kent@husc6.harvard.edu (Kent Borg) (09/21/89)
There have recently been some wonderful articles on the history of telecommunications: automatic equipment for dialing undertakers, time from Western Union, etc. Thank you to all who have written them. Very nice stuff. My question is where might I buy an 11-hole Stowger dial phone, or a Western Union clock? (Would be sooo much fun to synchronize it to WWV. Both the historian and techno-nerd in me start drooling at the thought.) How about simply the oldest dial phone which will still talk to a modern switch, or an even older non-dial phone which will ring and let me answer? Must I just go look through the regular antique channels, or are there better ways? I might have just acquired an expensive taste... Kent Borg "You know me, bright ideas kent@lloyd.uucp just pop into my head!" or -Mrs Lovett ...!husc6!lloyd!kent (from Stephen Sondheim's "Sweeny Todd") [Moderator's Note: Well, you can't purchase my two Western Union clocks, one of which hangs on the wall here in my computer room right in front of me; despite a terminal which tells me the time, a system command which does the same, my wristwatch, a digital clock in a little stand, and one of those Radio Shack Weather/WWV receivers, I still prefer the big telegraph clock the best. I attached a little doorbell button and a piece of wire up to it and a nine volt battery hidden inside the case. To synch it, I listen to WWV, and press the doorbell switch at the appropriate time. PT]
gabe@sirius.ctr.columbia.edu (Gabe Wiener) (09/24/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0395m04@vector.dallas.tx.us> Kent Borg <lloyd!kent@ husc6.harvard.edu> writes: >My question is where might I buy an 11-hole Stowger dial phone, or a >Western Union clock? (Would be sooo much fun to synchronize it to >WWV. Both the historian and techno-nerd in me start drooling at the >thought.) How about simply the oldest dial phone which will still >talk to a modern switch, or an even older non-dial phone which will >ring and let me answer? >Must I just go look through the regular antique channels, or are there >better ways? I might have just acquired an expensive taste... Ummmm....welcome to the realm of antique telephone collecting (one of my hobbies). An 11-hold strowger phone will probably run you about $1,500 if you can find one. They're quite rare and very sought after. The only way you'll find one through regular antique channels is by pure luck, and if you do, you'll probably pay $50 for it because in all probability, the proprietor will have found it at a junk sale and not know the value of what he has. I had such luck only once...when I bought a Western Electric 506 switchboard from 1918...working, with magneto, worth well over $1,000, for a mere $75. Dial service has not changed in principle since around 1892, and thus even an 11-hole strowger unit would talk to a modern switch, though you might need to put a mini-network inside. Telegraph-key strowgers, and there are less than 1,000 of those in the world, will NOT talk to a modern switch for obvious reasons :-) You can use any rotary dial phone on a modern switch pretty easily. Telephones of the '20's, '30's, and '40's, as well as payphones from that genre (even payphones with separate transmitters and receivers) are quite readily available at good prices from Phoneco in Galesville, WI). Phoneco buys the surplus from telephone companies and sells it mail order. Mostly they'll sell old phones to telephone stores who then mark them up tremendously, but they'll be glad to sell to an individual. For a nominal fee, they will also install a network and/or ringer into any phone that doesn't have it and make it work on a modern system. They have phones of all periods, from crank-magneto through modern touchtone. But it's very doubtful you'll find anything from them that's much older than a 1907 Bell System magneto wall-set (still a truly charming phone...that's the typical crank phone you see in the movies). They also have lots of surplus telephone company equipment...switchboards, rolls of wire, test sets, etc. (I got a working bell system test set (rotary) for $25 from them. One of their main trade items, however, is the payphone. They buy truckloads of them, from all periods. Besides selling 'em to phone stores and to folks who either collect them or who just want a payphone, they also do an interesting thing. They will insert a circuit board if you want that will allow an old three-slotter to function as a COCOT, all for around $400. There are other places as well to get antique telephones, such as the House of Telephones in Texas, another mail order firm. But you should keep in mind that if you want _really_ esoteric stuff, or really early stuff, there are only two ways to get it. One is to prowl the antique shops in search of a dealer who doesn't know the value of what he has (and as I said, this happens quite often). The other is to join one of the antique telephone societies, such as the Antique Telephone Collectors Association. They have classifieds galore of people looking to buy, sell and trade. BTW, speaking of Phoneco, the operator, Ron Knappen, publishes a guidebook to old telephone equipment that is the bible for collectors. In two volumes (plus a price-guide), it has pictures and descriptions of virtually every telephone made in this country (and abroad, for that matter). It also has pages and pages of excerpts about telephone history, sich as the development of the dial, the independent telephone companies, etc. A truly indispensable book that will soon itself be worth something. The stock on the book is running out, and I don't think there is quite enough demand to warrant another printing. So if you want one, get it now. I think it's around $40. I may be rambling at this point, but I hope I've provided an answer to your question. By the way, it is unlikely that Phoneco will have an 11-hole strowger telephone! :-) Gabe Wiener - Columbia Univ. "This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings gabe@ctr.columbia.edu to be seriously considered as a means of gmw1@cunixd.cc.columbia.edu communication. The device is inherently of 72355.1226@compuserve.com no value to us."
morris@jade.jpl.nasa.gov (Mike Morris) (09/24/89)
Kent Borg <lloyd!kent@husc6.harvard.edu> writes: > >My question is where might I buy an 11-hole Stowger dial phone, or a >Western Union clock? Well, if you find a source of clocks, let me know... I want one too. As to the dial, 11-hole dials were used as late as WW2 in Colins transmitters. I'm kinda surprised that a navy radioman hasn't popped up to say so. As late as 1971 my local community college amateur radio station had a surplus Navy TDH-4 transmitter made by Collins - complete with the "Autotune" option. The "autotune" used a 11-hole dial labeled 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-0-A, and the A was used to select the modulation mode. For example, to set the system to 7.255 Mhz in AM, youd dial 7-2-5-5-A-3. After about 15 seconds of "whirrrrr-clunk-whirrrrrr-clunk-ka-chunk-ka-chunk- whirrrr-clunk", etc. every stage would have been tuned. Just the thing for 90-day wonders that couldn't remember to adjust the grid circuits for a peak and adjust the plate circuits for a dip in the current meter. And don't forget to switch the meters to the stage you're adjusting! To set it to 7.055 Mhz, using morse code you'd dial 7-0-5-5-A-1. To lock it in continuous transmit on 3.999 Mhz you'd dial 3-9-9-9-A-0. The numbers were not hard to remember due to Collins adopting a standard descriptor that was already in wide use: the FCC allocation descriptions. The TDH-4 was a 2-18 Mhz transmitter, another model was 15 (or so) to 30Mhz. Autotune was available on a lot of different radios. The FCC allocation descriptions use A for amplitude modulation and F for frequency modulation. A table can be found in any edition of the Radio Amateur's Handbook, available in most libraries. Anyway, a _LOT_ of those old monsters (The TDH-4 was 6' high, 3' deep and almost 6' long - literally built like - and _for_ a battleship) have been scrapped. The dials show up every so often in surplus stores or amateur radio swap meets. I still want a WU clock. Mike Morris UUCP: Morris@Jade.JPL.NASA.gov ICBM: 34.12 N, 118.02 W #Include quote.cute.standard PSTN: 818-447-7052 #Include disclaimer.standard cat flames.all > /dev/null [Moderator's Note: You still can't purchase either of the two I own. Did you know with careful calibration of the pendulum set-screw, and by leveling the clock very carefully when it is first hung, the discrepancy can be kept to a minute per month or less, even without the clock service. Really! PT]