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[LarryInMichigan]

What is the significance of the dial marking "4H"?

It means that you have a #4 dial which is rather valuable.  The dial itself is worth more than you paid for the phone.  I believe that #4 dials in 302s are somewhat unusual.

Larry

[rdelius]

I believe your set is a 304 set-4party version of the 302. You might have to get a capacitor for a 302 for your set. I believe there was a gas tube instead of a ringing capacitor in your set. The ringer in your set would have 4 instead of 2 wires also. You can use 302 parts and rewire to work though.
Robby

[Greg G.]

These old 302s are so soft that they polish well with just a few grits and Novus 2.

I didn't know that.  What grit did you start with, 800?  I'll have to try that Turtle Wax.

[Gary]

Interesting, thanks guys.  Just found this site loaded with information:
http://www.paul-f.com/we300typ.htm

Robby, I just looked on the inside rear of the housing near the cord groove and there is a red stamp "H3".  The above site does have an "H3" mounting code with a model 304.
"Tip-party station of message rate, automatic ticketing, and automatic message accounting. 101B coil, B2A ringer"

The base has white stamp on the outside that unfortunately is smudged.  Tough to make out what it is.  Either begins or ends with S0.  Maybe S0356???  Again, it's fairly smudged.

[JorgeAmely]

These old 302s are so soft that they polish well with just a few grits and Novus 2.

I didn't know that.  What grit did you start with, 800?  I'll have to try that Turtle Wax.

Greg:

400 or 600, depending how bad the housing is. Keep wet all the time. I do this in the laundry sink. Then move on to 1000, 1500 and from there you can move on to N2. Then wash it really nice to remove all traces of Novus 2 and give it a nice F-21 treatment. Like I mentioned before, it will feel like you coated it with 3-in-1 oil, but with a old soft cotton towel, all will come off in 5-10 minutes (just bond with your phone at this time  ) leaving it with a very nice finish.

[Dan/Panther]

Gary;
Welcome.
I took about the same path you did and we ended up in the same spot.
Are you familar with ARF ?
A nice group of very knowledgeable folks there,  as well as many here. You'l like it here it's very friendly.

D/P

Link to ARF.
http://antiqueradios.com/forums/index.php

[Greg G.]

These old 302s are so soft that they polish well with just a few grits and Novus 2.

I didn't know that.  What grit did you start with, 800?  I'll have to try that Turtle Wax.

Greg:

400 or 600, depending how bad the housing is. Keep wet all the time. I do this in the laundry sink. Then move on to 1000, 1500 and from there you can move on to N2. Then wash it really nice to remove all traces of Novus 2 and give it a nice F-21 treatment. Like I mentioned before, it will feel like you coated it with 3-in-1 oil, but with a old soft cotton towel, all will come off in 5-10 minutes (just bond with your phone at this time  ) leaving it with a very nice finish.

I didn't know about the wet part, I haven't been doing that with what little sanding I've done.  Maybe I'll try it with the shell of the 5302 I'm working on.

[Gary]

Hi Dan,  thanks for the welcome!  Yes, I immediately recognized you from ARF.  Always enjoy reading your posts, I've been there for 6 years but don't post too much.  I'm simply "GSI" over there (not too good coming up with decent forum names ).  Searching for information the other day, I found your thread from '08 of how you brought back to life the phone that was painted silver.  Great job!

[Dennis Markham]

The base has white stamp on the outside that unfortunately is smudged.  Tough to make out what it is.  Either begins or ends with S0.  Maybe S0356???  Again, it's fairly smudged.

Gary, please accept my "late" welcome to the forum.  You will find a lot of information here about the 300 series phones in general and perhaps there have been some threads about your specific model.  The "S" on the bottom often refers to a "service" date.  If it is 0356 it may indicate a service date in March of '56.  I don't recall them using a zero however in front of a date.

The 4H dial is an earlier dial that what would normally be found in a 302 of your vintage but not uncommon.  As Larry mentioned the #4 dial is worth more than the later #5 dial.  If you had one of each sitting side-by-side you would be able to hear the difference between the two.  The #4 has a pulse pawl that is metal and ratchets to metal giving it a louder clicking sound.  The #5 has a rubber tipped pawl against metal so it is a bit quieter.  

I posted a few photos showing differences a while back on a post started by Dan/Panther.  You can see the thread here:

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=183.0

When I'm at flea markets/antique fairs etc., and see a black 302 I'll stop and spin the dial a few times.  If there's a #4 dial inside I am willing to pay the asking price, generally.  I have not found one yet in the field.  So your find for your first phone was a good stroke of luck.  Even with the later #5 dial, $35 is not a bad price.  Considering what they are selling for on eBay, not refurbished and then add in the shipping price, yours was a great buy--even at the asking price.  Even later dials diminish the value (#6 dial) somewhat.

You will see #5 dials sell on eBay in the $30-40 price range, GENERALLY.  There are always exceptions.  #4 dials sell about $15-20 higher.  It is not uncommon to find one in the $50-60 price range but there are exceptions as I mentioned...recently one sold for over $150.  Not because it was better, but because the buyer must not have been educated on the value.

Lastly, here is a good article on the transition from an early #2 dial to the #4.

http://atcaonline.com/phone/dials.htm

[Gary]

Thanks Dennis, great info!  Yes, when I got home and found the ringer missing, I was thinking how I should have paid less but I guess maybe it turned out to be a case of "beginner's luck" coming up with the harder to find dial.  Like most everyone else agrees, the minute I rotated the dial and heard that loud clicking sound, I had to have it.

Good to know about the "S" stamp on the base, I'll take another look at it when I get home.  What makes it harder to decipher is with the S, it's tough to know if I'm looking at it upside down or not.  Perhaps the S is a suffix which might explain the 0 being at the end of the numeric string?

Another note about the dial after reading through the transition link you provided is, I'm pretty sure mine had the PAT APP FOR stamp on the housing.  Most likely a #2 converted to a 4?
Thanks again!

[Dan/Panther]

Gary;
Yes I recognize the GSI.
The second best attraction about this forum is the un-ending amount of knowledge here, first are the great folks.
D/P

[JorgeAmely]

D/P:

Visited the radio forum briefly. Looks like it is more difficult to post pictures there than here, right?

[Dennis Markham]

Gary, you'll be able to tell if your dial is a converted #2 because the finger stop holes were welded closed.  Then new holes were drilled for the current finger stop.  The finger stop on the #2's attached on the outside frame of the dial.  The #4's and later had the stop tucked inside of the housing.

Look here and you'll see what I'm talking about:

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=1668.0

For obvious reasons the outside finger stop could not be used on the 302 as the dial is recessed into the housing.

[Dan/Panther]

D/P:

Visited the radio forum briefly. Looks like it is more difficult to post pictures there than here, right?

Jorge;
Extremely involved. That is one item I have fought to change over the past 5 years to no avail. I tried to get them to use CRP format but no luck.
D/P

[Gary]

Received a ringer assembly from a forum member today.  I really appreciate all the help, great place!
Here's a photo of the back of the dial.  Interestingly, the old finger stop holes on the side, not visible in the photo, are still open.