Rewiring a VEF TA-68 Soviet Telephone - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

Ryan_1993 · 30th Aug 2016, 6:01 pm

Hi all,

After buying the Belgian telephone over in Bruges a couple of weeks ago and having success right away, I decided to get more into telephones from overseas, and managed to find an immaculate (it literally looks like its never been used) VEF Telephone made in the USSR on etsy.com for £10.00. Its quite crude, but it has some kind of charm about it, I quite like those straight square edges and its something a bit different as its not something you see everyday in the UK.

The Belgian Telephone was easy to convert it was literally two wires being used, the other were made redundant this conversion was guess work, but it worked fine in the end. I was just wondering if anyone had any previous experience re-wiring this VEF telephone up for UK plug and socket?

For anyone curious here is a picture attached

many thanks

Ryan

Dave Moll · 30th Aug 2016, 7:09 pm

No experience of such telephones, but an image of the terminals inside would go a long way towards getting it going.

If there are two terminals marked line (not sure how this would be labelled in Russian though) or the likes of "A" and "Б" (B), then try connecting these across the line (terminals 5 & 2 of a BT socket, or (normally) white and red wires of a line cord). If the 'phone works but doesn't ring on incoming call, this indicates that a separate connection is needed for the ringer.

TonyDuell · 30th Aug 2016, 7:22 pm

My knowledge of Russian is non-existant, but there seems to be a circuit diagram for the telephone on this page :

http://affinage.org.ua/argentum/ta-6...-apparate.html

It looks like you connect the line to terminals 1 and 2 and strap 2 to 3 to complete the bell circuit. I have no idea if the terminals are numbered inside, if not, you may have to trace the wiring, but that diagram might help.

Ryan_1993 · 30th Aug 2016, 7:46 pm

My knowledge is the same lol. I normally only deal with GPO stuff, but I bought a Canadian built Western Electric Model 500 in April last year, more recently a Belgian made T65 telephone and then I spotted this one on etsy.com only £10.00 and I really quite liked the look of it lol, It looks like its been designed on an Etch-a-Sketch.

One thing I found amusing was that the screws were screwed in tight and then glued in place. The glue came off easy enough, but I guess the communists didn't want people tinkering about with them inside. I imagine to have a telephone in your home in the 1960s/1970s you were one extremely lucky or high ranking person.

Dave Moll · 30th Aug 2016, 9:12 pm

Without looking in detail at the text, it appears to be simply lists of gramme (грамм) weights of various items, followed by a brief description of "Telephone Apparatus TA-68", but I would agree with your interpretation of the circuit diagram, so you should be home and dry - or at least home and vigorously towelling yourself off (as Douglas Adams once put it) - if the innards are labelled as per the diagram. If not, you will probably have to resort to the photograph I suggested earlier.

30th Aug 2016, 6:01 pm	#1
Ryan_1993 Hexode Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Yorkshire, UK. Posts: 329	Rewiring a VEF TA-68 Soviet Telephone Hi all, After buying the Belgian telephone over in Bruges a couple of weeks ago and having success right away, I decided to get more into telephones from overseas, and managed to find an immaculate (it literally looks like its never been used) VEF Telephone made in the USSR on etsy.com for £10.00. Its quite crude, but it has some kind of charm about it, I quite like those straight square edges and its something a bit different as its not something you see everyday in the UK. The Belgian Telephone was easy to convert it was literally two wires being used, the other were made redundant this conversion was guess work, but it worked fine in the end. I was just wondering if anyone had any previous experience re-wiring this VEF telephone up for UK plug and socket? For anyone curious here is a picture attached many thanks Ryan Attached Thumbnails

30th Aug 2016, 7:09 pm	#2
Dave Moll Dekatron Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: West Cumbria (CA13), UK Posts: 6,127	Re: Rewiring a VEF TA-68 Soviet Telephone No experience of such telephones, but an image of the terminals inside would go a long way towards getting it going. If there are two terminals marked line (not sure how this would be labelled in Russian though) or the likes of "A" and "Б" (B), then try connecting these across the line (terminals 5 & 2 of a BT socket, or (normally) white and red wires of a line cord). If the 'phone works but doesn't ring on incoming call, this indicates that a separate connection is needed for the ringer. __________________ Mending is better than Ending (cf Brave New World by Aldous Huxley)

30th Aug 2016, 7:22 pm	#3
TonyDuell Dekatron Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: Biggin Hill, London, UK. Posts: 5,208	Re: Rewiring a VEF TA-68 Soviet Telephone My knowledge of Russian is non-existant, but there seems to be a circuit diagram for the telephone on this page : http://affinage.org.ua/argentum/ta-6...-apparate.html It looks like you connect the line to terminals 1 and 2 and strap 2 to 3 to complete the bell circuit. I have no idea if the terminals are numbered inside, if not, you may have to trace the wiring, but that diagram might help.

30th Aug 2016, 7:46 pm	#4
Ryan_1993 Hexode Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Yorkshire, UK. Posts: 329	Re: Rewiring a VEF TA-68 Soviet Telephone My knowledge is the same lol. I normally only deal with GPO stuff, but I bought a Canadian built Western Electric Model 500 in April last year, more recently a Belgian made T65 telephone and then I spotted this one on etsy.com only £10.00 and I really quite liked the look of it lol, It looks like its been designed on an Etch-a-Sketch. One thing I found amusing was that the screws were screwed in tight and then glued in place. The glue came off easy enough, but I guess the communists didn't want people tinkering about with them inside. I imagine to have a telephone in your home in the 1960s/1970s you were one extremely lucky or high ranking person. Last edited by Ryan_1993; 30th Aug 2016 at 7:52 pm.

30th Aug 2016, 9:12 pm	#5
Dave Moll Dekatron Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: West Cumbria (CA13), UK Posts: 6,127	Re: Rewiring a VEF TA-68 Soviet Telephone Without looking in detail at the text, it appears to be simply lists of gramme (грамм) weights of various items, followed by a brief description of "Telephone Apparatus TA-68", but I would agree with your interpretation of the circuit diagram, so you should be home and dry - or at least home and vigorously towelling yourself off (as Douglas Adams once put it) - if the innards are labelled as per the diagram. If not, you will probably have to resort to the photograph I suggested earlier. __________________ Mending is better than Ending (cf Brave New World by Aldous Huxley)