1930's telephone that i purchased question? "UPDATE"

[hemi71x]

Ok, i opened up the lid of the box again and wrote down these numbers.
149 D   .65MF
149 B   .5MF

Patent 1696256

At one time in it's life there was a wireing diagram on the inside, bottom of the cover top, but 90% of it isn't there anymore to do any good.

Numbers make sence to anyone?

[Phonesrfun]

Without knowing the model of the subset, all we can do is guess.  The numbers you have given are the values of the two capacitors, but the capacitors were used in a variety of different applications.  My suspicion is that it has a retardation coil (The extra coil) that was used in a combination of local battery talking with common battery ringing that were sometimes used on long loops.  

Is there no red or orange colored number on the back of the frame (the part that would be up against the wall when mounted on the wall)  It would have a number like 534 or 634 or some number like that, possibly followed by a letter, example 634A.

With a number, we can look it up to see what it is.  Knowing that, one can determine if it can be used as is, rewired, or just what else might need to be done.

The lesson here is that not all subsets were created equal.

[hemi71x]

Ya, it's a 634 allright.
Has 634 YD on the back, wall side of the box, and on the inside of the cover.
That's all the numbers that i can find on any other of the parts inside for identification.
What else might have been connected to this inside, other than the wire connection to the wall? It has those three fatter wires that have been cut, when this box was removed from service.
Thank's guys.

[Phonesrfun]

Now we're getting somewhere, with th3 634YD number.  634 is an antisidetone subset,  A 634A would have been the generic run of the mill subset, and the YD is undoubtedly one for some special purpose, but hopefully it has a standard induction coil in it.  We can try to find the document on the 634YD, but in the meantime, on the larger of the induction coils, can you find a number stamped in the end of the wooden block on the end of the coil?

The induction coil is the black tubular part that has square black wooden blocks with wire connectors on either end.

[RDP]

Ok, i opened up the lid of the box again and wrote down these numbers.
149 D   .65MF
149 B   .5MF

Patent 1696256

At one time in it's life there was a wireing diagram on the inside, bottom of the cover top, but 90% of it isn't there anymore to do any good.

Numbers make sense to anyone?

Hemi, Would you double check that Patent date for me? What I'm getting doesn't make sense.

[hemi71x]

Those numbers 1696256 are correct.
I found that number one one of the "brown" colored looking electrical insulator things that are on both the left and right sides of the box.
Also when i looked closer at the other brown insulator on the other side i found  4  29.
Would that be the fourth month of 1929?

Let me guess, i bought something that was used in the invention of the atomic bomb.  lol
Jim V.

[RDP]

Hemi, I would think that 4 29 would be April 1929 but, I'm no expert. The patent number you gave is a Western Electric patent but I'm unsure how it connects. Maybe someone with more knowledge can shed some light on it. Here it is: http://tinyurl.com/4tex26l

[bingster]

...and the YD is undoubtedly one for some special purpose, but hopefully it has a standard induction coil in it.

The "Y" was for CB signalling/LB talking, so the YD is probably a variation on that theme.  Perhaps CB/LB for party or message rate.

[GG]

The additional coil in that subset is certainly an interesting mystery.  I'd say don't remove it, and we don't know what to suggest until we can identify it and ideally get a schematic to figure out what it was used for.  Though, I tend to think that the B1AL ringer in there wasn't original and was added because it's smaller and the additional coil could be accommodated. 

Doug, I was *not* *advocating* installing a mini-network in the D1 base unit or anywhere else, merely describing it for purposes of identification.  As for the dreaded Rotatone, if you're on a VOIP carrier that doesn't recognize dial pulses, then your choices are either a) Rotatone (internal or external), b) a PBX, or c) an object d'art that is only usable for answering incoming calls.  Sheesh!, I'm away from here for a couple of days (dealing with a nasty trunk problem on a 150-extension PBX, anyone want to trade places with me on that?) and suddenly I get branded as an Adulterator of Telephones.  Eeeyow.  At least I wasn't accused of being a Lamp Maker, them's "fightin' words" :-)

My standard for these things is: try to keep it all original, use reversible modifications if necessary, don't make irreversible changes (removing original components, cutting original internal wiring, drilling holes in things).  YMMV and all that.  Hemi71x, as you may have surmised, we can be an ornery & opinionated lot around here:-)

[hemi71x]

A real nice guy on the forum, Kenny C. is sending me a cord to plug into the wall, so i can use this subset to put my phone to use.
Now my question would be, when i get the cord, what terminals on this subset box, do i use to wire it in correctly, to get it working?
Is this going to be troublesome?

[bingster]

That's going to be the easiest part of all.  When you get the cord, connect the green conductor to L1 in the subset, and the red one to L2 (it might say L2Y).  That's all there is to it.

[Phonesrfun]

Hemi:

In the subset there are two coils.  Can you tell us what the connection designations on the two coils are?

[hemi71x]

Hemi:

In the subset there are two coils.  Can you tell us what the connection designations on the two coils are?

Thank's a lot guys for walking me through telephone school here on this forum.
As far as where that second coil connects to, there are just too many wires and connections for me to trace out, and write down where they go.
So i took two more pictures, hope they are of more of a close up for someone to tell more about this mystery box.
Thank's.
Jim V.
hemi71x

[Phonesrfun]

The coil that says 46A IND that has the following connections: L1, GN, C and R looks to be an antisidetone induction coil, although the 634A subset would have used a 146 inductor.  I am pretty sure that it can be easily converted.  The other inductor is probably a retardation coil used in a different subset configuration and wou't even be hooked up for a standard 634 subset.

This will, however require doing some reconnecting of wires and may take several back and forth discussions to accomplish, if you are up to it.

Other alternatives besides you doing the wiring would be:

• Send the subset to one of us who can easily convert it; or
• Build an inexpensive "cheater" subset from three readily available and inexpensive parts from Radio Shack; or
• Buy a whole new (old) subset

The cheater route uses a standard modular phone connector block and one resistor and one capacitor.  It reasonably duplicates a sidetone subset, and most importantly matches the transmitter and the receiver in the phone to the phone line, and also does not involve modifying the phone in any way.  It does not provide ringing.

Actually, the cheater subset can be built to test the phone itself so that when the real subset is ready, you will be good to go.

I have built this circuit many times and it works.

Things to think about

[hemi71x]

Aw, geez.
I just can't hook up a wall cord wire to the darn box and get it working. 
Let me stew on this for a few days, until i receive the wall cord anyway.

Any ideas what this box was used for in it's original application? and why it won't work with that second coil by just hooking up the wall wire?

I got the box from an antique, (junk) type of guy that said it came out of a place the original owners had, when this old phone was upgraded to a modern one, back when.