What have I got here? A London Hotel phone

[RB]

Does anyone have info on a Federal Telephone & Radio Co
Model FTR 804 CW?
I bought it hopin it was a LB set, but appears to be CB???
Any info would be great.
Thank you.

[Victor Laszlo]

A photo would help. Does the phone have a magneto?  Does it have a circuit label inside?

A quick Google search yields 5 or 6 hits for that description of phone. Have you tried to research the model number on, say, Bob's Old Phones website?   (www.telephonecollecting.org)

[Jack Ryan]

The FTR 804 is a LB telephone

The CW variant is the standard model with a Federal ringer. The BA variant has a B1AL ringer.

http://telephonecollecting.org/federal804.html

http://www.telephonecollectors.info/index.php/wiring-diagrams/doc_view/12000-c41-107-i1-may46-magneto-stations-federal-ftr-804ba-and-ftr-804cw-telephone-sets-ocr-op-r

Jack

[Jack Ryan]

Why would it be a London hotel phone?

It is more likely something Russell Crowe would throw.

Jack

[RB]

Hi All.
Thanks for the replies!
Yes, it does have a mag.
and the first pdf on google, looks like mine.
The reason I thot it was a CB phone, was due to the 20 ohm readings I am getting across 2 leads on the coil.
across the other two, I get .195K ohms.
According to my documentation, "all obtained from on line searches", a LB coil shud read 1-40 primary, and 10 - 40 each secondary.
for a CB, 20 ohms each...
If it is a LB phone, whoopie! i have what I need to make the op set for my switchboard!
Jack, I was told by the seller, it was a london hotel phone. "could be london any state US, for all I know...
It came mounted on a solid brass pedestal, painted white. I am gonna strip it down, and see if I can polish it up again, love brass!
Do any of you reuse old condensers? I plan to replace them, as old caps leak/fail.

[unbeldi]

The standard model as issued from Federal was the 804A, actually.

The BA and CW varieties were those when the set was used in the Bell System at the conclusion of WWII.  There were actually BSPs for the use of these sets in the Bell System.  This use was short-lived.


The only winding of an induction coil that has a somewhat typical resistance, is the primary winding of local battery circuits.  The primary winding is usually designated as the one that is connected to the transmitter.  Since in a local battery set this transmitter circuit contains a two or three-cell battery, it is important to not waste energy by extra high resistances in that circuit.  Therefore the transmitter coil often has a DC resistance that is almost insignificant compared to that of the transmitter, only a couple ohms, it could be as low a 1 Ω.

But the other windings can range quite a bit in resistance, depending on the design of the circuit.   The FTR 804 used an anti-sidetone circuit and had three windings, and with that a variety of line-impedance matching components, resistors and capacitors.

Here is a table of the most important Western Electric local battery induction coils, the No. 13 (sidetone),  and the anti-sidetone coils 113, and 104A.

[Jack Ryan]

The standard model as issued from Federal was the 804A, actually.

The BA and CW varieties were those when the set was used in the Bell System at the conclusion of WWII.  There were actually BSPs for the use of these sets in the Bell System.  This use was short-lived.

Yes, I didn't word that very well at all. I posted the Federal standard phone and the Bell versions. Of the Bell versions, the CW model had the standard Federal ringer.

Jack

[Jack Ryan]

Jack, I was told by the seller, it was a london hotel phone. "could be london any state US, for all I know...

Sellers, especially eBay sellers, call anything metal - particularly wall phones. Very few phones were officially described as "hotel phones" - the WE 130 with 1131-J subset was one.

It came mounted on a solid brass pedestal, painted white. I am gonna strip it down, and see if I can polish it up again, love brass!

Not sure what that is but it sounds Indian.

Do any of you reuse old condensers? I plan to replace them, as old caps leak/fail.

I use the original capacitors because they nearly always work although not quite as they did originally. There are exceptions - some leak and make a mess. Quite a few Stromberg Carlson capacitors failed; often in service (ages ago). I would try to replace those with something original or something that might have been used for repair at the time.

Jack

[RB]

Thanks again, Guys,  for your willingness to share your wisdom!!!
I hope to get the 4 line jacks installed this weekend.
This Federal phone will be sacrifised to become the op set.
I hear bells...is that a call coming in???
we will find out Soon! 

[unbeldi]

Thanks again, Guys,  for your willingness to share your wisdom!!!
I hope to get the 4 line jacks installed this weekend.
This Federal phone will be sacrifised to become the op set.
I hear bells...is that a call coming in???
we will find out Soon! 

I saw that you placed a hand generator into that box you built, so why would you use a set with another generator as your operator station ?
I would just use a head set telephone and place an induction coil in to the box too, or not place the magneto into the box.

[RB]

My Bad... I am gonna do just as you said...strip out the coil, and the handset, and install just those into the box as the op set.
the board is able to ring both answer, as well as the called line, the mag is independent of the of the op set.
I thot about just usin the phone next to the switchboard, but space makes me put it inside. "less to mess with too".
Sorry about any confusion I caused with my poor wording, I am no linguist. and it usually takes a couple trys to convey my ideas.
If I could always get the words to come out like they sound in my head...I would not have to work for a living. lol.