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Something Different - Stromberg Carlson 1543W

Started by Dennis Markham, November 25, 2009, 07:03:57 PM

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Dennis Markham

I recently acquired this Stromberg Carlson Model 1543W from a phone collector friend.  I have seen them before as another collector has a couple in his collection.  You don't see them too often.  At first glance it resembles the Model 500 but notice how wide the front end is compared to the normal 500.  I believe it has the same chassis as the 1543W wall phone.  I have a couple of those and plan to compare.  By the looks of this one the ringer is a frequency ringer so I may be stealing one from one of my black 1543W wall phones.

Inside the phone, folded and neatly tucked away is the schematic.  It looks like an original phone number is stamped on the schematic as well.  Perhaps that's how they knew which Hz ringer went to which subscriber.

I put that reproduction dial card in the phone and dusted it off a bit but otherwise it was untouched.  The color is about as pink as it can get.  My soft plastic pink 500 is shown next to the Stromberg Carlson to show the difference in the footprint.  It reminds me of a "low rider" automobile.  I haven't plugged it in yet but see no reason why it won't work.  I know it's not going to ring.  The dial is Automatic Electric and works great.

The date on the chassis is 1966 while the potted network is dated 1964.

LarryInMichigan

Dennis,

Your phone looks alot like my SC1543-WK, except that mine is black, has 'cut corners', and the handset grip is narrower.  I bought two SC1543s, this one, and an older one with a metal finger wheel and bakelite handset, several weeks ago from the same seller on ebay for $4.20 each.  Apparently, people weren't very interested in them.

Larry

bingster

Talk about pretty in pink!  That's a sharp, sharp phone.  It's a very interesting step in SC's 500-ization.
= DARRIN =



JorgeAmely

Dennis:

Can you take a closer picture of the dial? The front looks AE, but not the back.

Jorge

Dennis Markham

Thanks Bingster, it is a very cool phone.  I saw one on eBay a while back and thought about buying it but didn't.

Jorge, I will get a good close-up of the back of the dial.

Larry, I have a few of the wall phone version.  The chassis is identical. Those bells are very loud.  They remind me of an old fashioned burglar alarm.

dsk

It is a nice looking telephone.
we have never used tuned ringers i Norway, so that is a fascinating thing for me, but:
It is still at least one way of using a tuned ringer. ;) I have an internet telephone adapter, (PAP2T) witch may give out any frequency you want, it is attached to C*NET. To use Rotary, you need an pulse tone converter too. (Dialgizmo works well for phones were the dial shorts the line when you dial.) 

A simple way to use the old phones.

Regards

dsk

Dan

Very sleek phone Dennis. Is that a frequency ringer? I have an AE80 with a big fat striker like this one and at the end near the striker is a screw that I know could remove it. If you were to replace it with something of lighter weight, would it ring or is it electrical and not a mechanical issue?

Do you know when then went from your sleek design to the "cut corners design?"
"Imagine how weird telephones would look if our ears weren't so close to our mouths." - Steven Wright

LarryInMichigan

One of my SC1543 has a frequency ringer and the other does not.  The only noticeable difference is the thickness of the strip which holds the clapper to the frame.  Apparently, they were made to respond to different frequencies.  It is likely that the ringer capacitors are different values also.  I was able to make my 55Hz ringer work, to a limited extent, by changing the capacitor and trimming the strip. 

My 1543W-K ringer works well, but it has no bias tension, so it taps when I dial another phone and also sometimes when I walk past my desk.

Larry

Dennis Markham

Jorge, you are correct.  The dial is a Stromberg Carlson.  Attached is a photograph.  It's does not appear to be quite as solid as the A.E. dial.  The ringer is a frequency ringer and doesn't budge on in-coming calls.