Clear Cordless 880L

[countryman]

I just purchased this cordless phone. I wonder what it is? It has a FCC approval number so I guess it was made for the US and came to Germany on the grey market.
The first cordless phones approved for Germany appeared in the mid to late 1980ies (CT1 standard in the ~900Mhz range UHF) and were expensive. Non-approved models were available cheaper and earlier and weren't illegal to own, but to use them was (and is) forbidden.
So I wonder what year this one might be?
The price was 15.99 € (19.46 $ US, shipping included) what I thought was OK for a clear phone ;-)
I'm excited what will arrive, the mains adapter is broken but that will be replaceable.

[Key2871]

Very cool, never saw one in clear before. That's a great find!

[Jim Stettler]

That is a nice set. The only clear cordless I recall from the US was thru Radio Shack. I think the base was bigger than this and was typically painted in novelty colors.
The may of had unpainted as well.
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My guess on your set is they offered a painted  one also. I think yours was a non painted version.
It is very nice and you should post it in the find of the month as well as clear telephones .
JMO,
Jim

[countryman]

I now managed to replace the NiMH batteries and the phone works as it should. It operates in the 46 MHz band that has never been legal for phones here in Germany. But the range is very limited (like modern DECT phones), so I do not assume I will disturb any important military or emergency service, if there even is any still operating in this band. I'm not going to run the phone 24/7 anyway.
The funny curved grey thing inside the mobile part looks like a neon bulb, but it does not light up when the phone is called. Maybe it's broken.

[tubaman]

Very cool set.
That does look like a neon, but it's unusual to have one running from a low voltage battery setup. Is it actually wired in, as I wonder if it's just supposed to glow in the dark like the tubes in the trimphone dials?

[19and41]

Maybe it only glows when the phone is on-hook and taking charging current?

[countryman]

It's made of glass and it does not light up in any mode. There is a tiny wire on one of the mounting posts but I can't see where it's connected to.
It could very well be a glow-in-the-dark material. These seem to lose their light-accumulating abilities over the years.
There are LEDs in the base and the handset that indicate charge and power on, these are working.

[Jim Stettler]

ISTR  a clear modern-trimline type phone that had a neon lamp in the same location.
I think it was a palm tree. This was a corded phone.
Jim

[countryman]

Palm tree makes sense. I think that is it. I searched for the model number and in fact found a similar one on eBay (just a handset, and the battery compartment is slightly different).
https://www.ebay.de/itm/312511154882
Looks like the trunk of the palm tree broke off and floats around in the housing. Looking closely, there are sharp edges where the trunk should be on mine, like it is broken off, too.
There is a small transformer on the PCB next to the "tree", possibly a high voltage supply for a neon bulb. Unfortunately the defect won't be fixable.