Just bought my first phone

[Millertime]

Well, it had to happen. I get something in my head and I go in guns blazing. I cant take any pictures yet as my battery is on charge, so for I will have to describe it the best I can until later when the battery has charged.

I bought it for £10. It has a grey body and a brown receiver, needs a ****** good clean and is missing its socket cable. Please for give my terminology, but I am new.

Numbers on the bottom are 746F DFM 70/1
Denis Ferranti Meters Ltd 1970 Would this be correct?


So.....what now?

[Cobaltblue]

If you want to use it it you could start here

If you search for 746 there are loads of posts on this poular series of phones.

Cheers

Mike T

[ThePillenwerfer]

That's an early one; 746s weren't issued until 1970.

The "Socket cable" is correctly called a Line Cord.

It's a good thing to start on as they are common so parts and information is plentiful.

- Joe

[Millertime]

Well, as promised, some pics. The phone is in a really dirty state, but I have since stripped it down and cleaned everything.

Just need to learn how to rewire the thing and to get some spare parts to make it look as new(ish)

[Pellseinydd]

Originally Posted by ThePillenwerfer

That's an early on; 746s weren't issued until 1970.

The Tele 746 was about in 1967! I was a Technical Officer with the GPO at that time, responsible for the communications at a large military HQ with hundreds of phones. I can remember the Tele 746 being introduced - a nuisance as there wasn't a Central Battery version with a dummy dial that I could order - unlike the Tele 706 CB. The phone system there was a manual one without the ability to use dials (It was a 'sleeve control' system which doesn't have the facility to dial out. Plus there are photos in GPO magazines in 1967/68 which have 746's in them. In fact one article in Spring 1968 mentions 'the 706 and 746 ranges of telephones'. I left in Sept 1969 and the Tele 746 had certainly been around for a couple of years by then.

[AC/HL]

If you haven't already found this, it's a good place to start: http://www.britishtelephones.com/newto.htm

[ThePillenwerfer]

Pellseinydd: I stand corrected.

I'd always had the date of 1968 in my head but was confused by the above web-site saying Available to all customers in 1970 and supplied into the late 1980's as maintenance stock. I, wrongly, took this as meaning that it took until then for them to be made in quantity and staff to be trained before they were actually issued.

To get back to the job in hand, Brasso is very good at cleaning and polishing out small scratches from plastic.

This one has an added complication of a switch. At least for now I'd disconnect it 'til you know everything else is in order. I don't know what the thing to the right of the dial is but no doubt somebody more knowledgeable than I will be able to enlighten us.

There's a diagram here showing what goes where as regards the wires: http://telephonesuk.co.uk/conversion.htm

Cheers

Joe

[AC/HL]

It also has what looks like a buzzer in addition to the bell.

[Nickthedentist]

The dial looks like a later replacement, with a plastic central hub, and bolder printing.

[OscarFoxtrot]

Originally Posted by AC/HL

It also has what looks like a buzzer in addition to the bell.

Plan 105 / 107 extension?

[Millertime]

Not quite with at the moment. What does this mean?

Thanks for all the help so far.

[Nickthedentist]

See here: http://www.britishtelephones.com/plans625.htm which shows the phones complete with the base, which is absent on yours (if that's what it was).

Either way, yours can still operate as a normal phone.

N.

[Millertime]

Ah, all becomes clear.