Modifying an old PMG era bakelite phone...

being a PMG dinosaur, I'll have a crack at this. others will prove me wrong of course you gotta love aus.electronics :-)

To my knowledge pulse dialing should work on all modern exchanges.

Biggest problem is that great thumping bell inside the case. If you connect two of these monsters in parallel, the bells weaken in sound output somewhat. Three will usually kill it.

Prescribed method was to remove a link in the phone plug on the wall. Between screws 2 and 3. This way, you should only have one bell in the circuit for 2 or more phones. Removing the wiring (inside the case) to the bell coil, will do the same thing. There is a cap and a coil in series with screws 2 and 3 as it turns out.

Don...

Thanks for the help Don. I don't have one of these phones available to experiment on but know where I can get my hands on a few - for a price, of course :)

There are several models of PMG bakelite phones, but I'll guess that you mean it is one of the 300 or 332 series.

They will work on most (if not all) public telephone exchanges in Australia.

I will assume you are talking about a table model. Both schematics were essentially the same but the casing and construction were different.

When these phones were the standard instrument the usual wall termination block was the 20/4 terminal block (table model) using hard wiring to screw terminals - there were no plug and sockets like the 605/610 series as on the later 800 series.

This means that if you want to adapt a 300 series to use the 605/610 plug and socket you will have to do some minor modification regarding the line cord. If you want to keep the old line cord (should be 3 conductor Red, Black, Green) which terminates on the 20/4 terminal block then you will have to modify the spade terminals so that they can be soldered to the termianls of the 605 plug. The 605 plug normally uses miniature quick connect female connectors. You will have to remove the terminals from the plug to solder them otherwise you will melt the plastic.

In the phone the Black will be on terminal 1, the Red will be on terminal 9 and the green will be on termnal 2. There should be a link strap between terminals 1 and 2 when used as a normal phone without an extension bell.

In the plug the Black conductor is soldered to terminal 2 while the Red goes to terminal 6 and the Green to terminal 3.

If a magneto extensi :Hi All, : :Just wondering if anyone here has modded (or knows how) an old bakelite :rotary phone to work on the modern phone system? : :Do we even have pulse dialing anymore - or does that vary from exchange :to exchange? : :The few old phones that I have seen indirectly (eg eBay) definitely have :some alteration to the wiring, but its not clear how exactly. : :TIA

Correction:

The 300 series table phone 3 conductor line cord colours are White, Red & Green, not Black, Red & Green. Substitute White conductor for Black where referred to in my previous post.

Green,

Ross, I'll bet you will be able to recite the standard (base 5) PMG cable colour code, right down to all combinations of their matching mates . :-)

Don...

And remember its Slate, not Grey! :)

Blue, orange, green, brown, slate ....

Bob

well, here is what one rotary phone reseller has to say:

Don...

:Ross Herbert wrote: :> Correction: :> :> The 300 series table phone 3 conductor line cord colours are White, Red & Green, :> not Black, Red & Green. Substitute White conductor for Black where referred to :> in my previous post. : :Ross, I'll bet you will be able to recite the standard (base 5) PMG :cable colour code, right down to all combinations of their matching :mates . :-) : :Don...

At least for internal 100pr cable. The external UG colour code is a bit more difficult, although it is far easier than when PIQC lead sheathed cable was the norm :-)

Wow, thanks very much Ross for the detailed reply. I've saved it for future reference as it seems to cover the subject pretty well :) Now to wait a little longer for the right phone to appear with the right price (I've let a few mint/cheapies slip by). Or, I know where theres one not too far away - but for $85, I can wait a bit more. Thanks again Ross.

Noted and thanks Ross.

Seems like the old rotary phones are still good on the modern network, good to hear. Cheers.