Classic Rotary Phones Forum

Telephone Talk => Pay Station Telephones => Northern Electric/Northern Telecom Pay Phones => Topic started by: compubit on December 28, 2017, 08:23:25 PM

Title: My First Payphone
Post by: compubit on December 28, 2017, 08:23:25 PM
(Third try to post...)
I had been looking for a pay phone and was following a NE Centurion On eBay for a while. When thE price dropped to $110, I offered $105 (+$35 shipping) and it was accepted.

I wasn't expecting it until next week, but it showed up at work today.

From what I can see: NE QSD401A: semi postpay, no locks, no coin box, but does have the cover. It also appears to be missing a base piece(?) which the bottom of the cover should latch to... The handset matches the case (brown). I haven't hooked it up yet, but it looks otherwise complete. I was surprised that the transmitter and receiver covers unscrewed (I though most payphone handsets were glued together). This thing is built like a tank!

The phone number on the phone is 416-385-9132. Any idea of the original location?  I'm guessing that this isn't the original number, as it's either Hamilton (pre-905/416 split) or Toronto (post-905/416 split)

The price card on the phone says 25¢ and is: Listen, Deposit, Dial (prepay), and is in both English and French. The dialing instruction card (Long Distance, Collect, Directory Assistance) is only in English. No BellCanada indications on the card. Looking at the circuit board inside the phone, it's currently set to 10 cents.

We'll see how it looks when I get it connected...
Jim
Title: Re: My First Payphone
Post by: ..... on December 28, 2017, 09:20:18 PM
Nice find, Canada 416 say's it from Toronto.
Title: Re: My First Payphone
Post by: poplar1 on December 28, 2017, 09:40:32 PM
Quote from: Duffy on December 28, 2017, 09:20:18 PM
Nice find, Canada 416 say's it from Toronto.

But where was 416-385 in 1974?
Title: Re: My First Payphone
Post by: compubit on December 28, 2017, 10:02:53 PM
I got that far, but 416 split with 905 back in '93, and Hamilton, ON was the location of the 905-385 prefix - unless it was reassigned along the way...  The lack of "Bell" markings makes me wonder if the cards are original to the phone (or other originals from elsewhere), or if the phone was used elsewhere and the 416-385 number was after it was acquired at some point along the way...

I've gotten it hooked up and with normal R/T, phone dials, answers, rings.

When I swap R/T, I can hear, but not speak.  When I drop coins, they do fall through to the vault, but don't allow speaking (The controller board was set to 10¢, and after changing it to 25¢, it still didn't respond...).

Does the phone need to come up normal R/T, then swap on answer (to get the electronics to work correctly)?  (Or any other hints...) - which would mean some sort of controller or Polarity-swapping ATA...

Also, the coin chute was off-kilter from shipping, and now that I've got it back in the right place, I have a couple of coins that appear to have fallen down behind the coin return chute.  Guess I'll need to take it apart to get them out. 

Also, even though it's Canadian, the US coins I've dropped fall properly (nickels, dimes and quarters fall into the vault; pennies drop through..., Euros and Pounds either fall through or halt until the coin discharge button is pushed - although the 5 cent Euro piece seems to register as a nickel...).

I'm excited... (though the phone needs some cleanup, as it was

Jim
Title: Re: My First Payphone
Post by: poplar1 on December 29, 2017, 02:05:15 AM
I couldn't find the listing. (EBay has made it more difficult to search completed items by price because you have to choose either "highest price + shipping"  or "lowest price + shipping" but can not search by sold price net of shipping). Can you provide the link?

The model number is for a semi-postpay with blue (-27) cover. The instruction card is for prepay. So even if the housing might have been swapped out in the field, the prepay instruction card should be used only if there is a relay to collect or refund the initial deposit.
Title: Re: My First Payphone
Post by: compubit on December 29, 2017, 10:22:39 AM
The innards are a 401, based on the examples from Dave I his island register website.

I have a new ATA coming this weekend, so I should be able to test dialing out and setting it to reverse voltage on answering.

Jim
Title: Re: My First Payphone
Post by: compubit on December 29, 2017, 10:27:23 AM
Also, when growing up, i was led impressed with ththe we phones (too boring design, compared to how the Western Electric phones looked. After seeing the Centurion brochure, I can appreciate the design much better - if someone defaces the device, just replace the cover, if someone tries to destroy the cover, you see the bright red-orange underneath, etc.

I would like to see the blue model (with a blue handset) somewhere. I've seen brown and black, and vaguely recall the green.

Jim