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Old wood and bakelite speaker phone

Started by Matilo Telephones, June 08, 2014, 04:23:49 AM

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Matilo Telephones

Went to a vintage technology fair yesterday and bought this. It is called a Tele-fax made in Italy.

Still haven't fired it up, so I do not know if it works and how it works.

On one side is a speaker and on the other side a microphone, apart from the normal handset.

The handset has markings of FIS a subsiduary of Siemens and Halske. Haven't found a date on it.

Love that little shield with the makers logo and that back board!

Does anybody know more about this one?

Haven't found anything on the net yet. But googling tele-fax gives a lot of stuff that is not relevant to this phone. :-)
Groeten,

Arwin

Check out my telephone website: http://www.matilo.eu/?lang=en

And I am on facebook too: www.facebook.com/matilosvintagetelephones

Dan/Panther


The More People I meet, The More I Love, and MISS My Dog.  Dan Robinson

Matilo Telephones

Thanks Dan

The words on this phone are so common, that it is very hard to search the net.

Brevetto is Italian for patent. So googling that with words like fax and tele, gives me loads of hits about fax machines.
Groeten,

Arwin

Check out my telephone website: http://www.matilo.eu/?lang=en

And I am on facebook too: www.facebook.com/matilosvintagetelephones

Fabius

If it's Italian the voltage may be different then the North American 120 vac.
Tom Vaughn
La Porte, Indiana
ATCA Past President
ATCA #765
C*NET 1+ 821-9905

twocvbloke

Quote from: Fabius on June 08, 2014, 11:00:00 PM
If it's Italian the voltage may be different then the North American 120 vac.

It's a good job the Netherlands uses the same(ish) power as Italy, between 220-230v 50Hz (whereas us brits are at 240v, despite what Brussels says!!), and the US of course at 120v 60Hz... :)

Matilo Telephones

The voltage is indeed the same here as in Italy, but when this phone was made voltage could differ from city to city even before it was standardised.

You can see a row of holes in the middle, at the back. In one of them there is a screw. By placing the screw in different holes you can change the voltage at which it runs. Now it is set for 130 V.

I have also bought a transformator that changes 220 to 127 V. A vintage one, of course. :-)
Groeten,

Arwin

Check out my telephone website: http://www.matilo.eu/?lang=en

And I am on facebook too: www.facebook.com/matilosvintagetelephones

LarryInMichigan

Radio collectors always warn against powering up electronics with old capacitors.  The same caution would apply to this device.  The capacitors can go bad, resulting in dangerous voltages being present where they can do damage.  When testing a radio for the first time, they suggest connecting an incandescent light bulb in series with the radio to limit the amount of voltage and current.  Replacing the capacitors is usually not very difficult or expensive.

Larry

Matilo Telephones

Quote from: LarryInMichigan on June 09, 2014, 09:21:26 AM
Radio collectors always warn against powering up electronics with old capacitors.  The same caution would apply to this device.  The capacitors can go bad, resulting in dangerous voltages being present where they can do damage.  When testing a radio for the first time, they suggest connecting an incandescent light bulb in series with the radio to limit the amount of voltage and current.  Replacing the capacitors is usually not very difficult or expensive.

Larry

Thanks Larry, I talked to some radio guys already about powering it up. The capacitor looks good, with barely any leakage. They recommended powering it up very gradually, as I have a Variac. (Man, its great tinkering with this old stuff :-)

There seemt to be only some running of the bitumous sealant used. I´ll do a closer inspection before I power it up.

I haven´t figured out hoe to get the frame with the electronics out. I want to have a look at the inside, also to get a better clue of who made it and when. And the dial runs a bit uneven, as if it sticks a bit.

The handset is marked FIS, wich may be the name of the Italian Siemens branch. I know they had a factory in Milan.
Groeten,

Arwin

Check out my telephone website: http://www.matilo.eu/?lang=en

And I am on facebook too: www.facebook.com/matilosvintagetelephones

LarryInMichigan

The paper capacitors are the biggest potential problem.  The capacitors are coated with wax to keep out moisture, but if any moisture does infiltrate the capacitor, a short can occur.  The paper capacitors are replaced with modern mylar capacitors.

The chassis is most probably held to the cabinet by screws in the bottom.

Larry

twocvbloke

Quote from: Matilo Telephones on June 09, 2014, 03:05:29 AM
The voltage is indeed the same here as in Italy, but when this phone was made voltage could differ from city to city even before it was standardised.

You can see a row of holes in the middle, at the back. In one of them there is a screw. By placing the screw in different holes you can change the voltage at which it runs. Now it is set for 130 V.

I have also bought a transformator that changes 220 to 127 V. A vintage one, of course. :-)

Ah, I see the numbers now, reminds me of when a fella, who owns a TV & vac repair shop in the town where I used to live, told me that the town once had two different power supplies, run from two separate power stations in the town itself, one half of the town used DC power, the other half AC power, of course AC became the standard, but I bet that caused a few problems with people moving between the AC and DC halves and not being able to take their devices with them...  :o

I have a vintage transformer too, looks to be about 60s or 70s vintage, has an input selector that ranges between 200v-210v to 240v-250v (set to the highest setting for 240v use, of course), had to replace the US-style power sockets as the bakelite ones fitted were pretty loose (didn't hold the plugs properly) and one was cracked, so it has some modern plastic white ones, should have used my black ones to suit it better, but I haven't a clue where those went...  ;D