Federal Radio and Telephone Corporation FTR 803A

[richwk1]

Hi everyone, i have have just been given this old Bakelite phone which i assumed was a 302 but have since found out is a Federal radio and Telephone
FTR 803 A but i cannot find out much about this model. It needs a new line cord and a new hand set cord but which ones will fit also the dial is sticking and won't return all the way. Is it worth keeping and doing up or should i sell it.
Any help from the members about this phone would be very much appreciated as i only have had experience of 706 and 746 models.
PS should i clean the case and if so what with (Silvo or greygates)

Regards ..Rich

[Darren-UK]

I assume you mean Federal Telephone and Radio (hence FTR), not as per the thread title. This was an American company with a bit of a strange history; at one time their telephones were nothing more than other peoples products rebranded. At some point, possibly during WWII and thereafter, they produced their own models. "Their own" is a bit of a con because many models were based upon Ericsson's offerings.

The 'A' of FTR803A signifies the instrument was for use on an Automatic exchange, hence the dial on yours. Is your instrument a wall telephone? I think the 803 and 803A were. You mentioned that you thought it was a 302 originally. If that's a GPO number, then I wasn't aware there was a 302. But whatever, GPO even numbers were desk instruments and odd numbers were wall instruments - at least in later years anyway.

So is yours a wall or desk instrument? If it is indeed the wall instrument I think it is, then it's probably based upon the Ericsson N1070. The handset cord would originally have been plain ie not plaited. A modern linecord can be obtained from http://www.abdyantiques.co.uk and they may do plain handset cords too, I've not checked.

Really though, the circuit diagram at least is needed if you intend to restore this and use it. Is there a cct inside the instrument?

Also, a photograph of the instrument would be useful so whatever it may be based upon can be identified for definate.

Regarding the dial problem, the mechanism likely just needs a good clean.

Whether you keep it or flog it is entirely up to you. FTR instruments are now quite rare, at least in the UK, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're valuable. Collectors tend to focus upon GPO telephones, hence they're more valuable but, even so, if I personally obtained an FTR I'd keep it for the simple reason they are quite rare.

So try and provide us with a picture please, so we can pinpoint its parentage more precisely. As you're only used to 706/746's you should bear in mind that these older (and foreign at that) telephones may not be quite so easy to convert for PST.

Before I ring off, I do know that some FTR's ended up as far away as Australia. Therefore one of our Australian members may know something more about them.

[richwk1]

Sorry for the title mistake, i only assumed it was part of the 300 series by it's looks. It is definately a desk phone not a wall one. I have attached some photo's so have a look and let me know exactly what i have here as this model is a bit out of my comfort zone so any help or advice would be appreciated.

Regards Rich

[Darren-UK]

Thanks for the images. The casing of your telephone shouts Western Electric (ie Bell), which isn't too surprising really. Despite spending the last hour or so searching I've not been able to establish very much.

WE did produce a model 302 and the casing of that was similar, but not identical, to your instrument. One site I found suggested the chassis of FTR instruments was to their own design and was peculiar in that it featured an absolute minimum of wiring.

As I mentioned earlier, there should be a wiring diagram inside the casing. Is it there?

[richwk1]

Hi Darren, i have looked inside and there is no wiring diagram at all, but i have been doing a bit of research and have found out that this model was made for South America and due to the nature of the climate and insects is supposed to have upgraded components made by Automatic Electric and has the minimum of wiring to to protect against insect attack. I don't know how correct this info is but it has cropped up on a couple of different sites so am presuming it is true.
I think i may pass this on to someone with more knowledge and skill than myself as i do not think i could do something this rare justice.
As always i would appreciate you and other members thoughts on this phone and my next course of action.
Regards Rich

[Darren-UK]

Yes that's correct. They were aimed at the Latin American market, hence circuit diagrams were often, it not routinely, in Spanish. I don't know the excuse for the minimum wiring; insect proofing seems plausible though.

If you want to get this working, you'd need to know details of the bell coils ie if they're 500ohms, 1Kohm or whatever. It may also be wise to research the Latin American telephone systems of the time, to determine what ringer current etc the instrument was designed for. You may or may not need to fit a rectifier and you may or may not need to replace the microphone (no doubt it'll be crystal).

Being unfamiliar, it'd be a good idea to make a note of what terminals are what before removing the present linecord and handset cord. Really, the instrument shouldn't be too much of a problem to get working. Remember, however, that it won't be approved for use with any of the UK telecommunications networks - however carefully you make it comply.

So what have you done so far? have you done any checks such as to see if the bell circuit is ok? if that 2uF capacitor is ok? (the cap may not be needed anyway).

Don't be put off and end up palming it off onto someone else, have a go at it. These old instruments are quite rugged and although they appear different internally their principle is much the same as any other of that type and age.

In the absence of more knowledge and, crucially, a circuit diagram that's really all I can say I'm afraid.

[dagskarlsen]

This telephone looks quite equal to on I have, but it is not the same.
This wiring diagram may be the right principle.

I so, and you need to convert it to UK system, you have to remove the ringer from the cap, add a restor 2-3.3 kohms and use this to the ringer circuit.

dsk

[dazzlevision]

Hello,

The font of the "Federal Radio & Telephone Corporation" marking in the photo looks identical to that used by Western Electric and STC - Standard Telephones & Cables (UK).

Would I be correct in thinking that FR&T was an ITT (who bought Western Electric companies outside the USA from AT&T in 1925) subsidiary for may years - perhaps going back to the 1920s?

I think there is also a connection with Kolster Radio Corporation of the USA (Kolster-Brandes in the UK).

Regards,

Dazzlevision

[Darren-UK]

Yes, they did become part of ITT during either the 1920's or 1930's.

[Herald1360]

Originally Posted by Darren-UK

You may or may not need to fit a rectifier and you may or may not need to replace the microphone (no doubt it'll be crystal).

Carbon, surely?

hris

[Darren-UK]

Yes, sorry, Carbon. Brain lapse there, I'd immediately prior been reading something about crystal sets!

[richwk1]

Thanks for all the reply's guys!!. I think i will hang on to it for a while and see if i can dig up any more info about it.
Regards Rich