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The Steepletone "Rotarepo" STP1960...

Started by twocvbloke, January 05, 2012, 02:39:23 PM

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bingster

Just out of curiosity, what is the diameter of the works behind the dial plate? Is it under three inches, by any chance?  Also, what is the thickness of that stack (indicated in dark red, below), excluding the smaller, outermost disc?
= DARRIN =



McHeath

QuotePersonally I prefer replicas that have been done properly, like how you get replica phasers based on Star Trek props (yeah, I have a Phaser..

I have a communicator, original series of course. 8)  I've seen and handled a communicator prop from the original Trek that a buddy had back in the mid 80's, it was surprisingly cheap and poorly made. 

So Bingster, thinking of trying to retrofit this dial into something. ;)

I'd not at all be surprised if this phone and my Crosley were made in the same factory in China.  The Crosley feels quite solid overall, with the exception of the rather poorly done electrical work.  If one of these Rotarepos ever came up for a few bucks on E-Bay or the like I'd pop for it to add to the shelf of "Weird and curious phones".


twocvbloke

#47
Quote from: bingster on January 21, 2012, 11:12:52 AM
Just out of curiosity, what is the diameter of the works behind the dial plate? Is it under three inches, by any chance?  Also, what is the thickness of that stack (indicated in dark red, below), excluding the smaller, outermost disc?

Well, in Millimetres (I'm useless at fractions of inches!!), the width of the dial mechanism is about 80mm (can't be exact as I can't get the dial out due to superglued-in parts), and the height of the indicated in red bit is 18mm, total dial height (on the back, not including the fingerwheel) when assembled is 30mm... :)

twocvbloke

Quote from: McHeath on January 21, 2012, 12:19:59 PMI have a communicator, original series of course. 8)  I've seen and handled a communicator prop from the original Trek that a buddy had back in the mid 80's, it was surprisingly cheap and poorly made. 

I want one of the bluetooth ones they made a while ago, where you can link it to a mobile phone, and answer calls just by flicking the communicator open... ;D

Adam

Quote from: McHeath on January 21, 2012, 12:19:59 PM
I've seen and handled a communicator prop from the original Trek that a buddy had back in the mid 80's, it was surprisingly cheap and poorly made. 

Don't forget, the original prop's only goal in life was to look good on a little TV screen.  It didn't have to have any real heft or solidness, that's added by how the actor handles it.  And of course, the sound effects added later are what really sell it as being "real".
Adam Forrest
Los Angeles Telephone - A proud part of the global C*Net System
C*Net 1-383-4820

bingster

Quote from: McHeath on January 21, 2012, 12:19:59 PM
So Bingster, thinking of trying to retrofit this dial into something. ;)

I'm pretty transparent, huh?  ;D

It looks like it would be just a tad too large (it's just over 3  1/8") to fit a three inch dial opening.  :(

= DARRIN =



twocvbloke

Quote from: bingster on January 21, 2012, 05:12:18 PMIt looks like it would be just a tad too large (it's just over 3  1/8") to fit a three inch dial opening.  :(



The dial surround framework would probably fit a real WE500 phone's case with a bit of glue, but you'd only have three colour options, Black, Ivory and Goji Berry Red...  :D

twocvbloke

Thought I'd do a colour comparison of the Red Tenite WE500 and the Goji Berry Red of the Steepletone, the camera doesn't see what the eye can under non-flash conditions, but you can still see the differences, especially with the Steepletone's handset on the WE500's cradle... :)

McHeath

The Rotarepo phone's color is messed up a bit for me with that white under the dial. 

The way that dial works makes me wonder if that's how the rotary dial might have evolved had it survived.

twocvbloke

I think the dial colour is more to do with them trying to fob people off saying it's a GPO phone, as most GPO dials since the late 706 and all of the 746 phones were a silvery-grey colour, which is what this rotarepo phone's dial colour is, just another example of the chinese trying to make something into something it's not... :-\

twocvbloke

Just playing with this phone again, and managed to get the handset fully opened up, and to my surprise, the weight in there is not lead, it's a lump of cast steel or iron, crudely cast of course, I wonder what percentage of the weight used to be a western car.... :D

And of course, taking the weight out results in a very lightweight handset that cannot even press it's own hookswitch down, very thin plastic for sure... :o

Here's a pic:

Owain

Quote from: twocvbloke on February 04, 2012, 10:24:57 AM
I wonder what percentage of the weight used to be a western car.... :D

more likely to be manhole covers...

twocvbloke


Adam

Quote from: Owain on February 04, 2012, 11:41:33 AM
more likely to be manhole covers...

Or, as they're called these days, "personhole".
Adam Forrest
Los Angeles Telephone - A proud part of the global C*Net System
C*Net 1-383-4820

twocvbloke

Quote from: Adam on February 04, 2012, 01:07:51 PMOr, as they're called these days, "personhole".

Nah, that could be misconstrued as being the back door to the human body.... :D

It'd more likely be "Ground-Mounted Equipment Access Hatch", just to be 100% PC... ;D