sundance-communications.com/forum Forums Other TDM Phone Systems 1A2 and Comkey Telephones & Systems Hello and thank you

Hello all - I am a telephone collector in the UK, and have a box of 1A2 phones in the garage that I have never been able to do much with - but liked the look of anyway! I've just read through all the posts in this section, and have managed to wire up one of my phones to accept a call on line one (with lamp) thanks to a previous poster. It looks so much better as a 'working' phone, and I'll take the trouble to wire up the other lines of the phone back to my PABX.

I'm off now to trawl through the 'for sale' section, incase I can find anyone who will be willing to post stuff to the UK (most ebayers refuse )

Thanks again for your help,
John

John -

Welcome to the Board! Feel free to ask away. We're all here to help. What are you looking for? You've got a pretty good chance of finding it here - most of us have quite a bit of the "old stuff" buried away.

You mentioned in an earlier post that there are very few 1A2 phones in the UK. What does/did BT use for multiple line appearances?

Sam

Hello Sam - thanks for your reply!

The 1A2 sets we have over here tend to be for curiosity value rather than as working systems (we are used to seeing them on TV - Cagney & Lacey, the Sherrif's Office on Murder She Wrote - that sort of thing!)

When the GPO needed something akin to the 1A2, it used a key-and-lamp unit. These were desk-top units with a capacity for either 10 or 20 lines. Each needed either a single-line telephone connected, or a headset and dial arrangement. The same unit could have exchange lines, PABX extensions or private wires connected in any mix-and-match combination.

I don't think they were ever particularly widely used outside businesses like travel agents and ticket offices (but I stand to be corrected!).

Whereas the 1A2 had the lamp and button in one, the key-and-lamp used a lamp with a 3-position key below it (off - hold - on). Also, whereas the 1A2 came in a range of sexy colours, the key-and-lamp only ever came in 2-tone elephant grey.

You kindly asked what I was looking for... eventually, I would like to have a small working 1A2 system - but reading through the posts and looking at photos of other people's systems, I guess that the KSU units are very large (and therefore costly to ship). I might have to make do with my 1A2's wired up as single line phones!

Thanks again,
John

John -

The smallest KSU I know of is the Western/Northern Electric "Shoebox" - the 551B. It's about the size of a large lunchbox or a small toolbox. The power supply requires a 120Volt feed though and that might be something of a problem.

I'll see if I can measure the one I have somewhere in the dreaded basement and get you an idea of the weight.

Good luck.

Sam

Don't forget the ITT 601A. Since it was all plastic, it is a lot lighter to ship.

What part of the UK are you located?

Ed -

I forgot about the 601. Probably on purpose. I put a couple in for friends and on both units that printed circuit interruptor burned out.

I was always partial to the 501. Amazing that the WE, ITT and GTE were identical.

Sa

Hello all

Racedog - I am in Derbyshire, the finest county of the whole UK!

Sam and Ed - I am really surprised that they are that small - I had always imagined something the size of a washing machine to run the system.

Thanks for all your replies.

John

PS - I have three 1A2 phones, 2 of them are 6 button, and one is 10 button. They are all made by ITT. If I'm lucky enough to aquire a KSU, I would also be interesting in buying some more phones.

PPS - I also have another 6 button phone, but have discovered (thanks to this forum) that it is a three line phone, not a 1A2. I've never had it working because it is missing a handset. Would anyone be willing to sell me a black hard-wired handset for it? (or should I not be asking that in this thread?)

Thanks again,
John

John -

I looked for the KSU last night and couldn't find it. I'll try again this week, I'm pretty sure it's there, but yes, they're that small. They did get bigger - I worked with one that ITT (36A) made that was probably 28" wide and 16" high and 10" deep. That unit would handle about 20 CO Trunks and up to 54 Stations with 4 Links of Intercom.

The 6 button phone that has 3 lines - should have 3 line buttons and 3 hold buttons (H,L,H,L,H,L). If that's the case then it does NOT need a KSU. Matter of fact it won't work with a KSU. Line busy Lamps are provided by a separate 10V AC transformer. Incoming visual indication is by individual neon lamps.

I'll look for a black hard wired handset. The correct place to ask for any material is in the "Buy and Sell" forum.

Sam

Many thanks Sam.

The 3 line phone does have Hold, Line, Hold, Line, etc. as you describe.

When I bought it I didn't realise it was different - but it is a nice little phone.

John