atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums TDM Business Telephone Systems Nortel Telephones & Systems Non Tech question - ignore if busy!

While watching re-runs of The West Wing on DVD recently, I noticed that the norstar phones on every desk had red and green lamps where I would expect the LCD 'triangles' to appear.

Were they just set props, or do (did) Norstar produce such a beast... and if they *are* available, would they function on my system? I am in the UK and use a Norstar Compact Plus with issue 4 software.

I've searched through the Norstar forum from top to bottom and can't find an answer - please forgive me if I am wasting your time, as that is not my intention.

Many thanks,
John

i saw the exact same thing on another show, i cant remember which and i even said to my wife i have never seen such a beast

Hmmm, the PBX (0ption 11/31/81/?) phones I've seen use the same construction as the CICS/MICS phones. But I seem to remember 'some' of the 1/2/3-line phones have dual color indicators.

Thanks for your answers - it seems that they might exist in the real world after all.

I'll have to keep my eyes open and hope that I come across one for sale somewhere!

John

Oddly enough, I noticed something completely different...if you watch the West Wing, look at Leos desk. That wedge shape phone looks like an old QSU series phone from the SL-1, or perhaps even earlier. It appears to have a brown faceplate, which I don't think was available here, but could be gotten in Canada.

Brown faceplates were from the old Logic-10 series sets which would fit the QSU-6X series SL-1 sets.

Have never seen red/green LEDs on Norstar series sets and I've installed them since day 1. There were some Unity analog sets with plastics that looked similar and had red LEDs....

In the back of my mind, it seemed there were older sets that used the same shell as the QSU60 & 61. When you mentioned the Logic-10 series, I remembered reading about them in old NTPs. I still think those are the nicest looking phones that ever sat on my desk. If I could run them off my Option 11, I would in a heart beat...

Also, there were other colors available for the faceplates, according to the relevent NTPs. I searched a long time to find Blue, but could never come across them...that was quite a while back, of course...

Hello SwedaGuy - I have also noticed the same phone on Leo's desk. That system was not too common in the UK, though GEC marketed it as the MX-1 Military Communications System. I've often thought how odd it was that Leo had a different phone on his desk to everyone else - but I just put that down to the TV Director not knowing diddly-squat about phone systems!

John