atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums Other TDM Phone Systems Antique Telephones Connecting 1-BA (WE) Answering Set??

So after all the discussion did you ever make any head way with the ans. mach. ;and do you want the ks head cleaner I mentioned?

Thanks for following up with me! No, I am still trying to figure out why I can't just plug it in and have it work now. It seems like everything is in order and operational, so it's driving me nuts!! As for the moose milk, that is generous of you and I can give you my address if you want to send some, but it might not be worth the trouble considering it is liquid and the post office gets paranoid... Plus it will do you more good than me, since this is the only phone-related project with moving parts I have (at least for now!). What else could I find locally that I could use to clean the surface of the recording drums? I might just end up doing that, and then shelving it as a non-working unit with an attitude problem. :bang:

I think any good grade commerical cassette cleaner might work. what you want to do is remove the oxides on the drum and the heads.

That can't actually be the root of the problem though, can it? I mean, were they advanced enough way back then to have some sort of sensor that would halt operation because of dirty or contaminated drums? I have the heads held up with the retention springs to keep them off the drums for transport while I figure it out, but it can't be that could it? If it is a failed tube or switch somewhere, is there a troubleshooter or something? I went back and re-read literally every word of the BSP's and found nothing in any of them to give a clue. How can I tell if there is a failed component that might be the root of the problem?

No I don't think dirty heads or drum will do that; but I only offered the cleaner in case you get it going and want to keep the static out.

Well, after a quick look at the manual, I'd suggest first checking for the correct voltages on the DC power supply outputs. If that is beyond your comfort zone, time to stop. The voltages quoted can easily kill if they have any current capability beyond 100ma, which they probably do! It looks like a challenge, and I used to repair the next generation of these. Where they graduated from tubes to transistors and still used large quantities of relays and recording tape. I'd volunteer, but my workbench is already covered with honey-do's, hobby projects, and STUFF. John C.