Western Electric 43F Ringer Box

[poplar1]

The key systems didn't "need" 30 cycle ringing, but it is simpler and more economical to make 30 cycles instead of 20. The old 101B power supplies for key systems were 20 cycle; these were replaced by the 20B (I think that is the number) in the 1960s with 30 cycle. The 118A is good for testing and you can always do a final test on your telephone line.

[TelePlay]

A few years ago I bought two NOS Tellabs 8101 ring generators. Had to dig one out tonight to check the frequency. It also provides 30 Hz. I was thinking it was 20 Hz.

The 118A is a much smaller unit and does the same thing but is not fused. The 118A will fit in my tool box.

The TelTone 4 I use to run phones on stage for plays is programmable. Whatever ring cadence one needs in tenths of a second and it can provide 20, 25, 30 or 60 Hz ring frequency in either sine or square wave forms.

Just set it up one line on the TelTone 4 for a UK ring for a 0.4 sec ring, 0.2 silence, 0.4 ring and then 2 seconds of silence. That along with changing the frequency for that line to 25 Hz should make my yet to arrive GPO 706 sound authentic phone stage in the play to open next week.

The default frequency for the TelTone is 20 Hz, the US standard. Interesting key systems use 30 Hz.

[DavePEI]

A few years ago I bought two NOS Tellabs 8101 ring generators. Had to dig one out tonight to check the frequency. It also provides 30 Hz. I was thinking it was 20 Hz.

Tellabs 8102 is the 20 hz. unit. 8101 is 30 hz. Both can be used with interruptors to provide ring cadence. 8102 has an optional internal interruptor, but I haven't seen one with it installed.

The downside of the 20 cycle 8102, is that it doesn't operate on 120VAC - it requires either a 24 or 48 VDC  external supply.

Dave

[TelePlay]

Thanks for that info, Dave.

Well, the BIN auction was for 8101s and they work just fine for testing ringers. I remember the seller described them as "if you know what they are, you know what they are used for" and nothing else. Haven't seen any of those come up for sale since then. The 118s have just started showing up, or at least I've been catching them lately.

I have used them to ring bells on stage to mimic school bells, door bells and fire alarm bells. Plug them in and switch the power to the bell using a radio shack relay run by the theater's digital light board. If I didn't have the Teltones, could probably program the light board to produce a desired cadence, but without the talk circuit.

Thought about getting an interrupter to use these to ring a phone a the right cadence but then found a TelTone 3 which led me to the TelTone 4. I think I have three 3's and three 4's. Just in case one goes bad during a show. Bought the 118A to see how it compared to the 8101.

Now I have three bell ringers, and 6 TelTones.

[DavePEI]

They are actually easy to find. There are quite a few on eBay now:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_kw=Tellabs&_kw=Generator&_dmd=1

I also have quite a few ring sources; a homebrew one made with the Black Magic ring generator chip I carry in my toolbox, A BK 1045B tester, Radio Shack430-0114  tester, and a pair of Teltone simulators, a TLS3A and TLS5 , as well as two Tellabs 8101 on the Strowger demos, as well as 3 Tellabs 8102's on order (didn't need them, but great price so I thought I would buy them in case someone needed them, so I could pass on the savings), and various KSUs. No shortage around here, either  

Dave