Is this a rare dial???

[cihensley@aol.com]

Jorge - or print out your own from the attached. I find printing on HP Brochure & Flyer - Glossy paper produces a copy that approaches an original. Punch out the card with an 1.5 inch paper punch (the punch was discussed in posts about six months ago). The notch is cut with an Exacto knife.

Chuck

[GG]

Dave- Now that's a great idea!  Or a refillable prescription for the pain meds that a certain well-known radio personality was hooked on for a while.  Or a matched pair of male & female gerbils or hamsters, so he'll have more of 'em in two months than he knows what to do with.  Or a rail pass to see the USA via Amtrak (that would keep him out of our hair for a month anyway, hey it's a start!). 

Re. dial cards: Someone should do another just like the original but with "Remove receiver, listen for dialing tone.  Put fingers in holes and make little circles."  Whoever suggested that one originally ought to get a prize or something.  I may try that one in early GPO format as well. 

[Dave F]

Dave- Now that's a great idea!  Or a refillable prescription for the pain meds that a certain well-known radio personality was hooked on for a while.  Or a matched pair of male & female gerbils or hamsters, so he'll have more of 'em in two months than he knows what to do with.  Or a rail pass to see the USA via Amtrak (that would keep him out of our hair for a month anyway, hey it's a start!). 

GG- There's a doctor down here in L.A. who might be able to get us a big bottle of Propofol (or several).  That ought to put Mr. Helpful out of action for at least a little while.  Unfortunately, the doctor is presently engaged in some sort of legal mess, and we will probably have to wait for that outcome before we can ask him.

Dave

[cihensley@aol.com]

Here is another print master of the number card, with smaller type so the notch doesn't interfere with the type.

Chuck

[telcoguy]

My first posting on this Forum:

Yes, the #1 dial is a rare dial.  I know of 14 of them in the hands of collectors at this time and I have a photo or two of most of them.  I also know there are basically three types and the types differ by the number of springs in the pileup and the wiring and function of each of the terminals.  The last known eBay sale of one of these dials was very high.

Though my initials are GG, I am not the person who contacted the seller, but I did contact the seller after he had already learned that the dial was valuable.  He was quite sure it was considering where he got it, but didn't know for sure.  I am always happy when someone does something that causes the seller to let the auction go to the end so that ALL OF US have a chance to win an item.  When I wrote to the seller, I confirmed that he had a rare dial.  Mine by the way is of the same type, D8083, with four springs in the pileup.  According to an expert on these matters, this particular configuration of dial was most likely used on switchboards that were converted from manual to automatic.  This particular dial would not have been used on a deskstand as there are not enough circuits for the receiver and the transmitter, etc.  One of the other configurations of this dial had a pileup with five springs and is wired like the #2 dials found mostly on W.E. deskstands.

By the way, if anyone is looking for an identical copy of the dial center on a #1 dial, I have some that are on photo film and look like the real thing.  They are $5 each to your door.

Gary Goff

PS:  For the writer who mentioned the 7001 dial:  This is purported to be the first dial designed by Western Electric, but perhaps not patented.  In any event, it was not the dial that Western E. and the Bell System adopted for use, and as a result was sent to Western Electric in Belgium where it became the 7001 and was used extensively in Europe.  There were many iterations of it before it was retired so to speak.  I would love to acquire a BTMC deskstand with one of these dials.  I think that many collectors in the UK may own one.

[AE_Collector]

Wow...Gary G's on board now, Welcome Gary!

That was me who was second guessing myself as whether this was a #1 or a 7001. I believe that the 7001 is the dial with the digits running from 7 oclock, clockwise to 5 oclock if that makes sense.

Not to change the topic here but I just mentioned to Dave Hunter today that I would ask you if you know what color the button is supposed to be on Strowger 11 digit wall phones. Dave made some buttons for Remco and myself so we are now trying to determine wha tcolor the originals were.

Terry B

[GG]

Hi Gary-  For the record, I have a warped sense of humor, and so does Dave F (and we were both naughty phone phreaks back in the day), so welcome to the club of folks who may have taken one of our snarky remarks seriously.  Welcome aboard!, and if you want us to tone it down, just say the word.

But just to be sure everyone knew it was snark, there was a smilie at the end of the line about contacting the seller to offer them $300 early.  I have never, nor would I ever, try to subvert an auction that way, or use sniping software or sniping services (I do my last-minute snipes manually).  Nor would I ever go offering someone illegal drugs (or purloined prescriptions, or even a bottle of booze) to get them to go to sleep at an advantageous moment.  Distractions with small furry critters are a different story however (mice also work for this purpose), and especially beware the penguin on top of your television set, which strictly speaking has feathers rather than fur but we don't discriminate.  

I also have a 7001-ish dial; mine is marked only 7013B on the side of the fingerstop.  These appear to be pretty common.  It needs a trip to the Dial Doctor to get its mainspring fixed.  It also has a Norwegian numberplate that would be nice to convert to US rural style (this can be done nondestructively by creating an overlay).  The impulse mechanism is basically very close to that on the conventional A/B Elektrisk Bureau convertible desk/wall phones we've all seen, as is the off-normal mechanism. 

Its impulse cam has an exceptionally long pulse for the digit that should be 1 (which is marked 9), that would be nice to swap out for one that's uniform (or perhaps my Panasonic PBX won't care and will convert it to DTMF digit 1 as it does with every other dial I have).  Question is, are those kinds of mods tolerable or would that be first-degree destruction of historic equipment?  (You guys!  You guys have really gotten to me about this.  The things I once did and contemplated doing only a short while before signing up here...! But, no longer, alas, all those odd mongrelizations and suchlike are things of the past, and I've reformed my evil ways...)

[teka-bb]

Wow...Gary G's on board now, Welcome Gary!

That was me who was second guessing myself as whether this was a #1 or a 7001. I believe that the 7001 is the dial with the digits running from 7 oclock, clockwise to 5 oclock if that makes sense.

Not to change the topic here but I just mentioned to Dave Hunter today that I would ask you if you know what color the button is supposed to be on Strowger 11 digit wall phones. Dave made some buttons for Remco and myself so we are now trying to determine wha tcolor the originals were.

Terry B

Hello Terry,

Here is a picture of the BTMC 7001 dial:

[Doug Rose]

Gary....a warm welcome to the Forum.

For those of you who have not had the pleasure, Gary has one of the most amaziing collections. His webiste is a monthly stop for me.

http://www.telephonecollector.info/

The only thing that tops his collection is the man himself. Generous to a fault and always there to help a collector. I know from from experience. We are all fortunate to have Gary join the Forum......Doug

[Dan]

Welcome Gary. Well the dial is over $1800 so far. I guess it is a rare one!

[mariepr]

...But just to be sure everyone knew it was snark, there was a smilie at the end of the line about contacting the seller to offer them $300 early.  I have never, nor would I ever, try to subvert an auction that way, or use sniping software or sniping services (I do my last-minute snipes manually).

Up to $2215 now. 

The last time I remember one of these coming up I got into an on-LIST spat with a collector club member over it.  He called the seller and offered $800 to end the auction early.  I felt the seller had cheated the bidders by changing the rules while into the game.  And I felt the buyer had cheated fellow club members by subverting the auction.  (Same member did the same on an A1 auction.)  Quite frankly I have more of a problem with club members who subvert auctions in this manner than with "Mr. Helpful".

[teka-bb]

It sold for US $4,049.99...

[Doug Rose]

It sold for US $4,049.99...

One of the usual high end buyers. I guessed $3500 and thought I was high. Just a beautiful dial and rare this time really does mean RARE!!!! I love dials and this is the King....Doug

[teka-bb]

It sold for US $4,049.99...

One of the usual high end buyers. I guessed $3500 and thought I was high. Just a beautiful dial and rare this time really does mean RARE!!!! I love dials and this is the King....Doug

I'm happy with my BTMC 7001 which is probably equally rare. At least I didn't pay that kind of money for it

[rdelius]

I wonder if they noticed it was broken and would the impulse arm on a #2 fit?
Robby