What sorts of reactions do you get?

[LarryInMichigan]

I am curious about what sorts of reactions those of use who have old phones on display in our homes or offices get when friends, neighbors, relatives, clients, etc. enter and see them.  I have a few phones in my living room, and the really old oak phone in my kitchen, and just about everyone who comes into my house makes some sort of remark.  Many have said things like "I haven't seen one of these since I was a child" or "My grandmother had a phone like that", or even "My grandparents had some phones like that, and we threw them away when they moved out".  Most people ask if the phones work, and some want to try them.  Some people dial my number with their mobile phone so that they can here the phones ring.  I had one visitor years ago (before ubiquitous mobile phones) who needed to make some calls from my house, and he insisted on using the old rotary phone.  Its always fun, but I suspect that some people think that I am crazy.

I am interested in hearing about other members' experiences, especially from those who have shelves full of phones.


Larry

[dsk]

  Ususally people finds it interesting.
I may be a little strange ??

4 years ago I had a young man, coming for something to fix on the ethernet, and he saw my old rotary at the office, and he had to ask about how to use it 

Now we have digital lines, and I cant use any old phones 

dsk

[JimH]

My mom recently got Comcast (cable) digital voice telephone (they were having a good deal).  I'd hooked up a "Country Junction" wall phone in her kitchen about 20 years ago (it is rotary).  Thinking she wouldn't be able to use her "storm phone" after the digital phone switch-over, I was surprised to find that it works on their system.  I do have a friend with AT&T digital that it does not work, though.

[keysys]

Some people don't notice at all.

A service person replacing the oil tank in my basement needed to call his headquarters, and I directed him  to the A. E. type 90 mounted on the wall above the washer/dryer.  He appeared very puzzled and told me that my phone was hung upside-down.

A plumber who was replacing the water heater was amazed to see the key system 1a2 KSU hanging on the wall next to the circuit breaker panel (along with its spaghetti-bowl of 25-pair cabling) and he actually knew what it was.  He asked if I was running a real estate office in the house, or if the KSU came from a real estate office.  I told him the truth: it was rescued from a college radio station studio which was undergoing renovation.

Gas company and water department personnel both recently replaced their meters in the same corner of the basement, and they didn't notice.

[Phonesrfun]

I have both a candlestick and a 202 on a bookshelf in my office.  Only one person has said anything.  That was the phone guy at the bank I work at.  Then I plugged it in and showed him I could call out on it through our bank network.  He just shook his head and said "I don't even want to know how you did that".

[JorgeAmely]

Bill:

I want to know how you connect an old rotary phone to a modern digital phone system, like those used by companies (banks, insurance companies, etc).

[LarryInMichigan]

You certainly cannot connect any analog phone directly to a digital PBX line, but there should be no problem connecting to an analog PBX.  The analog PBXs that I have seen use the center two wires, red and green, just like your home phone line, and the outer two wires are used for signalling.  If you connect any analog phone to the PBX, you can generally get a line when you pick up the handset and answer incoming calls.  You will not be able to pick up another line, put callers on hold, etc..  This is probably not true for ground start PBXs though.

Years ago, I worked for a well-known communications equipment manufacturer, whom I will not name, and they had a Rolm digital PBX.  All of the desksets connected to the PBX through digital lines.  My genius boss, the inspiration for the Dilbert PHB, took his deskset home one evening and connected it to his home phone line.  The next morning, the guy who was in charge of the phone system asked him if he had disconnected his phone and why.  When the genius replied that he tried using it at home, he was berated for not understanding the difference between analog and digital (note that he was an electronics engineering manager) and told that he may have damaged the electronics (the phone worked with 5V signals, not 90V), and that even if it still worked, it had to be reprogrammed since it lost its programming when it lost power.

Larry

[Dan/Panther]

Everything seems to be going digital. What happens if it catches on in the landline area ?
Someone mentioned using a PBX, but if it's analog, will it connect to the digital system. We need an Analog to Digital converter. Seems simple enough.
D/P

[Phonesrfun]

Bill:

I want to know how you connect an old rotary phone to a modern digital phone system, like those used by companies (banks, insurance companies, etc).

What our own phone guy forgot is that years ago they provided an analog extension off the digital switch for a modem (which I no longer use)  I plugged the 202 into the back of the modem. 

The 202 has a simple resistor/ capacitor "network" in its base.  The simple network takes the place of a subset and provides acceptable but not optimum quality.  So, I guess I cannot call it a 202 since this resistor/capacitor network is not in any way an antisidetone configuration.  Only a way to provide DC to the transmitter and keep DC out of the receiver. 

-Bill Geurts

[Phonesrfun]

Everything seems to be going digital. What happens if it catches on in the landline area ?
Someone mentioned using a PBX, but if it's analog, will it connect to the digital system. We need an Analog to Digital converter. Seems simple enough.
D/P

D/P

I have a Panasonic 616 and several others have either a 616 or a Panasonic 308 PBX.  These were made in the late 70's and early 80's.  They employ all digital switching, but take analog or proprietary digital phones.  They are known as a hybrid system.  These are very good for collectors since we can have multiple phones hooked up and call them back and forth to demonstrate to others, or to test, etc.  They take either rotary or tone dials.  They are good for those that have VoIP based telephone systems that don't know what to do with dial pulses, since they take what a rotary extension dials and sends it out over the line as tone.

The 308 has three incoming lines and accomodated 8 extensions.  The 616 has double that capacity.  The box is about 24" high, 18" wide, and about 6" deep.  They show up every once in a while on e-Bay

[bingster]

The few people who notice the 202 in the living room think it's cool.  My mother doesn't think it's so great, though.  When she calls me, she complains about the "clank" in her receiver if I knock the handset against the frame when picking it up.  Apparently, it's pretty loud. 

[gpo706]

Freinds boy was round, and couldn't quite figure out you have to pull the dial all the way round and release, my cousin had a sneaky look when I was at work and said "what do you need all the phones for", then her daughter asked me later if they all worked, I said they all work except the ones that don't yet...

[bellsystemproperty]

I always get interesting reactions. Most people think that the phones are just for display and then pick up the handset to find a dial tone. They don't realize how tough our phones are.  My friends always want to use their cell phones, but I don't let them use them in my house. I force them to use the rotaries. (they usually pick the yellow 500)

[Dan]

My wife and kids think I am nuts. Our friends usually think so too. One of my sons friends loved the black ones (We500's) especially, so I gave him a 1958 black. My wifes girlfriend thought they were cool so she got a pink 500.

[bellsystemproperty]

500s seem to be quite popular. The Ericofon gets a lot of reactions too since it's so weird looking.