Won a Brit 706

[McHeath]

So in a moment of sheer utter weakness I bought the following phone on E-Bay:

http://tinyurl.com/cvqvyc
( dead link 05-09-21 )

Now I think it's a British 706, the shape of the cradle makes me think that, but the dial is certainly more 746, but what do I know??  Here's the real odd thing, it's in Israel and the guy is going to ship it to me for $4.99.  Collective huh?! 

Can this phone be made to work on the American POTS?  Will it make all conversations have a posh accent, or more of a Yorkshire Dalesman? 

We shall see.

[Stephen Furley]

So in a moment of sheer utter weakness I bought the following phone on E-Bay:

http://tinyurl.com/cvqvyc

Now I think it's a British 706, the shape of the cradle makes me think that, but the dial is certainly more 746, but what do I know??  Here's the real odd thing, it's in Israel and the guy is going to ship it to me for $4.99.  Collective huh?! 

It seems to be basically the same as a British 706, but I don't think it's a GPO (General Post Office) one.  The design was mainly by Ericsson, with some input from the GPO and others, and they were made by several different companies, and supplied to various organisations in several countries.  Whether they were used in Israel, I've no idea.

Can this phone be made to work on the American POTS?  Will it make all conversations have a posh accent, or more of a Yorkshire Dalesman? 

We shall see.

Yes, it can be made to work over there, assuming that it's not broken of course.  You may may need to make some minor modifications internally, but this is very easy to do, and totally reversible, on these models.  I cannot tell exactly how your telephone is configured; the most likely problem is that it won't ring, but that can be fixed easily.  At the moment I'm writing my piece comparing the WE 500 and AE 80 with the 706 and 746, and hope to post it tomorrow.  The internal photographs in that may be useful to you.

There's nothing wrong with a clear plastic finger wheel on a 706, many different types, metal, coloured and clear plastic, were fitted at different times, and for different markets.

When you receive it, take the handset off its rest, undo the two two captive screws in the rest, and lift off the cover.  If it's the same as the British ones you'll find 19 terminals at the back, one row of nine, and the other of ten.  Some of these will be strapped together, and others will have wires attached to them.  Take a photograph, or tell me what's connected to what, and I can tell you how to connect it up.  The terminals should be numbered, and readily accessible.

The transmitter should be connected between terminals 3 and 10, and the receiver between 1 and 2.  The straps, and the connections for the line cord will vary, depending on the configuration.

[McHeath]

Yeah I'm pretty excited about this phone and looking forward to getting it.  Whenever that is, at $4.99 for shipping I'm guessing it's on the slow boat, so it may be a while. 

Thanks for the offer of help Stephen Furley, as soon as it arrives I will get a pic up of how it's wired and what's inside it.  I think I read someplace that British phones were made by other makers in other nations, so it will be interesting to see where this phone originated from. 

Yes Hobie I am growing in interest in other nations rotary phones.  My Ericofon did that I guess, and your Swiss beauties are sure enticing.

And the price was right on this one!

[mienaichizu]

that's a nice looking phone McHeath

[Stephen Furley]

McHeath,

Interestingly, two more Israeli telephones have just shown up on EBAY, but from a different seller.  I wonder if whoever operates the telephone system in that country have been having a clear-out.  These however are much more expensive, at 54.99 and 59.99 buy it now, both with 9.99 postage; all prices in pounds.  One of these is described as a 746, which if they used the same numbering there as here it is not, it's a 706 Mk.1 type case, dated 1976, which makes it very late for that type.  But I can't tell what's fitted inside it.

The other one is a grey 746 type, dated 1985, again very late for the type.  Interestingly, both have line cords fitted with the old style Israeli plug, which is a strange thing.  If they were much cheaper I might consider buying one just for this, but not at this price.

Unfortunately, there are no internal pictures, and the only printing on the bottom is in Hebrew, which I cannot understand.  All three of these 'phones seem to be in good condition.

[McHeath]

Mine has not yet arrived, though it's on the way, so no idea of course what it really will turn out to be.  Those other phones you mention are certainly too high for my blood, seems pretty pricey overall.

[McHeath]

Well it arrived today.  Came from Israel to California and was in prefect shape, no damage at all in shipping.  Now why can't I get people from the other side of my own country to figure out how to wrap stuff?

I'll post some pics later, it looks good, in better shape than the pic on e-bay and seems to be just a little dirty.  No idea if it works. 

[HobieSport]

Looking forward to pictures of the inside.
How much was the shipping from Israel?

[McHeath]

The shipping from Israel was a whopping $4.99!  It arrived in a little box and was well packed, all parts wrapped in bubble wrap and then the box filled with peanuts. 

Here are some pics.

First pic is of the wiring of the cords, anyone know how this should be wired to make it work in the US?

[McHeath]

Here is a general shot of the inner works.  There is a wiring diagram on the inside of the shell, all in Hebrew.  Most of the writing on the phone is in Hebrew, with some English.  The bells seem to be steel and one is quite a bit thicker than the other.  The dial is very slow to return.

[McHeath]

Here is it lurking on the desk, with the 1951 WE 500 eyeing it suspiciously.  It's a nice creamy yellow, not faded white, and the inside of the case is pretty much the same as the outside.  It should clean up with just some polish and look sharp. 

[Dan]

i love the styling! Looks like a WE500 bar of soap that has been 'washed a couple of times" or a slick AE80

[AET]

Great phone!  I think Dan describes it well!

[HobieSport]

I think it's very nifty too, Heath.  I'm just still really curious how the shipping was so inexpensive.

[McHeath]

Me too.  It has the customs sticker on it, said it was "collectables" and valued at $9.90.  The postage sticker was in Hebrew and priced in shekels, which I ran a conversion on and it totaled $4.99.  I don't get it.

Has a weird plug on the linecord, looks more like something for a audio headphone jack, and it also has Hebrew on it.  Judging from the level of Hebrew writing on the phone, and even some of the internal parts, I'd have to say that it might have been made in Israel, or at least heavily localized for them. 

It feels like it hardly weighs anything, very light. 

First impressions of this phone are that it's pretty rugged, the plastics are all very thick, and also it feels a bit old fashioned.  The handset in particular feels more like something from the 30's, with it's curious little spitcupish transmitter cap, surprisingly large size, and old timey lines.  The inner workings seem very sophisticated, but the external styling seems to be less full out modern than the WE 500.  I like the look of the phone, you guys describe it well, and really like the mellow yellow color with the two-tone accents on the dial ring and top button.