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French SOCOTEL S63

Started by LarryInMichigan, March 08, 2013, 09:44:41 AM

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LarryInMichigan

Yesterday, I finally reassembled my gray S63 (ebay link). ( dead link 06-16-21 )   

I bought it a few weeks ago for a total of under $11, but it was severely discolored.  It took a couple of weeks to bleach it because there has been so little sunshine here in southeastern Michigan.  It is finally gray again, though the color is now slightly paler than the original.  I don't know if I over-bleached it, or if it was just not possible to bring back the exact color.  At any rate, the phone looks nice now.  This was likely the most discolored phone I have ever bought.

This is a SOCOTEL model S63, made in early 1980, so it is not quite an antique.  It does work properly.  The sound from the receiver is much louder than any other phone that I have, but the sidetone is not bad.  There is an adjustment for something inside, but moving it did not seem to make any difference.  This phone does not have an extra receiver like nearly all othe S63s that I have seen online, but I did not notice any evidence of one having been present in the past, so perhaps some of these were shipped without them.  No phone number was ever written on the dial number card, but there was a small sticker by the cradle with a North American style seven-digit phone number written with a pen, so I wonder if this phone may have left France for the USA without ever having been in service there.  This is my third French phone.  I already have a PTT24 and a U43.

Larry


LarryInMichigan

Here is a picture of the unusual ringer and some 'before' pictures.


wds

Thats pretty amazing.  I would never have guessed that was a grey phone from looking at the original picutres.  I would have guessed it to be a two tone, or a mix of left over parts.  Really looks nice.
Dave

LarryInMichigan

The gray in the cradle area gave away its true color.  The phone is actually a three-tone.  The dial bezel an handset are much darker than the shell, but they are not the same shade.  The bezel is darker than the handset.  It seems that using complementary shades of the same color was common on French, British, and some other European phones.

Larry

Dennis Markham

Beautiful job, Larry.  You brought it back to life.  Congratulations!

Nick in Manitou

The result is a very nice looking phone! (Never woulda' guessed!)

Excellent work.

Doug Rose

WOW!!!! Home run Larry.....Doug
Kidphone

Mr. Bones

Very cool phone, Larry, and a beautiful job of restoring the colors!

How refreshing to see such styling, in a phone from the early '80's...

I hope you enjoy using, and displaying this great find!

Best regards!
Sláinte!
   Mr. Bones
      Rubricollis Ferus

gpo706

Nice work Larry. I got exactly the same set, but its not so discoloured, and has the "mother-in-law" receiver on the back.

I had to buy a French to UK adapter for the plug, but the RX is very low, so it's been sitting on the shelf for years!

Classic design though.
"now this should take five minutes, where's me screwdriver went now..?"

LarryInMichigan

Thank you, everyone, for the comments.  I believe that this phone was originally designed in 1963, and that is the reason that the model is S63.  It certainly has a classic design with a European influence.  People in France would probably laugh about this because these phones are so common there, but they seldom appear for sale on this side of the ocean.

Regarding the volume from the receiver, I was wondering if the reason that mine is so loud is the absence of the extra receiver.  I was thinking about adding a resistor in parallel with the receiver to divert the current that the extra receiver would have used.  Gp0706's phone might have the opposite problem.  The extra receiver might be diverting too much current.  I would suggest disconnecting the extra receiver to see if the sound level from the handset is improved.

Larry

AE_Collector

Hey Jorge:

Do the before pictures look familiar at all to you!

Terry

twocvbloke

I wouldn't mind getting one of these Socotel phones, there's plenty to choose from (and one destroyed by a lamp-maker), and from the youtube videos I've looked at of them, they sound like a WE500 when they ring, which is odd, but intriguing to say the least... :D

LM Ericsson

I have a clip of one of mine ringing. It has the WE500 sounding ringer.  http://tinyurl.com/aenlnrh
Regards,
-Grayson

gpo706

Quote from: LarryInMichigan on March 09, 2013, 08:38:31 PM


Regarding the volume from the receiver, I was wondering if the reason that mine is so loud is the absence of the extra receiver.  I was thinking about adding a resistor in parallel with the receiver to divert the current that the extra receiver would have used.  Gp0706's phone might have the opposite problem.  The extra receiver might be diverting too much current.  I would suggest disconnecting the extra receiver to see if the sound level from the handset is improved.

Larry

Hi Larry might give that a go mate, cheers.
"now this should take five minutes, where's me screwdriver went now..?"

LarryInMichigan

I just got my second S63: ebay link.  I had been wanting one in this color.  It took quite a while to arrive from Bulgaria, but much of that time was spent at my local post office.  The USPS tracking site claimed that they tried to deliver it last Saturday and left a notice at 6:15 PM, which they did not, and then there was no mail delivery at all here Mon-Wed this week.  When I saw that there was mail in my box this afternoon, but no package, I went down the street to ask the letter carrier if he had my package.  He replied that it was in his truck, but he had locked his keys inside the truck, so I had to wait another hour or so until he finally delivered it.

The phone is in reasonably good condition, but it definitely needs some work.  The shell has some scratches and some significant discoloration in places, but no serious damage.  The bottom plate is missing a rear corner, so the cords are not properly held in place, so i will need to improvise some sort of repair.  The extra receiver works, but the housing is cracked, and the bracket to hold it on the rear of the phone is missing, so I will probably just disconnect it and do without it.  I expect to try the chlorine bleach and sunlight treatment when the warm weather returns several months from now.

Overall, it's not a bad project phone for a total of $21.

Below are some pictures from the ebay listing.

Larry