BT Freeway Cordless Phone. - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

benmarquis · 24th Jun 2015, 10:53 am

Hi all, I was wondering if I could ask some advice on here. I have a mint BT Freeway which for some reason I love using. It will no longer hold its charge so I carefully looked at the battery pack which appears to be three AA batteries with pos on battery at one end and neg on battery at other end going to the phone whilst pos and middle connected pos to pos and neg of middle to neg going to phone. So I thought I would just make my own with rechargeable batteries. However, when I connect the 'pack' up to the phone, I get nothing. In theory should my pack work if I copy the architecture of the original pack?

Any experience gratefully received as I would hate to loose the old girl!

PS there is some corrosion showing on some of the solder joints on the circuit board.

Cheers,

Ben.

Herald1360 · 24th Jun 2015, 12:22 pm

Most cordless battery packs just put the three (or two) cells in series. HGow many wires come from the batterypack? Could you put up a photo?

Most references to BT Freeway seem to be to a walkie talkie not a phone. Did you perhaps mean Freestyle?

The only obvious Freeway cordless phone reference is to a 4 cell 4.8V battery.

julie_m · 24th Jun 2015, 2:17 pm

Does the phone still work, however briefly, with the old battery pack?

If so, you probably wired your new pack up incorrectly. The cells should be wired so the positive of one goes to the negative of the next, not + to + or - to -.

stuart_morgan_64 · 25th Jun 2015, 2:12 pm

I have ordered these for mine, oh when I sort the other problem too.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HQ-1x-NiMH...item4198410216

benmarquis · 5th Jul 2015, 7:08 pm

Sorry for delay, got called away with work, typical.

Herald1360, thanks, I will put up a photo of the batt, it is three AA size in a row. There is one red wire and one black wire coming from the phone. The phone is def a BT Freeway cordless phone, it is sooooo old I think they thought it safe to re-use the name!!

ajs_derby, thanks, I will put up a picture to show what was in there. I think the re-chargeable batteries I bought which said were ready charged may not be. OR as you say I got the wiring wrong. But I did copy the configuration of what came out of the phone.

stuart_morgan_64 thanks very much, I will take a look! I did use batteries plus many years back for an AT&T Merlin system I have from the USA and they were great but they seem to get slated now so will not risk trying them any more.

I am guessing I can use any rechargeable battery in the phone make up wise as long as AA and the pack is made up in the same way.

I did test using a 9v quickly and the phone worked perfectly. Hope that has not damaged it. !

Thanks for all your help so far. I will try and upload a picture. Glad I am not the only one still using them. Stuart_morgan !

24th Jun 2015, 10:53 am	#1
benmarquis Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Jul 2014 Location: Swindon, Wiltshire, UK. Posts: 2	BT Freeway Cordless Phone. Hi all, I was wondering if I could ask some advice on here. I have a mint BT Freeway which for some reason I love using. It will no longer hold its charge so I carefully looked at the battery pack which appears to be three AA batteries with pos on battery at one end and neg on battery at other end going to the phone whilst pos and middle connected pos to pos and neg of middle to neg going to phone. So I thought I would just make my own with rechargeable batteries. However, when I connect the 'pack' up to the phone, I get nothing. In theory should my pack work if I copy the architecture of the original pack? Any experience gratefully received as I would hate to loose the old girl! PS there is some corrosion showing on some of the solder joints on the circuit board. Cheers, Ben.

24th Jun 2015, 12:22 pm	#2
Herald1360 Dekatron Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Leominster, Herefordshire, UK. Posts: 16,535	Re: BT Freeway Cordless Phone. Most cordless battery packs just put the three (or two) cells in series. HGow many wires come from the batterypack? Could you put up a photo? Most references to BT Freeway seem to be to a walkie talkie not a phone. Did you perhaps mean Freestyle? The only obvious Freeway cordless phone reference is to a 4 cell 4.8V battery. __________________ ....__________ ....\|____\|\|__\|__\_____ .=.\| _---\__\|__\|_---_\|. .........O..Chris....O Last edited by Herald1360; 24th Jun 2015 at 12:28 pm.

24th Jun 2015, 2:17 pm	#3
julie_m Dekatron Join Date: May 2008 Location: Derby, UK. Posts: 7,735	Re: BT Freeway Cordless Phone. Does the phone still work, however briefly, with the old battery pack? If so, you probably wired your new pack up incorrectly. The cells should be wired so the positive of one goes to the negative of the next, not + to + or - to -. __________________ If I have seen further than others, it is because I was standing on a pile of failed experiments.

25th Jun 2015, 2:12 pm	#4
stuart_morgan_64 Heptode Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK. Posts: 501	Re: BT Freeway Cordless Phone. I have ordered these for mine, oh when I sort the other problem too. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HQ-1x-NiMH...item4198410216

5th Jul 2015, 7:08 pm	#5
benmarquis Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Jul 2014 Location: Swindon, Wiltshire, UK. Posts: 2	Re: BT Freeway Cordless Phone. Sorry for delay, got called away with work, typical. Herald1360, thanks, I will put up a photo of the batt, it is three AA size in a row. There is one red wire and one black wire coming from the phone. The phone is def a BT Freeway cordless phone, it is sooooo old I think they thought it safe to re-use the name!! ajs_derby, thanks, I will put up a picture to show what was in there. I think the re-chargeable batteries I bought which said were ready charged may not be. OR as you say I got the wiring wrong. But I did copy the configuration of what came out of the phone. stuart_morgan_64 thanks very much, I will take a look! I did use batteries plus many years back for an AT&T Merlin system I have from the USA and they were great but they seem to get slated now so will not risk trying them any more. I am guessing I can use any rechargeable battery in the phone make up wise as long as AA and the pack is made up in the same way. I did test using a 9v quickly and the phone worked perfectly. Hope that has not damaged it. ! Thanks for all your help so far. I will try and upload a picture. Glad I am not the only one still using them. Stuart_morgan !