GPO 162 Neophone?

[dutchjim]

I have been admiring this phone for some time. I have only collected and researched Western Electric phones, but this one got to me. Anyway, I need some help. The bottom plate says No. 162 C13 GPO. What I don't know is whether it is an example of a Neophone.

The gentleman who I bought it from (ebay) said he thought it was from 1937. I have tried to take the receiver and transmitter caps off to see what the dates are, but no such luck. I hope this isn't going to be like an E type of handset where I'll have to use a hair dryer and strap wrench to get the caps off.

It has a number 25 bell set (subset), and I've included a photo of that. The former owner says he remembers that the telephone was attached to the bell set. They are not "attached". The phone fits on top of the bell set nicely. I don't see any attachment mechanism or hole were screws would go, etc. My feeling is they're not attached.

Can anybody comment on this phone, or Neophone?

Cheers, Jim

[dutchjim]

! more question. I just looked at my post. The photos are embarrassingly too large. Can someone tell me how to get the photo size decreased?

Jim

[LarryInMichigan]

Jim,

1937 is possible for that phone.  Those British GPO "pyramid" phones are considered quite collectable.  I believe that the handset is the same as on the 300 series.  The receiver cap should unscrew, but the transmitter cap is held with a metal tab which needs to be pushed inward through a small hole on the side of the cap.  This website: http://www.britishtelephones.com/ has all sorts os useful information about British phones.

The images in your post are fine.


Larry

[Owain]

Specific links for your phone:

http://www.britishtelephones.com/t162.htm
http://www.britishtelephones.com/bellst25.htm
http://www.britishtelephones.com/t164.htm

To attach the bellset to the phone and make a 'king pyramid' needs special screws.

http://www.britishtelephones.com/pyramidandbell.htm

you also need a special short cord to go between the bellset and the phone, there were no internal connections.

[dutchjim]

Thanks very much Larry and Owain. The website you referred me to is a treasure trove of information on GPO telephones. It also has the history of the 200 series phones. It will take me some days (months?) to read everything.

The phone I have was made in 1937. It does not have the drawer for dialing code cards. I surmise that the 162 model didn't have the drawer, and it wasn't until the 232 model came out that drawer for dialing code cards came out.

Another question I had was with the bell set, and why it didn't attach to my model 162 phone. Apparently, the bellset (number 25) was supposed to be mounted on the wall. It appears that the later 232 model phone and its bellset (number 26) could be fastened together, or the bellset could be wall mounted.

There are many names for the phone, including "Microtelephone", "Neophone", "200 type", "Pyramid or King Pyramid", and "Geophone made by GEC". The phone was made available in Australia, Canada, India, and South Africa.

I have also discovered another website that gives more information on the 200 series, called Petra Caroline's VTM (Virtual Telephone Museum)  http://www.henderson-tele.com/vtm/

Regards,

Jim

[AE_Collector]

A TOTAL GUESS here on my part but when these phones were the latest thing they probably connected to a wall mounted bell box. Later when "combined sets" were introduced they may have started adding the bell box to the bottom of the older 162 sets to emulate the newer type phones and keep them in service longer. Presumably there had not been a method built into the base of the 162's to allow a bell box to be permanently attached to the 162.

Terry

[gpo706]

Careful with the mouthpiece cap, it isn't a threaded cap, it has three metal prongs situated onthe outside of the mic housing and opens with a twist to anti-clockwise, then it should jump up out of the prongs, return by pushing down and clockwise in.

[dsk]

! more question. I just looked at my post. The photos are embarrassingly too large. Can someone tell me how to get the photo size decreased?

Jim

I am happy with this freeware: http://www.irfanview.com/
The program is simple and easy to use. ctrl R or re-size are a simple way to choose how big it should be.

dsk