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Bell phones favorite plus 52870

Started by benkeys, August 29, 2012, 12:18:42 AM

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benkeys

I have time warner. Like i said previously, i can pick up my 500 or 554 while someone else is on the phone, and it stays normal. So i dont think its my phone line. I was thinking at one time it could be a bad cord between the handset and base, but i cant remember if i ever swapped it for another another one.
Ben K...  1960 WE 500 and 1972 SC 554   Always enjoying the sound of a phone with a bell ringer ringing....

MaximRecoil

Quote from: benkeys on August 30, 2012, 02:59:21 PM
I have time warner. Like i said previously, i can pick up my 500 or 554 while someone else is on the phone, and it stays normal. So i dont think its my phone line.

Your 500-series phones may be more forgiving of a low voltage/current situation. I'd try it on someone else's phone line (preferably someone who has POTS) and see if it still does it.

twocvbloke

I haven't a clue how Time Warner operates, being in the UK, where we're backwards enough to still use copper pair lines for most telephone services... :D

The question is, when you use the phone in question, is using another phone causing the power on the line to drop enough to render the phone inoperative? Two ways to try it are use another, different line (e.g. a friend's or family member's line), or measure voltages with a multimeter and observe any voltage drop...

The problem with some providers over there in the US is they use ATAs connected to a DSL line, so you essentially have VOIP service, but some of the ATA devices can't handle older phones (ringing or just plain powering the thing), so it's questioned as to whether you have one of these or not...

CLBrown

#18
I realize that this is an "old" topic, but given that we're all here to talk about "old" hardware, I don't see a problem with responding to it.

I was actually going through my own inventory of various household goods...  converting it all to an organized ledger, with photos, scanned or PDF format documents, literature, whatever... and I was making an effort to get "online" assets to whatever extent was possible.  That's what led me here, to this forum.

I own this very phone.  It's been in continuous use, for me, since 1987.

Now, don't get me wrong.  I have a fancy, modern cell phone, and not one but TWO Panasonic Dect 6.0 wireless phone sets (for a total of twelve handsets plus two base stations).  But I keep two conventional, wired phones... which, at least in theory, work even if the main power goes out.  (In reality, today, they work for a while, because the telecom modem outside my house has battery backup power, but still...)

One is an AT&T white plastic "unpowered" speakerphone... yeah, it does speakerphone from nothing but the phone line's power.  This resides in my bedroom, next to my headboard, and so I can receive a call at anytime, day or night, even if my main power fails.

But then, I have this one.  It's on a wall mount near the center of my house.  I can't recall the last time I SPOKE on it, I have to admit, but I absolutely LOVE the real metal bell ringer.  I can sleep right through the electronic chime tones my digital phones produce, but this thing will wake the dead!

My copy is a grey plastic one, but is otherwise identical to the one the original poster here put up.

What more can I contribute?  Well... I can provide some high-res photos of the actual original packaging.  These tell you just about EVERYTHING  you'd really want to know about this phone.

It's a "Genuine Bell" Favorite PLUS phone, branded "BELL Phones, by Northwestern Bell Phones."  It is model number 52811.

It has a 10 number memory, is tone/pulse switchable, and desk/wall mountable.  Mine is grey.  It came with a 2-year warranty.

It has a "Genuine BELL ringer" which "provides the quality sound customers expect from BELL Phones products."  (That's the ringer which has kept it alive for so long for me, too.)

It has "last number redial," with backlit keypad pushbuttons.

It's fully modular, and Bell mentions it came with both 10-foot and 14-foot line cords, plus a 5-inch line cord for wall-bracket mounting.

It specifically mentions that it is "hearing aid compatible," for whatever that's worth.


Oh, and on the bottom, in fine print, it states that "Northwestern Bell Phones is a division of US WEST Enterprises, Inc.  Copyright 1987."

I don't have the physical paper manual anymore... not sure when that disappeared, but it was a long time ago!... but it's very, very straightforward to use.

I can't recall whether you had to hit the memory number, then store, then dial the number to be stored, or do it in the other sequence... but that's the only "open question" here.  I actually think  you had to hit "store," then dial the number, then hit "store" again, then hit the "memory location" (1-9) to save a number.  I haven't used that in a very, very long time.

Apart from that, the "cancel" button can cancel out a "saving" operation, but is also essentially like your "flash" button... a quick tap of the hook.

To dial a saved number, it's easier... hit "mem" and then the location (1-9).

Redial simply redials the last number you dialed directly.  As I recall, it didn't redial the last "memory dial" you used, but I could be mistaken about that.

"Hold" is also pretty straightforward... it put the call on mute, but didn't disconnect it.  It didn't allow you to hear the other end, either, so it's not EXACTLY like modern "mute" functionality, but it served the same purpose.  If I was on a call, and someone in my house wanted my attention, I could put the person on the phone "on hold" while dealing with that, then come back.  Alternatively, I later on used that to put a call on hold, then go pick up one of my wireless handsets, then would go back and hand this one up (hanging up cancels "hold," of course.)

The little switch is "tone/pulse dialing."

There's a removable plaque on the handset which you can replace with a little clear tab if you want your own phone number on the handset.

There's also a plastic "window" on the base, over a location where you can put a little card with  your ten saved numbers written on it.  The phone came with ten little cards.  I only ever used one...  because I didn't record the NUMBERS, but rather the identity of who was in that space (so memory 1 was always "Ambulance," memory 2 was "fire department," memory 3 was "police," then the remaining six were "Mom," "Karen" (my sister) and so on.  So, I never used the other cards, and still have nine of them intact inside this box!

Anyway, I just wanted to share my information relating to this phone. If ANYONE is really interested in this phone...  I hope you enjoy the information!

HarrySmith

Welcome to the forum. Very cool you still have the same phone working. These days most do not even have a landline, never mind an original phone!
Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

"There is no try,
there is only
do or do not"

MaximRecoil

#20
It says on the box that it was made in Korea. That's interesting. For an Asian-made phone rebranded with a US name from 1987 I would have expected Taiwan. I bet it was made by GoldStar (now known as LG, and now one of the top 10 biggest electronics companies in the world). I know they made knockoffs of the WE 2500 back then, such as this one:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/255051471352

CLBrown

Thanks, guys... 

Yeah, the majority of electronics made in Korea would be either Samsung or "Lucky Goldstar" (aka "LG").  While a few other players have come and gone over the years, these two manufacturers pretty much dominate the Korean electronics-manufacturing market.

I know that a lot of folks have totally foresworn their wired phones in favor of cell phones, but I find both to be useful.  I'm still not convinced that perpetual wired-transmission in data-burst format is all that greata of an idea right next to your temple, though of course we all use that pretty much exclusively these days.

But for me, I really like "picking up the phone" and hearing that dial-tone.  Whether "picking up" means pressing the button on a Dect6 wireless handset, or literally picking this up off its base.

Yeah, I own a cell phone... Samsung Galaxy S10.  I use it a lot, but mainly as a tablet, and still prefer, especially when at home, to use a wired phone.   Early on in the "cell phone transition," I actually carried a Razr V3 as a phone and an Archos internet media tablet (no phone functionality) for "tablet-y" use.

Right now, at my desk in my home office, I have a Panasonic Dect6 handset right next to my monitor, but the classic Bell phone is still on the wall jack at the most central point in my kitchen.  And, to this day, when the phone rings, even with this handset right next to me, I mainly hear the Bell in the kitchen ringing!  :)

rdelius

At least these sets were built almost as good as WE. Better than the last sets made .More like ITT. At least all the parts will interchange with WE ITT and SC . have seen them  with different brands and assembled in other countries such as India.I use them at my radio station transmitter sites.I do not like the later sets