Anyone know what this is?

[Gary Z]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/285483167246

?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=Nc1UyWMdTWC&sssrc=2047675&ssuid=_-TxKh46TJe&widget_ver=artemis&media=EMAIL

I don't know how to do the short version of the eBay listing. It has a rural number plate and I cant tell if it a #2 dial. There are no pictures of the side with the finger stop. I'll know more when I get it.

[G-Man]

My guess is that it is an Amateur Radio homebrew project that was never completed.
The tubes and application would suggest this was before the introduction of -DTMF or at least, prior when TouchTone dialpads were common enough to talk your telco buddies to let one of them to "fall of the back of their trucks".

In this instance, an old rural dial was scavenged along with several other parts.

Most likely the dial pulsed the 2200 Kc oscillator accordingly the same number of times as the chosen digit.

At the receiving end, probably a Ham Radio repeater, a decoder circuit pulsed a relay the same number of times as the tone pulses were received.

In turn, it activated a stepping relay.

This would allow the operator to remotely control various functions of a repeater that would generally be located on top of a faraway mountain top.

Also note the PTT label indicating "Push-to-Talk."

I not able to fully read the second frequency but it would likely allow the operator to control a second repeater without interfering with the control of the first one.

Perhaps someone else has another theory that they would like to share.

[G-Man]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/285483167246?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=Nc1UyWMdTWC&sssrc=2047675&ssuid=_-TxKh46TJe&widget_ver=artemis&media=EMAIL
I don't know how to do the short version of the eBay listing.

Gary-
 
As far as I'm concerned, the full eBay URL is still preferable to a tiny URL since its destination is not hidden from the person clicking on it.
 
However, a "trick" to shorten it is as follows.
 
The complete URL-

• https://www.ebay.com/itm/285483167246?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=Nc1UyWMdTWC&sssrc=2047675&ssuid=_-TxKh46TJe&widget_ver=artemis&media=EMAIL

Strip the item number in the same URL and you end up with a shortened and fully fuctional URL-

• https://www.ebay.com/itm/285483167246

We can still see that it takes you to the official eBay location and not to a malicious website.

[tubaman]

Interesting item and certainly not factory made. Could have been a piece of custom test equipment maybe?
Here is the full set of the photos so we don't loose them.

[RDPipes]

You certainly did well on that I think sir, the dial is well worth what you paid for it
and a little more.

[G-Man]

Excerpts from...
 
Ham Radio Magazine    June 1968 Volume 1, No. 4
 
Point-to-point operation is called local channel or simplex operation and works quite
well. For larger coverage, amateurs have gone to repeaters.
 
Repeaters require two methods of control which must be entirely independent.
 
By using dialed tones transmitted to the repeater on the communications channel, secondary or member control is maintained. This is the method used by club members to turn the repeater on and off.
 
The trustee of the repeater must be able to turn the repeater completely off by using a remote-control system on 220 MHz or higher.
 
This system is only used in emergencies such as equipment malfunctions. This is called primary control. Generally, a 450-MHz fm system is used for primary control because the equipment is more readily available than 220-MHz equipment and takes much less effort to convert.
 
450-MHz equipment may also be used as a backbone link between two repeaters. This is a two-way relay system in which the audio from one repeater is fed to the other via a 450-MHz link where it is retransmitted on vhf. This allows mobiles or base stations to communicate dependably over great distances.
 
The 450-MHz receivers continuously monitor the channel, and the transmitters are turned on by [a] command from the ground stations. This eliminates any need to monitor the other repeater continuously.
 
Accessories and ideas
The following are some of the more popular accessories and ideas being used by fm amateurs around the country. This list is by no means complete in scope or content and is offered only as a stimulus to thought.
 
Tone oscillator.
A tone oscillator can be the right arm of an fm amateur. By placing a telephone dial in series with the audio output, it can be used to control a repeater or selective-call system. Generally, provision is made for selecting a number of different preset frequencies with a rotary switch.
 
Selective-call decoder.
For continuous channel monitoring with the speaker off, a decoder is wired into the base station. The call is placed by dialing a series of digits which add up to ten. This completes a circuit which rings a bell and turns on an indicator lamp.
 
Each channel user with this capability should choose a different four-digit number that adds up to ten such as 1-2-3-4, 1-1-7-1 or 3-4-2-1.

 Some amateurs transmit a short burst of tone back to the caller to tell him that the alarm did go off. This is called transponder and can even be used to indicate whether or not the party being called is home by transponding with different audio frequencies.


 

[rdelius]

That dial mount might be the non adjustable one for a 211. has a solid back and i only saw one in 30+ years

[ka1axy]

I think G-Man has nailed it. Tubes => pre-DTMF and the old VHF mobile phones used something very similar to dial calls, so using the same tech for repeater control seems very logical.

[ChrisW6ATV]

I think it is a predecessor to a "blue box". Steve Wozniak's father built this personally. He used it to get free phone calls but he had to tell the Cupertino, California operator "Don't listen in now, Agnes!" while he used it. 

[DuinoSoar]

Sorry, just found this thread a year later.

I think it is a predecessor to a "blue box". Steve Wozniak's father built this personally.

Yes, that's right.  Only it was (obviously) called a "Grey Box" (pre-cursor to Steve's and Steve's "Blue Box").  Mr. Wozniak and Steve Jobs' father were good friends at the time.  They were both sitting under an Apple tree while Mr. Wozniak built the Grey Box when, suddenly, an apple fell on Mr. Jobs' head, making Mr. Jobs think about the gravity of what they were doing.