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Mr Bones' telephones

Started by Mr. Bones, January 20, 2013, 10:49:26 PM

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poplar1

#60
The black dot indicates that it is a 6A dial. That number plate will not fit on a 5H dial.

Later on, the dot was removed and a universal plate coded 164A was used. That plate will fit a 6A or a 5H, also 4H and 2A. Instead of a dot, the number 6 was stamped into the side of the finger stop.

The Z was removed from 3" dials (150B and 164A numbe plates) in late 1953.
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

Mr. Bones

Quote from: poplar1 on April 17, 2013, 06:10:06 PM
The black dot indicates that it is a 6A dial. That number plate will not fit on a 5H dial.

     Thanks for the very prompt, and most informative reply! 6A dial it is, then! This answers my most important question!
Quote
Later on, the dot was removed and a universal plate coded 164A was used. That plate will fit a 6A or a 5H, also 4H and 2A. Instead of a dot, the number 6 was stamped into the side of the finger stop.

The Z was removed from 3" dials (150B and 164A number plates) in late 1953.
So, the plate still having the Z would, generally, indicate pre-late 1953. That's right in the ballpark, date-wise. Would the number plate, then, be a 150A? I looked up some dial overlays, prior to posting. The 150A's for sale at OPW had no dot, but the Z was there.

     When did the 164A come along, and, if pre-late 1953, did it ever have the aforementioned dot?

     It looks like 3, possibly 4 of my phones have the 6 stamp on the finger stop.

     Thanks, again, for your expertise, and letting me pick your brain!

Best regards!

Terrence
Sláinte!
   Mr. Bones
      Rubricollis Ferus

poplar1

#62
The 150A plate will not fit on a 6A dial. The early 6A plate will not fit on a 5H dial.

The 150A never has a black dot. Only the plates for the early 6As (starting in 1952) have the dot. The plate may be stamped 6A along with a date (on the back).

The Z is on early 6A number plates and on the 132B, 149B, 150B  from about 1933-1953. There are some late 150B plates without the Z; I don't know about Z on the universal 164A plates.

On the 1953+ 150B and 164A dial plates without a Z, the word "operator" is written as an "eyebrow" over the zero. On the pre-1933 132B number plates, the word "operator" is written in a straight line.
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

Mr. Bones

David,

     Thanks for even more enlightenment! This gives me much to explore, with my phones, in order to tell 'what's what?', as well as what to look for, in the future.

Best regards!

Terrence
Sláinte!
   Mr. Bones
      Rubricollis Ferus

twocvbloke

Quote from: Mr. Bones on April 17, 2013, 03:46:07 PMI've been researching a bit, to determine the answer to that question. It sounds like, perhaps, my best bet is to get a UK 'master jack'. Apparently, this provided some of the circuitry for all the telephones in a residence. Still looking into it, then will source out the best solution.

There's a few conversion solutions on this forum, a few from myself, the 746 is easy to make it work on 2-wire systems, especially if it still has the ring capacitor(s) fitted to the PCB inside, though I need to go open one of my 746 phones to remind myself how it's done... :D

twocvbloke

Yep, easy as pie, if the 1.8uF C1 capacitor (Or C1 & C2 if it uses two 0.9uF caps) is still fitted, add a strap to T6-T7 and another to T8-T9, move the blue wire to T14 (this insulates it), and either replace the line cable, or use an RJ11 to BT adaptor and you're set... :)

If the capacitor is missing, you can solder one into the C1 position, or connect a 0.47uF capacitor between T8 and T6 and that'll make the phone ring... :)

Mr. Bones

Thanks for the information, twocv!

     When I searched the forum, it appeared that (at least some) GPO 746's needed the 'master jack, because it contained the capacitor(s). Then, the extension jacks were wired to the 'master', and all worked merrily.

     I shall have to take a look underneath the bonnet, and see which variety I have, then I'll know more about what I shall have to do.

     I'm hoping for the scenario you reported, where a jumper, and a bit of wire-shuffling resolves the issue. If not, I shall proceed from there!

Best regards, as always!

Terrence
Sláinte!
   Mr. Bones
      Rubricollis Ferus

Mr. Bones

#67
Home photos of my '52 354:
Sláinte!
   Mr. Bones
      Rubricollis Ferus

Mr. Bones

52 354's TX and RX dates:
Sláinte!
   Mr. Bones
      Rubricollis Ferus

twocvbloke

Quote from: Mr. Bones on April 18, 2013, 12:14:06 AM
Thanks for the information, twocv!

     When I searched the forum, it appeared that (at least some) GPO 746's needed the 'master jack, because it contained the capacitor(s). Then, the extension jacks were wired to the 'master', and all worked merrily.

They're easy phones to adapt, alter and convert, it's pretty much a universal phone... :D

The Master socket is just basically adding a capacitor in parallel with other phones, which these days is redundant as pretty much every modern phone sold here works on the 2-wire system, but BT won't acknowledge that fact... :D

In their original GPO configuration, they were 2-wire phones, they just had a strap in the terminal block to make them three wire, but you could move said strap up into the phone anyway, so was a pointless exercise on the GPO's part in my opinion, and the conversion to BT standards was just a case of cutting out the ringer capacitor, and if they had a 1kOhm ringer, adding a 3.3k resistor too... :D

poplar1

#70
Quote from: Mr. Bones on April 17, 2013, 06:47:05 PM
Quote from: poplar1 on April 17, 2013, 06:10:06 PM
The black dot indicates that it is a 6A dial. That number plate will not fit on a 5H dial.

    Thanks for the very prompt, and most informative reply! 6A dial it is, then! This answers my most important question!
Quote
Later on, the dot was removed and a universal plate coded 164A was used. That plate will fit a 6A or a 5H, also 4H and 2A. Instead of a dot, the number 6 was stamped into the side of the finger stop.

The Z was removed from 3" dials (150B and 164A number plates) in late 1953.
So, the plate still having the Z would, generally, indicate pre-late 1953. That's right in the ballpark, date-wise. Would the number plate, then, be a 150A? I looked up some dial overlays, prior to posting. The 150A's for sale at OPW had no dot, but the Z was there.

    When did the 164A come along, and, if pre-late 1953, did it ever have the aforementioned dot?

    It looks like 3, possibly 4 of my phones have the 6 stamp on the finger stop.

    Thanks, again, for your expertise, and letting me pick your brain!

Best regards!

Terrence


Terrance, as for the dot on a 164A, the answer is no. The dot is only on the early 6A number plates.

If there were a dot on the 164A plate, and you used that plate on a 5H dial, then the justification for having the dot (to indicate a 6A dial) would no longer make sense.

Reminds me of a story we read in 2nd Grade:
A farmer finds treasure buried near a tree. He ties a ribbon around the tree so he can find that tree again, and makes the leprechaun promise not to remove the ribbon while the farmer goes to get his wife to share in his find. When the man comes back with his wife, sure enough, the leprechaun has not removed the ribbon....but he has placed identical ribbons on all the other trees!
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

LarryInMichigan

Quote from: Mr. Bones on April 17, 2013, 05:48:32 PM
    Thanks to a tip from LarryInMichigan, I was able to (afford to) buy my first 354 8), which arrived, totally unharmed, yesterday. ;D Better yet, including shipping, (which was fast!!), it actually cost less than the Crosley replicas, minus shipping!

    Many Thanks, Larry! I owe you at least one!

I am glad to hear that the 354 arrived safely.  I am surprised that it doesn't have a ringer, but one shouldn't be hard to find.  I don't think that I have any good spares, but I am sure that someone around here has some.

Larry

Mr. Bones

Yay! ;D

     I have a D1 base, I 33, on the way here! A guy's gotta start somewhere, right? Here's the auction pics:
Sláinte!
   Mr. Bones
      Rubricollis Ferus

Jim Stettler

Quote from: Mr. Bones on April 20, 2013, 05:32:59 PM
Yay! ;D

     I have a D1 base, I 33, on the way here! A guy's gotta start somewhere, right? Here's the auction pics:

I really need to rub it in about you missing your Neighborhood phone shows.
John Andrews (CO) had 3 of these on his table for $5.00 each. John Huckeby  (ID) got them on Saturday. I doubt if the went for 3@ $15.

I was tempted  @ $5.00 each but not enough to own them.
They were available for both days.

Just saying...
Jim
You live, You learn,
You die, you forget it all.

Mr. Bones

#74
Quote from: Jim S. on April 20, 2013, 11:20:59 PM
Quote from: Mr. Bones on April 20, 2013, 05:32:59 PM
Yay! ;D

    I have a D1 base, I 33, on the way here! A guy's gotta start somewhere, right? Here's the auction pics:

I really need to rub it in about you missing your Neighborhood phone shows.
John Andrews (CO) had 3 of these on his table for $5.00 each. John Huckeby  (ID) got them on Saturday. I doubt if the went for 3@ $15.

I was tempted  @ $5.00 each but not enough to own them.
They were available for both days.

Just saying...
Jim

Jim,

    Thanks! I do deserve the rub, and appreciate it, though, next time, I would enjoy it more thoroughly, if you would use some salt, during the process! :D  (If I ask, 'Pretty Please', will you also use some habañeros, so that I can fully maximize the experience!) ;D

    I paid $18.99 for the D1 base I have coming, and am very excited to have it. Three for $5.00 apiece would have been even more of a treasure, no doubt!

    The fuel logistics for the roughly 250-mile round trip were only $80.00-$100.00... the logistics for having a 30-yr old failed 6000+ lb. truck towed home to Larryville ,@$5-$10 / loaded mile, were what made me decide not to make the trip.

    With luck, I can make other arrangements for the next year! Glad to hear that you got there, and back, safely! I hope that you made some extreme deals, both buying, and selling.

    With luck, you came home richer, wiser, and content!

Best regards!

Sláinte!
   Mr. Bones
      Rubricollis Ferus