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Old 17th Mar 2015, 8:53 pm   #1
Grant L
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Default Telephone 706F

Hi everyone,
Is this model of 706F rare? (hopefully picture is attached).
I've seen many with the letters and numbers around the side but not the numbers only.
Thanks
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Old 17th Mar 2015, 8:58 pm   #2
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Default Re: Telephone 706F

As you probably know F denoted figures, L denoted letters and CB denoted Central Battery ie phones with no dial.

All Figure Numbers (AFN) were introduced around 1968, so GPO dial phones made after that time had no letters. F phones aren't particularly rare.

Letters were reintroduced with keypad phones, but the arrangement was different. For example letter 'O' is now associated with digit '6' rather than digit '0'.
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Old 17th Mar 2015, 9:27 pm   #3
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Default Re: Telephone 706F

The UK changed to All Figure Dialling between 1966-1970, so any telephone issued or reissued at this time would be numbers only.
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Old 17th Mar 2015, 10:03 pm   #4
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Default Re: Telephone 706F

Thanks for the quick replies.
I've seen the figures only 706 models, where the numbers are on/under the dial. Does having the numbers on the outside of the dial and the white pointers under the dial make this more unusual ?
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Old 17th Mar 2015, 10:43 pm   #5
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Default Re: Telephone 706F

It may have been used on a PAX (internal private network) in which case it wouldn't have letters on anyway.

What markings are on the base?
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Old 17th Mar 2015, 10:48 pm   #6
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Default Re: Telephone 706F

Quote:
Originally Posted by Station X View Post
'F denoted figures, L denoted letters and CB denoted Central Battery ie phones with no dial...'
I have a 710 which is stamped 'CB' but which has a dial and I know it was removed from service with a dial fitted. I can only assume (I think I've mentioned this before) that it would have been modified 'in situ', maybe swapped out, and not be a refurb instrument.

I'm assuming that when telephones were refurbished they were re-stamped before re-issue?
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Old 17th Mar 2015, 10:52 pm   #7
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Default Re: Telephone 706F

Sorry if this reply appears twice!
Thanks for the quick replies.
I've seen 706s with numbers under the dial (with clear and coloured dials) and a plain outer plate, but the one in the photograph has the numbers on the plate surrounding the dial and white pointer arrows under the dial. Does this make it more unusual? At first I thought this was a telephone "made up" from different bits as I've seen phones like the one in the picture but with numbers and letters on the outside plate (706L) however I've recently seen two phones identical to the one in the picture in the late 60s Randall and Hopkirk, One was definitely red and the other blue or green (can't remember). Any thoughts?
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Old 17th Mar 2015, 11:07 pm   #8
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Default Re: Telephone 706F

I have one with the numbers on the outer bezel like the one in your pic. It's an 'Ericsson' N1901 model made for a private contract.

I think the chevron dial plate only came in about '62. Before that, they were blank - same colour as the telephone. Of course, it's easy to make a 'bitsa' as all parts are interchangeable.
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Old 17th Mar 2015, 11:07 pm   #9
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Default Re: Telephone 706F

I don't have the phone so I don't know what's stamped underneath but here is the web site which shows the picture I attached earlier

http://www.telephonesuk.co.uk/phones_1960-80.htm#706

Thanks Russell, I think you've cracked it!
I searched on ebay for Ericsson N1901 and there is a black telephone for sale exactly the same as the one in my picture. I've been searching for ages for a 706 (that's what it's identified as in http://www.telephonesuk.co.uk/phones_1960-80.htm#706) So now I'm confused! Both phones look identical (to my untrained eye). Did GPO use these Ericssons? Who made the 706? What are the differences between them? Who did Ericsson make them for? How did they end up on Randall and Hopkirk ........only joking!
If I end up buying an Ericsson are the insides the same as the 706?
Sorry for all the questions.
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Old 17th Mar 2015, 11:43 pm   #10
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Default Re: Telephone 706F

Now I'm really, really confused. After having decided it is an Ericsson, I've just come across a grey and brown one described as GPO 706 on this website http://www.museumoftechnology.org.uk/expand.php?key=635
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Old 18th Mar 2015, 12:05 am   #11
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Default Re: Telephone 706F

Telephones were made for the GPO by several manufacturers (Plessey, Ericsson, the Phoenix Telephone Company, etc...) Have a look at Bob Freshwater's site here. There's a page on the site you mention where the manufacturer's codes are explained.

Some Plessey and Ericsson models were 'cut-down' versions without an induction coil (they uses a resistor balance network instead). They were made for internal use only.
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Old 18th Mar 2015, 8:55 am   #12
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Default Re: Telephone 706F

Quote:
Originally Posted by russell_w_b View Post
I'm assuming that when telephones were refurbished they were re-stamped before re-issue?
Some had a self-adhesive label applied over the original stamp. These were very tough (plasticised fabric rather than paper-based?), but not immune to being removed.
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Old 18th Mar 2015, 10:02 am   #13
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Default Re: Telephone 706F

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nickthedentist View Post
'...Some had a self-adhesive label applied over the original stamp...'
I have some refurb instruments (300 and 700 series) that are stickered as you describe. But there's no evidence of any such sticker on my 710!
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Old 18th Mar 2015, 10:54 am   #14
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Default Re: Telephone 706F

Quote:
Originally Posted by Grant L View Post
'Now I'm really, really confused...'
The 706 was a GPO reference and instruments were sourced from several manufacturers who also provided the same instruments to private companies for use on internal exchanges, and foreign contracts. A '706' might be from one of several manufacturers.

The GPO will have specified certain things, like, perhaps, a dial bezel with the letters and numbers in accordance with their exchange coding system (if you ever come across an old newspaper from the early '60s, then take a look at the adverts containing telephone numbers and you might see some where the STD code described used a combination of letters and numbers). But letters were also used on railway company instruments and electricity board instruments, both of which had extensive private telephone networks.

Because of the economical design based upon interchangeability of components, this model will appear in many guises. From a collector's point-of-view, the components within will be marked identically so you will be able to recognise if a Plessey chassis has been fitted with a GEC handset or an Ericsson induction coil, or what-have-you. But a 'bitsa' will work just as well electrically.

IMO the 706 is of better quality and design than the later 746 which replaced it at the end of the 1960s, and were as much of a design icon as the Bakelite 300 series they replaced. Costs were being driven down towards the end of the '60s, and later 706s had plain bezels (letters no longer needed), 'antique silvered' dials (same as the 746) and plastic escutcheons for the handset switch rests: not the nice, heavy chrome ones.

The first 706s had cases and handsets made from Diakon, a perspexy-type of material that was heavier and more colour-fast than the later ABS cases, but more brittle. They also had metal dials with a chromium plate (dial No:12) as fitted to the earlier 300 series.
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Old 18th Mar 2015, 4:52 pm   #15
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Default Re: Telephone 706F

Thanks Russell, that is very helpful and very interesting. I appreciate your time replying to me and now have a much better idea what's out there and what to look for.
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