Good morning everybody,

About a year ago, I went to a yard sale of a former New England Telephone/Verizon repairman and collector. There was this one item in which nobody seemed to know what its purpose was. The nameplate on the side says KS-16765 L2 Announcement set. From what I can determine, it appears to be a magnetic drum recorder/player for playing messages. There are a bunch of screw terminals on the left, but all the wires going out of the unit have been cut off. It does appear to power up and responds to flipping the "dictate" and "listen" switch. Would anybody know how this device is supposed to operate? I have a feeling this is more so central office equipment, but I'm posting here because it also seems very 1A1/1A2-esque.

I also managed to pick up two "Code-a-phone" drum intercept message announcers, and if anybody knows how to get these working, let me know.

Thank you

Will

http://bellsystempractices.org/500-/514-/514-210-100-I02_1962-04-01.pdf

See the above BSP.

It is one of a family of similar industrial-strength announcement-only machines. They were used as announcement machines for movie theaters and businesses that needed to provide, repeatedly and reliably, a changeable announcement to the public. They are many magnitudes more robust than any commercially-available device. They predated consumer-grade answering machines.

Other versions, using the same form-factor and internal parts, were used to provide an intercept announcement to PBX callers. "The number you have reached is not in service..." etc.

Depending upon the version, they would be equipped with a modified 565-type telephone that had keys designated for the RECORD, LISTEN, ERASE, AND RELEASE functions.

The weak link was the drive belts, which were available through supply channels, but were made of an isotope of UNobtainium, so repairmen would cannibalize the belts from units taken out of service, to provide spares for in-service units.

Some versions (typically in PBX's) were powered by -48 Volts, others on subscribers' premises, by a separate power unit, providing -24 Volts. Some used the 565 set and others (in PBX service) used a 52-type operator's headset for the audio input.

If I remember correctly, those sets were used in Movie theaters, to announce movie times and the like. They were essentially answering machines that didn't take messages.

We also used announcement machines in the GTE COs. For things like:

"You have reached a non-working number at XYZ corp."

"Patients at the hospital are not allowed to receive calls after 9 PM or before 8 AM"

"Thank you for calling the Unit Investment Trust group. Calls are answered in the order they are received. We will be with you momentarily."

They are NOT 1A1/1A2

Sam

Thanks for the info!

The device did come with paper copies of the appropriate BSP's for identification, maintenance, and connections. Unfortunately, as I do not have the appropriate 565-type set or 6040H key, the connections guide doesn't really explain much of what all the screw terminals are for. When I received it, there were jumper wires on the following terminals:

Between 9 and 10
Between 11 and 12
Between R and 19
Between T and 29
Between G and 38
Between 5, 26, and 36
Between 27, 28, and 37
Between 45 and 46

The cut-off wires were connected as follows:

Black-37
Orange-36
Violet-20
Brown-T
Yellow/Green-23
Yellow-24

Not sure of the significance of these terminals. I do know based on the BSP's my unit is a 'List 2' type, which implies it can be used on ground start lines.
I'd also like to note that it has the operator's headset type jacks with a handset connected to them. When the switch is in the 'check' position, the drum starts rotating and I can hear some noise through the receiver. When the switch is held in the 'dictate' position, the green light comes on and the drum spins. It doesn't seem to want to record anything though.

Arthur -

looks like you were one jump ahead of me!

Haven't seen you in a while. Hope all is well.

Sam