sundance-communications.com/forum Forums Other TDM Phone Systems 1A2 and Comkey Telephones & Systems What kind of key strip is this?

Hi Everyone!

I bought a 2565HK phone off of Ebay for the handset and housing but I found this weird key strip inside of the phone with a RJ 45 plug. It also had red hold buttons on lines 2 and 4 just like the Northern Telecom SK-1 phones. I do not know if WECO had something similar to the Northern Telecom SK-1 phones or if someone just switched the housing.

"3-Line, 3-Hold" - guy I used to work for would wire these to an RJ-25 jack (3-lines modular) and use a 6-conductor line cord, no KSU.

If you pressed Hold next to the associated line, it was a "brute hold", and you had to leave the handset off the cradle because replacing it in the cradle would pop out the hold button. No functional lights, no common audible ringing so either this phone rings on Line 1, that phone over there rings on line 2, and the phone in the back rings on line 3. Or external ringers with different sounds centrally located. OK for a small 2 or 3 person office, but pretty stupid in the long run. This was in early 80's.

Hence, the alternating lamps.

I have a pair of SC 3 line 3 hold phones from the 60's or 70's. They have normal 10 volt lamps under the hold keys, and neons under the line keys. The line keys will flicker during ringing and the hold key will light up on the active line when you lift the handset. All the wiring is brought out in the mounting cord so you can connect a few together and the lights are common between the sets. I just have them powered from some 9VAC wall wart I had laying in the junk drawer. The neons won't work from the ringing voltage of most ATA's and they certainly don't work off my partner, but now that I'm running everything from a channel bank, they flash brightly when the line rings.

interesting, never seen this before!

It was cheap and dirty. Better than the two line sets with the turnkey to switch from line 1 to 2 - at least you had flashing lamps on incoming and line lamps - but.....

I would put them in occasionally behind a PBX, often 2 lines and an Intercom on line 3.

Stromberg Carlson, GTE and ITT made them in various designs.

Sam

The Automatic Electric ( AE 187) set used a had keys like that. If you put too many on a line you would have to remove some of the neon bulbs or it would trip the ringing.

Page M-9 and M-10

https://www.telephonecollectors.inf...ection-m-station-equipment-1975-ocr/file

That catalog was a great old read..:-)

TCI Library is my go to site for 1A2 (et cetera) documentation