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Leich It or Not

Started by LarryInMichigan, September 30, 2009, 05:15:31 PM

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LarryInMichigan

I just received what I thought was a Leich phone that I bought on ebay, and disappointingly found it to be a mostly empty shell.  The cords are apparently old two-conductor AC power cords added for show, and the one going to the handset was simply taped in a loop and not connected to anything.  The handset, which says "Leich" on it)  does contain both the transmitter and receiver capsules, and they both work when connected to an 1970s AE80 network, but the transmitter has poor frequency response (but I do not know how well it should sound).  The base measures about 6"x5".

Does anyone have any idea of what this is, how old it is, or what it is worth?

Thank You


Larry







Dan/Panther

If the ad was mislesading, I'd ask for a refund, or at least a partial refund. If you paid through Pay-Pal, you can get a refund for just about any reason.
D/P
It appears that it is an extension phone. You may only be missing the proper wires andf the ringer for it's intended purpose.

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

LarryInMichigan

What do you mean by "extension phone"?  Do you mean that it was intended to be connected to a network in another phone or an external box?

Thank You


Larry

JorgeAmely

Larry:

The schematic glued to the base should indicate the internal components that came with this phone. Check to see if there is a network or a ringer.
Jorge

LarryInMichigan

I guess that my first posting should have been clearer.  The third picture shows everything inside the shell.  There is nothing but a hook switch and a terminal strip, no network and no ringer.  It was obvious from the ebay posting that it did not have a dial, but it was described as a Leich telephone, so I assumed that it at least contained a network.


Larry

bingster

#5
I've never seen the inside of a Leich like this before, but I *believe* all that's in there is all that came in there.  These were installed as part of a tandem configuration of telephone/magneto box.  The wall-mounted magneto (which for this phone has been nicknamed "the beehive magneto") contained the ringer, network and whatnot.  They can frequently be found on ebay alone and with the telephones.  I'd compare this phone to the narrow Kellogg "ashtray" which contained nothing but cords and a switchhook.

It's a common misconception that a phone without a dial is an extension phone.  Rather, these were installed in manual service areas, where dial service wasn't available.  If dial service was available in your area, then all your extensions had dials, too.  There was no mixing and matching.

Here's a picture of the phone (with a later handset) and it's magneto base:

http://www.telephonecollectors.org/pictures/?id=238605252
= DARRIN =



Dan/Panther

Doesn't that schematic show a ringer.
D/P

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

bingster

I think it may be showing the complete schematic of the telephone plus the magneto base.  If you look to the left of the ringer in the diagram, it appears to show the three bars of the magneto.
= DARRIN =



Dan/Panther

Did those phones have the magneto crank located in the dial plate cover ?
D/P

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

LarryInMichigan

I believe that bingster is correct.  The barely legible schematic on the inside of the bottom plate does appear to show both the phone and a subset box with a magneto.  There is also a mention of "3V", so apparently the phone was configured to work with a local battery magneto subset (which i do not have). 

To make things more interesting, I just received the second Leich phone which I bought on ebay (there were two listed at the same time with bids ending a few hours apart), and this one contains a capacitor and inductor and a much different schematic.  The outer shell is essentially identical to the first, but the handset is different.  Although the handset does not look anything like a WE F1, it actually contains F1 transmitter and receiver capsules.  The transmitter is stamped "4-48".  This phone does not include a dial.

For fun, I tried to connect this phone to my phone line, and by connecting the red and yellow wires to the line, I was able to get a faint dial tone.  Interestingly, the transmitter worked perfectly.  I see that the schematic refers to a battery.  Does anyone know how I can connect this to my line?

Thank You

Larry





bingster

Quote from: Dan/Panther on October 01, 2009, 02:33:56 PM
Did those phones have the magneto crank located in the dial plate cover ?
D/P
I think that was the later Leich "convertible" phone that could be used as a desk or wall phone.  It had big hooks on the back of the phone to hold the handset in place, and the crank was in the space normally used for a dial.
= DARRIN =