WE 634 subset reproduction cover?

[Alex G. Bell]

I doubt it. The 313A was the first gas-filled tube and those were still pretty big.  Perhaps the 426A would be a good fit, but that didn't exist until much later.
BTW, the earliest data sheet I have for the 313A is dated Sept. 1936: BSP AB46.595 Issue 1.
The conversion from relay to tube ringing is described in  BLR 3612 v15(4) p111 Stacy LJ--Vacuum Tube Improves Selective Ringing.   So this probably didn't take place until that year.

That would be for AT versions and the relay is a lot bigger so AR versions would be out of the question too.

It must have been a conscious choice to produce a limited function subset since relay subsets for 4-pty selective ringing go back to the wooden 297 type (that I know of).  I have never researched what the range of 334 variations was.

[unbeldi]

> I'll see if I can locate the "minty" (but not pastel green) 634A subset.It's just as beautiful an example as I remembered!  The only trouble is that it's a 534A.

Thanks for checking.
That probably also explains that it still has a decal as you reported.  Although the 1935 catalog still has pictures with decals on the boxes, I don't think that they used them actually.  I think by the late 1920s, the boxes had the company name punched into the metal.

Re: CA vs AT, the card catalog has no definitive 'replacement', but recommends the substitutions mentioned.

[unbeldi]

It must have been a conscious choice ...

Yes, someone must have been conscious still a year after the crash.

[Alex G. Bell]

Thanks for checking.
That probably also explains that it still has a decal as you reported.  Although the 1935 catalog still has pictures with decals on the boxes, I don't think that they used them actually.  I think by the late 1920s, the boxes had the company name punched into the metal.

Re: CA vs AT, the card catalog has no definitive 'replacement', but recommends the substitutions mentioned.

You're welcome.  I agree.  Your points left me no choice but to unbox it and inspect carefully. 

Indeed, no WE name stamped into the metal.  Apparently it was refurb'ed but probably pretty early:  the entire inside of the cover including the circuit label are painted over solid except for the "534A" at the bottom.  Most 634s I've seen the circuit label was just "X"ed over.

Some wear on the decal, with the black concentric borders worn away in places leaving gold in those places.

Black terminal board with white legends.  Removed it to inspect the capacitor whose code is on the front under the terminal board but there is no date anywhere.  Too bad they were not dating things yet.

Are the dates of the catalog cards for the AT and CA similar?  Otherwise that might explain the very different "replaced by" citations.

[Alex G. Bell]

Yes, someone must have been conscious still a year after the crash.

Although with their glacial pace the marketing requirements and design might well have been set before the crash occurred.

To complicate things a little more, a June 1941 C63.121 "Station Sets by Class of Service" lists 553AT and 534AT rather than AR as well as 653AT and 634AT for 4 pty Sel & 8 pty Semi-Sel as well as 306 sets.  For LBT/CBS service they list 553, 534, 653 and 634YT versions and n/a for combined sets (307s for non-Sel ringing).

In the sections which follow C63.233, 3/41 shows 553AR, 653AR/FR (manual/dial), 653AT.

They also show (C63.239, 3/41)  both the 653Y and 653BB (both LBT/CBS).  The latter uses a switchboard rather than telephone set induction coil, inherently designed to work with a local PBX battery supply to provide the induction coil function. 

So apparently there were both sidetone 5xx AT and AR versions and AST 6xx AT and AR versions.  I suppose the 5xxATs were retrofits.

[unbeldi]

Just when one thinks to have resolved something, something new pops up: 684AT.

The set is certainly not originally a factory product.  I believe it was assembled and stamp-marked as 684AT in 1955 when that induction coil was installed, probably with a 426 tube, which would certainly be small enough for the space available.    The marking appears stamped on top of a coat of paint likely covering the old marking.

Clearly the tube has been removed by now.

[Alex G. Bell]

Just when one thinks to have resolved something, something new pops up: 684AT.

The set is certainly not originally a factory product.  I believe it was assembled and stamp-marked as 684AT in 1955 when that induction coil was installed, probably with a 426 tube, which would certainly be small enough for the space available.    The marking appears stamped on top of a coat of paint likely covering the old marking.

Clearly the tube has been removed by now.

Sufficient forensic evidence though!  And with a modular cord too!

[Alex G. Bell]

Here is the circuit label from the 634CA