NE 701B Details

[migette]

Hi  can you tell me whether I am wright in thinking the main difference between the Princess and Contessa lies in the network being different, the we has it in a box sealed whereas the ne had it wired to a cct board more like the UK or European  phones. During the 60's I visited an aunt who lived in Fort William, now Thunder Bay Ontario where I made it  my business to visit the local exchange if at all possible, which as it turned out was possible and the person who showed me round was from UK and new people where I worked in  the Wimbledon Exchange, the term small world came to mind. Having wanting to buy a Princess (did not know the were Contessa in Canada at this time) and having been given the name of a supplier, Nedco, my phone was bought, and still have it today but with a different case. This set had an internal bell and light with transformer. The base came away, which I think was a problem with these poor glue used. What should the base be like, and any idea whether the more normal network is used. Hope I have made sense and thank all  any further comments welcome  Peter  Sorry  I have no pics at this time  and also phone collecting then was not very popular.

[bingster]

I'm not familiar with the NE version of the Princess, but as a rule, weren't all the sets nearly identical before the 1970s?

[cchaven]

I have both WE and NE versions of the 701 and I don't recall there being much difference between them.  In fact, the only one that comes to mind are the switchhook buttons...clear on the WE and opaque white on the NE. I'll try to remember to open them up when I get home later.  My NE 701B is missing the base as well, but based on the timeline for it, my guess would be that it should be the flat leather base..not the cross-hatched texture base like that used later on the 702's.

Jeff

[cchaven]

Ok, I finally compared my 1959 WE 701B with my 1960 NE 701B.  The only difference I can see in them is that the hookswitch arms on the NE are much more substantial.  Otherwise they appear identical.  Both use the 495A network and neither have an internal ringer or lead weight.  All wiring connections internally are the same, including the tag boards where the ringer normally is.  The cases even interchange.

I did mis-remember the mat on the bottom.  On the early princess I have, it is the rubber cross-hatched mat, not the smooth one with the bumps around the edge.

I hope this helps

Jeff

[stopthemachine]

Interesting post--I keep meaning to open up my SC Petite phone (their 1600 phone) and look at the internal differences since there were a few external differences: the switch hooks matched the color of the phone; the handset was the older soft plastic and not the WE G-handset (which they had already begun to use when they released the Petite on their 500 series sets); and lastly, the dial--the "0" is at 6 o'clock.  I found this ad online too... (I hope this uploads because I've never tried this before. Haha)

[Jim Stettler]

I have both WE and NE versions of the 701 and I don't recall there being much difference between them.  In fact, the only one that comes to mind are the switchhook buttons...clear on the WE and opaque white on the NE. I'll try to remember to open them up when I get home later.  My NE 701B is missing the base as well, but based on the timeline for it, my guess would be that it should be the flat leather base..not the cross-hatched texture base like that used later on the 702's.

Jeff

Plungers are opaque on Northen
Northern has a marked base housing..
2 # card slots  on Northern
Base covering is different material

Northern's base material always comes unglued, leaving you with a "Barefoot Contessa"
There may be some other minor differences.
Jim

[migette]

Hi been looking through all the comments still waiting for a n/e from Canada post seem to take a very long time from Canada. Will see what the difference is between my old one and this new one. Thanks for all your answers and sorry for not getting back sooner    Peter