Yeah, saw this, and thought, I want to see what's inside this one too... ::)
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/330680188398 ( dead link 02-09-22 )
It's a "ProTelX" PTX1970 phone, most likely the brother of the Steepletone, just ever so slightly different, from what I've seen, the handsets actually have RJ10 modular sockets, and the dial, which lacks the "Rotarepo" over the 0, but the dial shape looks right compared to a WE500, but, it's styled to look like a GPO dial in colour and appearance (especially with the dial label in the middle there!!!).... :D
So, another one to dismantle and document, probably will be the same sort of hardware inside, but it's worth a look to see another example of the last of the rotary phones... :)
As to whether I can make it work (seeing as the description is that it can't dial out), I don't know... :D
AGAIN :o
You do know curiosity killed the cat, right?
Quote from: HarrySmith on February 06, 2012, 04:24:14 PM
AGAIN :o
You do know curiosity killed the cat, right?
Yep, again... :D
And our three cats are still alive, and they're nosey little so & so's.... :D
Just keep on ;D
Saves me a lot. And I don't have more than a few of my 9 lives left.
dsk
Quote from: d_s_k on February 07, 2012, 04:30:05 AM
Just keep on ;D
Saves me a lot. And I don't have more than a few of my 9 lives left.
dsk
I think this one will be the last, the only other 500 replicas I've seen have those push-button "rotary" dials, and I just recently dismantled a phone with one of them, and it was utter word that rhymes with Trap... :D
Not sure what I'll do with this one though, just have to wait and see when it arrives... ???
;D
I have got this:
(http://tinyurl.com/6plg8bl)(http://tinyurl.com/6qcqlhw).
And some parts from some other telephones. Seems like people finds it ok.
I don't like this metal look, but I'm not sure I may paint it to look well.
Not much to loose ;) so time will show. Actually I have no need for this at all ;D So we are in the same boat, I guess :D
dsk
At least that phone looks like something else, the one I dismantled I'm not sure what it was meant to look like, cos it kind of looks like a 202 base with something from another phone for the hookswitch, and the handset, er, yeah..... :o
Cool, another inside look at one of these final Chinese copies of rotary phones. It's interesting that they have moved to making the dial actually rotate and functional, instead of merely a decorative touch like on my Crosley 500 replica. Mine was made in 2003, and it seems that these units are newer. The faux rotary dial with pushbuttons in the holes goes all the way back to the late 70's as I recall, but I like these actual working dials better.
I keep an eye out for these rotary replicas here but never find one for a reasonable price. Reasonable being something like 15 dollars.
Yeah, I think here in the UK, the first "rotary" push-button phone was the BT Genie, BT's answer to the Princess (though they probably imported the design from somewhere else!!), at least the copies of those look "right" cos they were always push-button... :D
http://telephonesuk.co.uk/phones_1980on.htm#Genie
I too only look at the ones that are reasonably priced (cheap copies should be just that, cheap!!), that's why I got the Steepletone (now rehomed and well-received!!) and this ProTelX, cos they were cheap, and I'm a cheapskate... :D
To be honest, I'm expecting it to be very much like the Steepletone, I just know the bell will be the same, the electronics will be similar, and it'll have weights in there too to make it feel about the same as a real 500, though after dismantling and cleaning, I won't really know what to do with it... :D
Well if there wasn't an ocean and continent between us I'd drive over and give you a few bucks for it! Throw in a burger and fries for lunch as a bonus. ;D
You speculated that my Crosley replica was perhaps made in the same factory and I would not be surprised at all if it was. They've gone and upped the ante though with these real moving rotary dials. The Crosleys were somewhat popular here in the early and mid 00's, saw them new in our local stores like Target and such. Not anymore, they seem to have all vaporized and only cordless home phones are in the stores now. Except for Radio Shack and our local hardware store, which have started carrying the old AT&T Trimlines again, the 210 model that is basically the original 1965 model with some updates. Bought one recently on whim, 10 dollars out the door, black, the fidelity to the original models handset is remarkable for a 46 year old design. Made in China of course, and snapped together so I did not try to get into it.
hehe, I'm sure if you got yourself an Amphicar, you could try and sail over... :D
There are actually a couple of other ProTelX phones on ebay right now, apparently the same model as what I bought, but they have push-button dials, and look slightly different, not entirely sure how that works, but it's imported produce... ???
Some replica phones look pretty accurate, the Trimphones sold here as Steepletone models look pretty accurate (aside from the garish colours), both rotary and pushbutton, even the dial fingerplates have a similar lilac-colour to them, and there's the Geemarc GPO 746 and 782 replicas, the 746 "Mayfair" is a pushbutton, but looks close, and the 782 "Park Lane" is pretty much spot on in looks, never seen one on the inside, but being a replica, I doubt it has the proper ringer, or electronics, but then again, people wanting that retro look never really care what's under the cover, just that it looks cool and vintage... :-\
Still, we know better, can't beat the originals, it's like remakes of TV shows and movies, the originals are always better, like 1966 Star Trek and the 2009 Star Trek movie, the original series was unbeatable, even with all it's cheese... :D
Well, I've got it, and, it's awful!!! It makes the Steepletone look like a quality reproduction, it's just ultra-cheap with extra cheap thrown in!!! :o
I wouldn't even give it to a kid to use as a toy, it's just terrible, all that hot glue and thin plastic, I feel embarrassed to have bought it now, and just wait 'til you see how the dial works, it gave me a surprise, that's for sure, and not a good one either..... :o
Quote from: twocvbloke on February 08, 2012, 10:30:50 PM
hehe, I'm sure if you got yourself an Amphicar, you could try and sail over... :D
Trans-Atlantic repositioning cruises are always a steal as well. $800 to $1000 each way for 14 days or more. You'd have to kill a few months between the cruise over and back again but picking up a Rotarepo or equivilent would make it all worth while!
Terry
Right, here's another clone-o-phone, as titled... :D
This one seems to have multiple personalities, cos it's a ProTelX phone, and it's a "Paramount Collection" phone too, the latter model being "1950TN", but either way, it's awful, it makes the Steepletone look like a quality reproduction... :o
There's no "Rotarepo" dial surround, it looks more like a GPO phone's dial, but based on a Western Electric dial's shape. The handset is a 2-piece affair, the caps are joined together via the middle of the handset, so comes apart like a GPO Handset 16, and has the same sort of microphone and earpiece as the Steepletone...
The plastic as usual is thin and flimsy, but a lot flimsier than the Steepletone, and the case design is different, so they can't have been made by the same manufacturer, or at the very least, with the same tooling. The dial surround is part of the main case, it's not removable, and the GPO-styled dial label is infact a hard plastic piece which is glued in place and not removable (at least, not without force!!)...
The electronics are sloppy, and I mean sloppy, they make a sloppy joe look like fine cuisine!!! There's hot glue everywhere, there's cut wires without insulation, there's a stray PCB thing which could short out on the bell or the base, the wires to the dial are too short so almost got ripped out when I pulled the phone apart, and, well, it's just utter poo!!! ::)
The best quality part of this phone is the handset cord, and it's nothing fancy, just goes to show what the rest of the phone is like... :o
The phone also appears to have been in a charity shop at some point, the label I think is a YMCA one (try not to think of the song!!), I think the prev. owner overpaid, but at least the money went to a good cause... :)
Anyway, on with the show!!! :D
(it'll be 4 further posts after this one, so give me time to type and upload pics!!!)
So, the case, well, it looks like a WE500 in shape, but, it certainly doesn't feel like one, it's too flexible and too light, and there's no print round the dial (as pictured above)...
The hookswitch again is attached to the case, but in a different arrangement to the Steepletone, this one feels a bit nicer to work with, but that flimsy plastic is bound to fracture with a lot of use... ::)
On the inside, you can see the, erm, "quality" of the workmanship, and the slab of whatever metal that is to add weight to the phone... :o
The handset, it too is pretty flimsy, I'd be surprised if they stood the test of time like a genuine G-type & it's counterparts have, the screw holes were covered with some sticky foam pad things, rather than plastic caps... ???
At least if comes with standard RJ10 sockets on the base & handset, so that you can have a shorter or longer cable, unlike the steepletone which had a fixed-cable which was pretty tight to stretch... :-\
And last but not least, the dial, which also uses light switching, only, it uses a completely redneck way of doing it compared to the Steepletone's 4x IR lights & IR Receivers and the dial wheel with different notches cut out, this one uses white LEDs and LDRs with a lone hole in the wheel on the back of the dial, yes, LDRs, like what you'd use on an automatic nightlight to switch on in the dark and off in the light......... :o
The dial is also held in by 1 screw and a craptonne of hot glue... ::)
So there you have it, another of the last rotary phones, and to be honest, it's just plain awful, the Steepletone had more going for it than this one... :o
I apologise for the poor quality of the pictures, I used my phone, ironically, to take them, cos my camera's gone on holiday on it's own, either that or I've lost it... :D
I had a toy Trimphone when I was 5 that was better built than that lot...
hehe, I bet Steepletone Trimphones are better quality than this one too... :D
I thought I'd do a strength test on the handset earlier, and that thing is pretty flexible, I could twist it pretty easily, compare that to the handsets from both my 500s and the G-type handset in my 286A which do not twist at all... :D
I'm not hooking it up to the phoneline at all, I don't like the wiring at all so don't want to risk damaging the line by hooking it up... :P