New Life Games LLC
Other Hobbies and Interests that our NLG members enjoy => Other Hobbies and Interests => Topic started by: shortrackskater on September 14, 2016, 09:43:35 AM
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So I'm trolling on ebay, and of course, the ebay Gods know what I've bought and then present me with items that I "may be interested in."
Damn thing!
So I see this old grimy Bell System lineman phone (or "butt set" since it hung on your ass basically, as I've learned) for a buy it now price of $7.99 and $12.45 shipping.
I receive it in good order (so I think) and wipe off a layer of probably 60 years of grime. I tried the dial and noticed it was a little warped... like an old 45 that sat in the sun too long! I removed it and wrapped some heavy paper around it and "viced" it back to shape, and reattached it.
I decided to take off the entire dial mechanism to see what was behind it. The way the phone was put together I thought you'd remove the screws and the entire thing would "half" itself but I realized the center part and receiver were fused together. The dial easily came off with just three screws and... of course... it wasn't wired to anything! Hmmm this phone isn't going to work, I thought.
I could see inside the hole that the dial mount was on, and that there were some wires inside but I couldn't fish them out. I posted on the classicrotaryphones forum and they gave me advice that these phones are very simple and that the wires may likely have just been stuffed inside. But I still didn't know how to get in there. I removed the three long screws from the receiver part and noticed the entire top was more "rubberyier" than the rest and that it would pry. Sooooooooooo I took a chance and pried! The backing mount piece did move once I pulled on each half, and I was able to remove it and indeed found the wires hiding in there, behind where the backing mount was.
A nice member of CRP put up a manual for me and I saw how it was wired and with a little help - got it wired. During the process, one wire just fell off of a metal square that sits inside the handle. Inside that square is where one of the round connectors (on the end of a transmitter wire) sits inside, held by a set screw. It's amazing how solid these are/were built. I got that soldered back on, the metal square back in and the pin back inside that. I wired up the dial, put it together, plugged it in and ... drum roll... nothing! Dead. Then I flipped the Y and G wires, put it back together and plugged in and got a working phone. It dials out, transmits and receives with great audio quality.
I went through it one more time and snugged all the screws, then cleaned the hell out of it and it looks great now.
Here's my before and after shots.
Oh... last picture is of a little device I acquired about 30 years ago and am very happy I kept!
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:lol: Hey looky there, it's the Wichita Lineman! :propeller:
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:waving_flag: I am a lineman for the county and I drive the main road. :waving_flag:
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:waving_flag: I am a lineman for the county and I drive the main road. :waving_flag:
Atta boy Glen!
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Saw Glen in concert years ago... it was great.
Well here's some additional information on the word butt-set.
"The term "butt-in" and "butt-out" came from telephone terminology. The reason for the name Butt-set, is that this device is named after the inventor Mr. Buttinsky. I have seen cut sheets from Graybar for Harris -Dracon TS-21 sets that refer to them as Buttinsky's. The telephone industry was one of the largest employers, so it is not surprising that many phone-related terms became common usage."
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Saw Glen in concert years ago... it was great.
Well here's some additional information on the word butt-set.
"The term "butt-in" and "butt-out" came from telephone terminology. The reason for the name Butt-set, is that this device is named after the inventor Mr. Buttinsky. I have seen cut sheets from Graybar for Harris -Dracon TS-21 sets that refer to them as Buttinsky's. The telephone industry was one of the largest employers, so it is not surprising that many phone-related terms became common usage."
I'm sure that is factual, I once read a story about a man who worked for the Webster Dictionary company. He verified every new definition and it's origin, that was his job. His name was Horschitt, but he didn't believe anybody and sadly lost his job in a very short time. Sorry for Butting in! :rotfl:
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:agreepost: