sundance-communications.com/forum Forums Other TDM Phone Systems Other Telephones & Systems Ernest Telecom 7D1

Several years back, I purchased what was called a Millennium 2000 payphone for the Telephone Museum of PEI. It is not a Nortel Millennium, though I have one of those - see the next message, but a 1989 phone sold as part of the Universal payphone scam. It consisted of an Ernest 7D1 board inside a GTE housing, produced in a garage somewhere in Ontario. The scam part of it was the price they charged for the payphone, the placement locations promised as part of the deal didn't exist, regulatory approval didn't exist and rate tables here in Canada never became available. Many lost their life savings on a phone for which tables for Canada never became available.

https://www.islandregister.com/phones/ernesttelecom.jpg

Now the reason I am writing this, is recently my phone has become intermittent. At times, it will perform normally, with the touch tones being heard in the receiver, and the Eprom operators voice from the eprom prompting to insert coinage. Other times, the amplifier seems to have died, and those sounds are nearly impossible to hear. Additionally, the LCD display on the phone was broken upon receipt making it very hard to program.

Does anyone have an old working 7D1 board that I could try in the phone to see if it clears up this problem, or possibly even an Ernest LCD? Production of this board ended the year before this phone was produced, and it is unlikely anyone has any phones with this board in service, so hopefully someone might still have the part in old stock. Even a timely suggestion could help. I have checked to make sure all the chips and connectors inside the phone are properly seated.

This is a fun display in the museum, and it is a shame people can't play with it most of the time now. There seems to be no reason when it will fail - and sometimes pressing keys on the keypad will shock it back into working for a while.

Dave

You might want to check with THESE people. I've had luck in finding obscure parts and support from them in the past.

Been there, done that. I was told they no longer have anything for the 7D1 phones... I was also in contact with Ernest before they dissappeared, and told the same, not even a manual covering the 7D1. Only 7D3 and later.

Dave

Man, that's too bad. I had one of those phones for the longest time that I ended up giving away. I know it is a stretch, but have you given E-Bay a shot?

I have been watching eBay for a couple of years, and while I have seen some stuff for the 7D4 board, nothing for the 7D1. I was hoping to keep it original, but may wind up having to upgrade it to a 7D3 board.

I would love to get this phone working reliably again. Visitors used to love inserting a nickel in it and hearing that lovely synthesized Georgia gal asking them to insert 20 cents more :-)

Dave