GPO 722 (aka the TRIMPHONE!)

[Adam]

They also have from the phone end, about 6ft of straight cord which transforms into coiled cord up to the terminal block

Do any US/European phones have this arrangement?

The only other phone I know of that had cords like this was the Ericofon.  A version of it was made by North Electric in Galion, OH, but I don't think they are considered a US phone...

[cchaven]

Yes the Ericofon has a cord that starts out straight then transitions into a coiled cord, just as described.  Though a Swedish design, the Ericofon was manufactured by North Electric in Ohio starting in 1960/61 on thru 1972.

Jeff

[AE_Collector]

They also have from the phone end, about 6ft of straight cord which transforms into coiled cord up to the terminal block, hence the replacement, as I had already predicted it would be filthy or stretched.

Do any US/European phones have this arrangement?

The Ericofon's (debatable as to whether they are a "US" phone or not but definitely qualifies as European) had the half coiled and half straight type of line cords. The only other one that I can think of was the GTE "Flip Phones" of the 1980's which had a partial coiled  and partial straight cord but like the Ericofon, it's hard to say for sure that it is a "line cord" since there is NO handset cord!

Terry

[Adam]

I forgot about the flip phone!  BUT!  Wasn't the flip phone cord the other way 'round?  Wasn't it coiled at the set end transitioning to straight at the plug end?  The Trimphone and Ericofone cords are coiled at the plug end.

[gpo706]

Not much on telly tonight so got bored, came up fine with half a dozen anti-bacterial wipes and some spray and a toothbrush for the fiddly bits.

Looks fab, rings fab!

The handset cord was grubby, but just needed a good clean, even the grommets look fine after the toothbrush treatment, the coils still very tight.

There's very little to clean on a Trimphone, the case, the  hookset, the dial and the fingerwheel/label cover, handset and receiver cup which comes apart with one screw.

(There is is a TX cup but its plugged with a plastic rivet, as the RX sits with the TX at the top using the acoustic horn method).

Its a lot easier than a 706/746.

Unfortunately the radioactive dial seems shot, probably all the gas has leaked out long ago, but I did find on the reverse of a spare 706 cream dial I just got was a blank label which when removed revealed a standard label centre named "WORTHING 820 328" -on the flipside - so I popped this in to complete the look!

[Kenny C]

There's very little to clean on a Trimphone, the case, the  hookset, the dial and the fingerwheel/label cover, handset and receiver cup which comes apart with one screw.

wow they can hold a whole phone together with one screw   

[gpo706]

Well I meant 5 screws and one screwdriver, or maybe two, its very late here and I'm tired...

[AE_Collector]

I forgot about the flip phone!  BUT!  Wasn't the flip phone cord the other way 'round?  Wasn't it coiled at the set end transitioning to straight at the plug end?  The Trimphone and Ericofone cords are coiled at the plug end.

I'm pretty sure that you are correct re the flip phone cord.

Terry

[gpo706]

No.2 arrived yesterday, interestingly it has a faceplate for a terminal box wallmount attached, I thought from the picture it was a PST socket.

I took the line cable out of the plate and then rewired the phone, then attached the old line cord thus:

line - 4 terminal soapdish, white/green, red, blue, then out to a spare PST linecord and into a spare on the Pana.

Dial tone, nice and clear, dials out, but no ring in...

The original soapdish wiring has the w/g connected together to one terminal, so I I separated them, and now it rings fine.

So far so good, but now I have 2 greys, so digs around the errr. "pending projects" box and found the blue set, unfortunately without its original linecord, although I suspect I wouldn't have discarded it unless it was utterly shot, so I'll need to rummage in some other boxes if I want a colour matching linecrord, as the new ones I found only come in light grey (sigh)!

Now the 2nd grey set is a bit more battered and dirty than the first, so what did I do?

BODY SWAP!

Off comes the handset and body, clean the base/chassis/dial, then the blue body/handset.

Now this was vile, it was caked in greasy cigarette film, and took the lifes of a few disinfectant wipes, then anti-bacterial spray, the cloths were black, but it cleaned up quite respectably, just a nice as No.1 without embarrassing it when I sat them side by side.

Put it all together, still with rather unwieldy line cord arrangement described above as I haven't a new replacement grey cord, and finally stole the dial label from grey No.2 to finish it off - "Sheringham 2352".

When I had tried a rewire of the blue set many a moon ago, it had unusable handset crackle, buts it fine now, I suspect it might have to do with that ones having a party line button fitted.

So two out three aint bad, especially since the blue set has probably been sitting here for 25 years waiting for me to get round to it.

Now for a green set (it's never-ending isn't it)?

[gpo706]

This explains the handset crackle, Mr. Blue didn't have one fitted -

"This is a used transmitter regulator from a trimphone, Number 7A. These were used to restrict the current flowing through the transmitter, as excessive line current can cause frying or crackling noises."

[gpo706]

This completes the trio, its called "Mr Green":

http://www.britishtelephones.com/t722.htm

Doesn't look very green though does it, thats me done with Trimphones having all the original colours! 

15 sheets off the bay.

[Owain]

Doesn't look very green though does it, thats me done with Trimphones having all the original colours! 

Ah, but then there are the LD and MF tone versions, the Phoenixphone colours and the Deltaphone in Leather to collect ...

Green Trimphone was the first phone we had in our house, in the kitchen with orangey pine cupboards and avocado worktops. I can remember listening to Showaddywaddy on Dial-a-Disc.

IIRC Noel Edmonds had a Trimphone on Swap Shop, and John Craven had one on the sehlf behind him on Newsround.

[gpo706]

I'm not even going down that route!

Yes Swap Shop seemed to have oddly matched "whacky" coloured combos, and John Craven's "Newsround' had one but my favourite is the golden one used by Bob Monkhouse on the "The Golden Shot" 1974/5.

I have a spare I'd like to gold colour and make it my "Shot" phone...

[Willytx]

What a neat little phone! It looks kind of like a Starlite, after a magic act gone wrong.

The green one would go quite nicely in my yellow kitchen....

[gpo706]

Try dialling on one Willie, unless you lick the feet and stick it down it slithers about on your desk/worktop !