AECo 80E & Phones built on the 80E Platform

[paul-f]

Thanks for the LONG and informative post GG!

I found the 1975 catalog here:

http://www.telephonecollectors.info/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_details&gid=4548&Itemid=2

Does anyone have a link to an electronic copy of the 1973 catalog? (AE Section M)

[AE_Collector]

Thanks for all the info on the 85 and 85E series phones. There is and has been a lot of confusion about different button arrangements on them. We really never used any of them here in BC. We "cut the crap" and used an AE 87 or 187 instead of the 85/85E's.

The 80E (and probably the 85E) appeared some time in 1975. I have never seen any earlier than that other than 80E looking phones with metal bases which are not 80E's but either the pretty rare 80TC (Touch Call - AE's terminology for TT Touch Tone) OR are updated 80 rotary sets with newer 80E type cases put on them in refurb.

Terry

[GG]

Thanks y'all.  Yes, the 85s A through E can be confusing, but that's because they're so flexible: the basic switching keys can be used for any of a number of functions.

I also used 87s extensively back in the day, because they were a simple solution to most of the relevant applications, and frankly also because SaskTel surplus was available down here in the US at good prices compared to buying whatever flavor of type 85 new.   

However a telco with a decent subscriber base would be buying all of this stuff new, so the 85s were cost-effective especially on long time-scales. 

How to tell early 80-Es from later ones:   

On the later ones you'll notice that each baseplate foot consists of a plastic "dome" with a small rubberized insert.  On the early ones, there is no "dome" and the rubberized insert is about the same diameter (large) as the "dome" on the later ones. 

A phone with an 80-E housing (rotary w. faceplate or touch calling w/ changeable facemats) but a metal baseplate, is not a "real" 80-E, it's a "5302-ish" 80-E that had a new 80E housing put on an old 80 base. 

80-E could have been "perfect" if they'd done a few things differently:

One, put the rotary dial numbers on the numberplate below the fingerwheel, so they don't have to appear on special printed facemats.   This would have left room for PABX instructions and would have accommodated colored facemats without leading to the problem of messed-up facemats that we see so often. 

Two, made the dial mounting brackets stronger.  The dials "wiggle" while dialing or pressing keys.  I have a way of fixing this ("Contact" translucent "shelf paper" self-adhesive plastic on both sides of the paper facemat; cut the dial hole just a teeny bit "small" and it holds the dial in place, no wiggling) but AE should have used stronger brackets anyway so the dials don't wiggle in the first place.

Three, stuck with the late 60s - early 70s dial fingerwheel on a metal "spider", rather than the "screw through the plastic" design.  For the touch calling version, adopted the same number retainer design as used by WE et. al.  Alternately, use the touch calling type number label on the rotary phones also, in the space freed up by having the numbering under the fingerwheel. 

Hookswitches mounted directly to network circuit boards became "acceptable" after GPO/BT did that with the 746 and German Post did it with the 611, so I can't particularly complain about that, though a separate hookswitch mounted to the base is stronger. 

None the less, it's still a world better than most of the crappy disposable stuff being made today, and it's a very real part of the history in the US.  And the audio quality of AE 80 and 80-E phones is crisp and clear in both directions, with a good sidetone level.  Looking around my place, I use AE extensively because the audio is good and the functions on the self-contained multi-line sets (40-series, 85s, 87s, and 187s) are useful. 

[GG]

Someone in this topic said they wanted one of the "calculator phones" based on the 80-E platform.

Here's one on Ebay:  270828518195   Location is UK but it's listed for both UK and US so presumably they'll ship to here. 

Buy-It-Now for 10 Pounds UK, approx. 15 Dollars US. 

Unit has USA modular plug.  Power supply transformer leads are cut off so it may be difficult to tell what voltage and polarity of power supply are needed.  However hang on to it as a display model and sooner or later the needed info will turn up.   

It's possible that one of the stickers on the bottom, or some writing on the printed circuit board inside, will have something to say about the correct power supply to use.

[AE_Collector]

That is yet another variation that I hadn't seen before. There sure were a lot of them. I have 2 or 3 variations now.

Terry

[GG]

Back in the 70s there was a book titled _The Future of Telecommunications_ that predicted, among other things, that we would all have a little card-file full of overlays for our touchtone dials, whereby we would dial up certain services and put the right overlay on, and access various computerized voice-response services.  For example calling up our banks or credit unions, and getting balance information, and issuing payments, and so on.   

One of these was a calculator overlay.  Either, one of the buttons served as a "shift" button, or this idea was counting on universal adoption of 16-button dials.

The idea was that in the 21st century, everyone's touchtone phone would be a form of computer terminal.   And you could also write a letter on a teletype, have it printed at the post office nearest its destination, and have it delivered to the recipient the same or next day.   

That book also predicted computer hacking for theft, in the form of skimming a fractional cent off each transaction going through a bank's mainframe computers, and thereby accumulating a bank robber's fortune made up of millions or billions of fractional cents. 

[AE_Collector]

It is funny looking back on things like that. They usually got quite a bit of it correct but missed on other aspects. Sort of like the ulta high tech things on Star Treks Enterprise including the CRT monitors....

Terry

[cch123]

Here is a Superphone 7800 That I found at a closing electronic shop this week.  I have the users manual and will post it soon.

[AE_Collector]

Another great example of phones built on the AE 80E chassis. This one looks like it might be a 2 line with the two red buttons up at the cradle.

Thanks for posting it CCH123.  Good searching on the forum to find this thread too....I didn't give you much to go on!

Terry

[AE_Collector]

Posted by cch123 in the August 2013 "Find of the Month" topic and copied to here:

The Superphone 7800

Aah, another of the 80E platform phones. Search 80E on here and you should find a multipage discussion about them! Welcome to CRPF !

Give us a bit more info such as where you found it and how much etc.

Terry

Thanks for the info on the 80E!  There is a local electronic shop here in Huntsville, AL that is going out of business.  I saw a glimpse of this phone on a local news cast about Mock Electronics going out of business sale and decided I better be there early because I knew hundreds of people would be waiting in line for it   Anyways I get there the next morning and they were close (not open on Saturday).  I went back on monday and picked it up for $10.  There are 2 more still there.  I may go back and pick them up just to save them from the thrift store or where ever they end up after the place closes.  They are all NOS and I have the manual.  I'll scan the manual and post it.

[AE_Collector]

Aahhh....Huntsville Alabama. You know what the significance of Huntsville and this phone are....AE had a plant in Huntsville that manufactured the 80E and other newer AECo phones.

Is there anything indicating who actually made this phone? I don't know of AE actually making any of these "Super Duper 80E's" themselves but I guess it is possible.

While these phones aren't generally worth much, for $10 new in the box I would go back and get them....but then, I am AE_Collector!

Terry

[cch123]

Here are some more picts..