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Hello from New UK Member

Started by Hotline, September 12, 2017, 05:31:41 PM

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andy1702

Quote from: ThePillenwerfer on September 16, 2017, 12:59:30 PM
I don't suppose we ever will know for sure as even if we saw all the written records they would only tell us what was supposed to happen rather than what did in practise.  There may well have been a few freaks produced if the correct parts weren't available; these things are only cosmetic and perhaps it was thought better to use wrong parts than stop production.

The publicity shots could well have been taken before the design was finalised.

I've got a 746L (which must be quite rare as they came out in 1967 and All-Figure Dialling was introduced in 1968) that has 3D chevrons on an Antique Silver ground but I have no way of knowing if it's original.  As you say, privately manufactured 'phones muddy the waters further.

As for 706 cords, I have heard of a few having cloth-covered ones; not plaited but plain round like switchboard cords.

As Twocvbloke says, the very early cords were straight and cloth covered. Normally referred to as grebe cords.

That 746L sounds like it could possibly be a bit wrong. I've got a black one and seen a red one in a film produced by the GPO at the time. They both have the alphanumeric dial bezel, but the dial plate itself is a standard numeric one as fitted to all 746s. So I'm wondering if yours has been messed with? Unfortunately it's common for some of the so-called 'restoration specialists' to put repro dial bezels with the lettering onto phones that should never have had them. They also have a bad habbit of fitting coloured finger wheels to 746s. If you have a close look at the dial bezel you should find it is clear plastic with the printing actually on the back then the back painted the same colour as the phone to seal the letters in. It's the same unit they used on the earlier 706. However if your dial bezel is coloured plastic and the numbers / letters are printed on the surface and it clicks into the phone like plain bezels do on a 746, then it's a modern repro, probably made a week last Tuesday!

If it is indeed a genuine 746L you've got then you're lucky. As you rightly say, they are very rare. So rare I know people who worked for the GPO at the time who say they never existed, which I believed until I saw that film where the engineer takes one out of the back of his green Morris van. probably the rarest Uk phone of the plastic era would be a 746L in concorde blue. Finding a standard 706 or 746 that colour is hard enough!  ;D

I have nothing against people making reproductuon parts, but when they do I just wish they'd make the correct parts in the correct way.
Call me on C*net 0246 81 290 from the UK
or (+44) 246 81 290 from the rest of the world.

For telephone videos search Andys Shed on Youtube.

ThePillenwerfer

My 746L is marked 746L/AEG67/1.  The dial bezel is definitely right too.

I've seen a few on e-Bay when the bottom is shown revealing the official 746L mark.  There's a green one on at present that LOOKS pusser, it's the early-style body as well, but there's no picture of the base to confirm it.

andy1702

Have you taken the dial out and had a good look at it? AEG is one of the companys that made some strange things for private systems, so those 3d chevrons might just be right. I can't imagine the GPO would have accepted anything that wasn't exactly to the written spec though. Of course somewhere along the line the plate could have got damaged and replaced. There is also a chance it might not actually be a 746. I've got a very early ivory 706L with a dial 12 with numbers on the dial plate and stainless steel finger wheel. Dial bezel is back painted but only has figures, not letters! After some research, what we think happened was they suddenly had an order for  a load of phones to run off a private PAX, so they grabbed a few 706's off the production line, swapped the bezels for the private number only version and sold or rented them to whoever. Unfortunately the half finished phones they lifted off the line already had 706 stamped on the bottom! Oops!  :-[

Of course we'll never know for sure, which is why Hotline's phones, which have a tracable history, could be so important.
Call me on C*net 0246 81 290 from the UK
or (+44) 246 81 290 from the rest of the world.

For telephone videos search Andys Shed on Youtube.

.....

#18
Quote from: andy1702 on September 16, 2017, 05:24:46 AM
I don't think they were making 332s by 1965. Are you sure you don't mean 1956? If it is1965 then it's probably an earlier unit that has been reconditioned. The GPO did a lot of that.
I can only base the date on what my brother in law told me, because it came from his family home in Ireland.
I also think he seen the date between the bells. That is where I looked when it arrived here.
You would know better than me, being from the UK. Yes, it was refurbed in 1965 as it was stated in my original thread. I wonder what year this phone was really build.

ThePillenwerfer

I think you first need to establish in your own mind what constitutes the 'phone.  Least you think I've gone mad let me explain.

It was refurbished in 1965 at which time new or reconditioned parts would have been fitted.  How many original bits would have to remain for it to still be thought of as the same 'phone?  It's like Granddad's Hammer: it's had three new shafts and two new heads but it's still Granddad's Hammer.  There may be dates on the individual parts but there's no knowing if they started out in that 'phone.  Sometimes they have two: the date of manufacture and and FWR one when it was re-used.

Have a look at the oval recess in the handset.  If it's an early one the number at the top is the date, the illustration bellow is from 1936.  Latter ones will just have 164 XX, XX being the year.

.....

Quote from: ThePillenwerfer on September 17, 2017, 11:10:35 AM
I think you first need to establish in your own mind what constitutes the 'phone.  Least you think I've gone mad let me explain.

It was refurbished in 1965 at which time new or reconditioned parts would have been fitted.  How many original bits would have to remain for it to still be thought of as the same 'phone?  It's like Granddad's Hammer: it's had three new shafts and two new heads but it's still Granddad's Hammer.  There may be dates on the individual parts but there's no knowing if they started out in that 'phone.  Sometimes they have two: the date of manufacture and and FWR one when it was re-used.

Have a look at the oval recess in the handset.  If it's an early one the number at the top is the date, the illustration bellow is from 1936.  Latter ones will just have 164 XX, XX being the year.

Thanks for the information and the great way of explaining it. ( Granddad's hammer ) :)
I just went and checked the handset. It is oval with 164 52. So the rest of it could be 1952? Is there anywhere else I should be looking for dates besides between the bells?

ThePillenwerfer

Well the handset is certainly 1952.

There may be a date on the chassis underneath the black refurbishment label.  Sometimes the original dates were stamped into the metal and sometimes they were printed on.  In the latter case they'd have been removed when it was refurbished.  The capacitor (big silver cylinder) may have a date printed on it.

Hotline

#22
My 1959 706L is ivory, it has a type 12 dial with numbers only backplate, it has letters and numbers round the dial (as most GPO 706's do), it has a brown cloth line cord (I think it is a Grebe cord) with an ivory curly handset cord (the correct early heavy type of curly cord) and is 100% original, even down to the original 1959 receiver, microphone and even the dial card.

It is a GPO supplied phone and came from the original family so it has not been messed about with and I was very pleased to get it.

I will post some photos tomorrow (Monday).

Thanks for your interest!

TelePlay

Quote from: Hotline on September 17, 2017, 06:01:28 PM
My 1959 706L is ivory, it has a type 12 dial with numbers only backplate, it has letters and numbers round the dial (as most GPO 706's do), it has a brown cloth line cord (I think it is a Grebe cord) with an ivory curly handset cord (the correct early heavy type of curly cord) and is 100% original, even down to the original 1959 receiver, microphone and even the dial card.

Can you post a few pictures of the phone?

If you don't know how, send me a PM and I'll help you.

Hotline

Quote from: TelePlay on September 17, 2017, 06:07:53 PM
Can you post a few pictures of the phone?

If you don't know how, send me a PM and I'll help you.
Sure, I will post some photos tomorrow (Monday).

oldguy

Welcome Richard. I think you will enjoy it here. I don't know anything about British phones, but I am looking forward to your pictures.
Gary

Hotline

Gentlemen

Here are the photos of my 1959 706L, I will post these over 2 separate posts as I have several photos of the phone.

As mentioned previously I obtained a pair of these 1959 phones from the original family that owned them from new. They are both identical except that the one shown in these photos has the brown cloth line cord, the other one has a standard ivory cord.

I would be interested to hear your thoughts on this phone.

Thanks!


Hotline

Second batch of photos.


ThePillenwerfer


twocvbloke

Very nice indeed, you can see how much the Diakon holds its' shine and colour when compared to ABS, looks like new... :)