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'Nuther Pet Peeve WE 331B Portable Telephone

Started by DavePEI, July 10, 2012, 05:57:47 AM

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DavePEI

Hi All:

I bought one of these the other day, then for interest sake continued searching Ebay for others to compare price and condition.

All I was able to find were mis-identified as linesman's sets! I emailed one seller to tell him of his error, and he emailed back that I was wrong, not he, because he checked a number of auctions for the same item. Well, I hate to tell you Bozo - they are all listed incorrectly. It won't make much difference checking other listings which aren't correct, just as it won't make much difference in how much he will get for it, but it doesn't help to advertise it as the wrong item. I just hope not too many will make the mistake of buying this thinking they will be getting a useable linesman's set. Likewise, I hope those actually looking for a 331B will find one correctly listed. I had been looking for a 331 in good condition for a long time, then got this one for $24.49.

They were used used by radio stations to do their remote broadcasts. Each location that they remoted at would have a private line set up, and when they prepared to remote, the 331A would be plugged into the line. Their sound equipment would plug into the 331A. A beehive warning light attached to the phone would be lit then they were transmitting giving an indication for on-lookers to be quiet. These were used to air hockey games, church services, grand openings, etc. Essentially an official version of a phone patch.

From the BSP: "Intended primarily for use by radio broadcasting companies to provide private line communications between direct program pick-up points, and control centers."

I used to assist radio station CFJR when I was in school doing broadcasts from our high school, and this is exactly the set used.

A full copy of BSP#510-810-100 covering this and the A version may be found in the TCI Documents library.

Incidentally, the black cord isn't a power cord. It is used to connect to the phone line. If you get one of these for your collection, make sure the cord still has its original warning around the Hubbel plug - otherwise, make your own label. Alas, if someone doesn't read the warning since the Hubbel plug will fit some older 220 V sockets, it would be possible to destroy your connected equipment,

Dave
The Telephone Museum of Prince Edward Island:
http://www.islandregister.com/phones/museum.html
Free Admission - Call (902) 651-2762 to arrange a visit!
C*NET 1-651-0001

twocvbloke

Ignorance is bliss I suppose, there have been a few times where I've offered info to people on ebay and they've come back all hissy fit with me claiming I don't know what I'm talking about, even though I researched what I was talking about outside of ebay rather than looking at other's erroneous listings like most do.... ::)

You can make things foolproof, but you can't make them idiot proof.. :D

As for that Hubbel plug, yeah, that can be a problem, especially if it ends up making it's way to Australia or New Zealand where that plug is standard for their 240V household supplies...

DavePEI

#2
Quote from: twocvbloke on July 10, 2012, 08:22:33 AM
Ignorance is bliss I suppose, there have been a few times where I've offered info to people on ebay and they've come back all hissy fit with me claiming I don't know what I'm talking about, even though I researched what I was talking about outside of ebay rather than looking at other's erroneous listings like most do.... ::)

You can make things foolproof, but you can't make them idiot proof.. :D

As for that Hubbel plug, yeah, that can be a problem, especially if it ends up making it's way to Australia or New Zealand where that plug is standard for their 240V household supplies...

I could never understand why they used the Hubbell plug for these, but they all came with it. I guess you could say it was the first modular plug! It would be a sizzler if someone plugged it into 220 though!  Like the shocking smiley!

I won't contact sellers if I think they are asking too little (I simply figure seller beware), but sure will when they are advertising something in a way that people might get an item they didn't intend to get with the end result they lose money or wind up with something useless to them..

In this case, the seller just didn't want to know that four of five other ebay sellers might have an incorrect description for it also! So automatically he considered me wrong. I even offered to send him a copy of the practice for it! Guess he figured he was accomplished enough and didn't need any practice  ::)

D.

The Telephone Museum of Prince Edward Island:
http://www.islandregister.com/phones/museum.html
Free Admission - Call (902) 651-2762 to arrange a visit!
C*NET 1-651-0001

AE_Collector

Dave:

You should have emailed the guy back and told him that was too bad because they would be worth substantially more if they were actually radio remote terminals than they are just being test sets.

What we used as "Hubbel Plugs" for trailer parks etc were substantially smaller than an AC plug. They were 3 conductor with a centre pin and two curved outside prongs that would lock in when you twisted them slightly.

Terry

twocvbloke

I guess they used those plugs because it was considered a defunct electrical outlet design, just as over here the BS-546 round-pin plugs are considered defunct but are still on sale, despite the fact that some people still used them daily for one reason or another... ???

It's like when I found a ship/intercom phone with a 2Amp BS-546 plug not too long back, it's small enough that it would work as a telephone plug (three wires, Live, Neutral and Earth, could become A, B and Bell over here), until some smart person sees it, remembers they have those sockets in their caravan for 12v accessories (or 240v lights, depending on who wired it up!!!), plug 'er in and BOOM, fried phone.... :o

And the smiley, yeah, it's a funny one, I have a few select smilies I like stored in the same folder as that one on my web space, this one is great for winning ebay auctions...

Greg G.

Phones that are mis-identified are sometimes the best way to find bargains because they won't show up in searches with the correct terms, consequently a lot of your competition won't find them.  Problem is trying to find them in their mis-identified listing, you usually just have to stumble across them.
The idea that a four-year degree is the only path to worthwhile knowledge is insane.
- Mike Row
e

oldphon

Quote from: AE_collector on July 10, 2012, 11:30:58 AM
Dave:

You should have emailed the guy back and told him that was too bad because they would be worth substantially more if they were actually radio remote terminals than they are just being test sets.

What we used as "Hubbel Plugs" for trailer parks etc were substantially smaller than an AC plug. They were 3 conductor with a centre pin and two curved outside prongs that would lock in when you twisted them slightly.

Terry


Hey Terry
We had the same ones here, called Hubbell Twist-Lock with yellow flexible cable and yellow boots on the plugs.  WE even had a pre-made yellow cord with spades at one end and the Hubbell Twist-Lock at the other.  The only weird thing was that the yellow cord was actually commercial SJ power cord, so conductors were white, black, green!

AE_Collector

Hi Jeremy:

Yes that is correct, the big bright yellow rubber boot that went over the twist lock plug. We didn't have the yellow cord available to us but we did have what we always called "Cab tire", fairly heavy 3 conductor AC extension cord that was the standard to use with the Hubbel plugs. Most often though we didn't have any of it with us when needed though so we used either our regular inside wire or more often our 2 pair 22 gauge dropwire. The 2 pair drop wire we used was basically round and was light gray unlike the black flat 2 pair that most other Telco's seemed to use.

Terry

DavePEI

#8
Hi All:

The 331B arrived Friday, in mostly excellent condition. Sadly, the fluorescent tube inside the beehive lamp had been broken in shipping and will have to be replaced. I have found a handset to plug into the phone, and other than the broken fluorescent tube, it appears to be in mint shape. Sure looks good with the new colour of my office over in this house! It'll look just as good in the museum, as the museum office is also a similar blue.

I love the colour of the 331B!

On a sad note, I got the news early Saturday morning, that my younger brother, Steve suffered a heart attack driving home from work at the National Research Council in Ottawa during rush hour traffic .

He is being touted as a hero because despite the attack, he had the resources to pull his car out of traffic into the medium before his heart stopped. His heart didn't beat again until EMTs arrived more than 5 minutes later.

He is now in the Ottawa Heart Institute in an induced coma and with his body temperature being held low to allow damaged tissue to heal. The greatest damage may be to his brain - it was without oxygen for a very long time. We are praying for him, and for his young family - two children under 11.

I am closer to Steve than any of my other siblings, and am praying for his recovery. Everyone tells us they know immediately he and I are brothers, as we look very much alike.

He will be kept in the coma until Tuesday at which point, we may have a better idea of how much damage was done.

Dave
The Telephone Museum of Prince Edward Island:
http://www.islandregister.com/phones/museum.html
Free Admission - Call (902) 651-2762 to arrange a visit!
C*NET 1-651-0001

twocvbloke

Sorry to hear about your brother, hope everything is okay with him when they wake him up... :(

We've been going through similar worries, my brother was put in hospital a couple of weeks ago from an attack, but of the violent persons sort, he was attacked and left for dead by two individuals, he had a fractured skull and one broken neck vertebrae, and we too were not sure whether or not he'd pull through, but two weeks on, he discharged himself from hospital and is dealing with things on his own in his usual manner, so, he was very lucky indeed...

DavePEI

#10
Quote from: twocvbloke on July 15, 2012, 09:01:30 PM
Sorry to hear about your brother, hope everything is okay with him when they wake him up... :(

We've been going through similar worries, my brother was put in hospital a couple of weeks ago from an attack, but of the violent persons sort, he was attacked and left for dead by two individuals, he had a fractured skull and one broken neck vertebrae, and we too were not sure whether or not he'd pull through, but two weeks on, he discharged himself from hospital and is dealing with things on his own in his usual manner, so, he was very lucky indeed...

I am hoping that Steve's story will end up similarly well. At this point, they don't know what will happen when he comes out of the coma - he could be perfectly normal, or he could be severely brain damaged. All we can do is hope and pray... He is in the best place, though - the Heart Institute is one of Canada's best hospitals.

Dave
The Telephone Museum of Prince Edward Island:
http://www.islandregister.com/phones/museum.html
Free Admission - Call (902) 651-2762 to arrange a visit!
C*NET 1-651-0001

AE_Collector

Hoping all turns out well for both of you and your families, Dave and twocv.

Terry

dpaynter1066

Sorry to hear of your brothers troubles Dave, hope he comes out all right.

pbghmike77

Everyone is more than welcome to email and correct me. I welcome all information, or corrections to any listings I have. Sometimes the only way sellers have a way to identify items is by other listings (guilty). Sorry that seller was so ignorant, dont let it discourage from helping others.

Hope all is well with your brother.

DavePEI

Today is the day we had hoped to hear more about my brother, Steve.

They were going to bring him out of the induced coma, but it didn't happen. Instead,  they put in a central line (deep intravenous that goes in the neck almost to the heart)

This is because Sunday they lightened up on the paralytic, and Steve blindly started to pull out tubes. Before waking him, they wanted to have a port that he couldn't compromise, as he had few good IV insertion points.

According to my niece, a Doctor in Ottawa,  it is going to be a few days before we know how or if he is going to wake up. It is likely going to be weeks before we know what the ultimate outcome is going to be.

Poor guy, and his poor wife and young kids! It has been very distracting, and my own health isn't good enough to go to Ottawa to be with the family. How I wish I could.

Regarding the 331B, the neon tube was broken, but a replacement has been found and it is on the way, thanks to a member of this list.

Thanks to all,

Dave
The Telephone Museum of Prince Edward Island:
http://www.islandregister.com/phones/museum.html
Free Admission - Call (902) 651-2762 to arrange a visit!
C*NET 1-651-0001