictures of it in a moment.

bingster

Regarding your grooved cap, there were reproductions made of those, and the fit isn't at all what it should be.  I have one, and it won't screw down completely even on an F1.  You may have one of these newer caps.
= DARRIN =



benhutcherson

I'm not at all familiar with the phone you have.

You mention, though, that the transmitter seems to be missing a piece to hold it in place, and that it "rattles".

I would suspect that, rather than a T1, it should be fitted with an F1 transmitter. The F1 transmitters are considerably larger.


Dennis Markham

Excellent photo Ben, that's the point I was trying to make.  It sounds like the T1 was put in there and it should be an F1 transmitter.  Unless it had one of those conversion cups like in the 5302 models.