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Anyone know what this AE? Item is on ebaY?

Started by AE_Collector, October 05, 2011, 02:38:07 PM

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AE_Collector

Anyone have any ideas what this AE item is? They want a few bucks for it. $328.50 US$ starting price.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/320766817240

Terry

LarryInMichigan

It looks very interesting, but I have no idea what it is.  It is also interesting that the finger stop is in a different position than the usual AE dials.  I have recently seen a number of dial plates which look like AE but have notches closer to the '1' like this dial appears to have.  I have been wondering what type of dial used them.

Larry

LarryInMichigan

I just noticed that this item is listed under Home & Garden > Inside the Home > Bedding > Blankets.  The plot thickens :)

Larry

jsowers

#3
It may be something that selects radio stations, like an early remote control. KNX and KFI are radio stations in the Los Angeles area. Or as they said it back then, "Lows Angle-less." Jorge may recognize others, but those two I know from listening to OTR shows.

And the knob under the dial is probably the volume control.
Jonathan

JorgeAmely

I think it could have been some sort of a line tester. It has a switch, a potentiometer (made by Allen Bradley) and a small light bulb inside. So it is plausible that this gadget was used for testing phone lines by adding line resistance with the potentiometer and checking how well the line performed with this extra impedance in series. It could have been used for lab testing purposes that later led AE to introduce the potentiometer in the AE80 series.

Yes, those are radio stations in the Los Angeles area. My 2 cents. 
Jorge

rdelius

I also think it was a radio remote control or it controlled a switch to monitor different audio sources.Case too nice for industral uses.
Robby

Greg G.

#6
Quote from: rdelius on October 05, 2011, 08:40:22 PM
I also think it was a radio remote control or it controlled a switch to monitor different audio sources.Case too nice for industral uses.
Robby

Kinda goes with what the seller says.  Somebody who had a need to monitor radio stations.  By dialing the correct number, they would tune it to that radio station?  Interesting gadget.

QuoteDescription
                      This one sat on the desk of someone very important!

It is from a direct inward dial system which pre-dated the Bell system dialing system. I say this because bell bought AEco for their dialing rights.

I also say that this particular unit belonged to someone very important because the dial numbers indicate a direct  connection to every major radio station in Los Angeles between 1201 and 1951 along with other 3's too.

So the question is whetere this unit belonged to an editor of a major publication or a mayoe of La. Perhaps you might know the answer. Do you want this one for your collection.

Please email any questions.
The idea that a four-year degree is the only path to worthwhile knowledge is insane.
- Mike Row
e

AE_Collector

#7
Quote from: Brinybay on October 06, 2011, 12:59:59 AM
connection to every major radio station in Los Angeles between 1201 and 1951

well this blows away the 1803 field phone on here earlier today.

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=5523.msg67171;topicseen#new

Apparently they had radio stations in LA in the year 1201!

Is that correct Jorge :)

Terry

wds

No one bought it at the old price, so the seller relisted and raised the price - $415!
Dave

JorgeAmely

Quote from: AE_collector on October 06, 2011, 01:31:09 AM
Quote from: Brinybay on October 06, 2011, 12:59:59 AM
connection to every major radio station in Los Angeles between 1201 and 1951

well this blows away the 1803 field phone on here earlier today.

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=5523.msg67171;topicseen#new

Apparently they had radio stations in LA in the year 1201!

Is that correct Jorge :)

Correct. Only Indians lived in Los Angeles in 1201.

Terry
Jorge

GG


So Bell bought AEco for their dialing rights?  Quick, revise all the history books!  (Methinks the seller was thinking about Bell buying out some independent telcos.  Or seller is practicing at writing a novel, starting with a few fictional vignettes:-)

In the 1960s - 1970s there was a home audio system with remote control (frequently advertised in the NY Times Magazine Section, and I think the brand may have been something like Bolton).  From the ads, it was apparently rather expensive and custom-installed, marketed to wealthy households, and probably most commonly used for playing music throughout the house while entertaining guests. 

This system had a control box with an AE dial that was basically a 51-A dial but the fingerstop was in the same position as the one in your picture.  There were other pushbuttons on the box as well.  Speakers were typically installed in the ceiling, like paging speakers (which is what makes me think it was often used in house parties).  That's all I remember about this system. 

The great utility of something like this, is that the owners could remotely dial in their various selections for music from any room with a control box, changing the music to suit the intended mood of a party or dinner occasion, without having to go run around to another room and change records on record players every half hour or so.  I have to believe it came with something like a juke box to automatically select and change records as well as radio stations, since the intended clientele would be looking for uninterrupted music of their own choosing, rather than depending on a radio station's play list and the interruptions for commercials.  (Think of inviting the Board of Directors of your company over for dinner: you don't want a nice classical concert or jazz performance to segue into an ad that might be screechy and inappropriate for the audience.)

Wallphone

That is the dial that takes the infamous dial plates that has the notch in the middle. The person that won this auction < http://tinyurl.com/67vzbmo > must have a lot of dials like that. Or more than likely he didn't know what he was buying but knows for sure that he got one heck of a deal on them. ;D Later he will know for sure that he can't use them for anything except skeet shooting. >:(
Doug Pav

AE_Collector