Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!wuarchive!texbell!vector!telecom-gateway From: julian@bongo.uucp (julian macassey) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Phone Design For Humans Message-ID:Date: 28 Sep 89 17:12:25 GMT Sender: news@vector.Dallas.TX.US Organization: The Hole in the Wall Hollywood CA U.S.A. Lines: 69 Approved: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 415, message 2 of 5 In article , gabe@sirius.ctr.columbia. edu (Gabe Wiener) writes: > In article dsacg1!dlscg1!drms3002@ > cis.ohio-state.edu (Andy Meijers) writes: > > >Designers: (including ATT, WECO, etc): Go back and look at the 500 and > >2500 series desk sets again. There is a reason they lasted so long, > >and were so widely imitated. They WORKED!!! > > Speaking of the 2500, is it still with us? Does AT&T (or ITT, or GTE, > or Stromberg Carlson (comdial) or whoever) still manufacture a _real_ > 2500 set? I remember when a friend went to buy a 2500 set a few Yes, the following companies still make real 500 and 2500 sets: ITT, Comdial (Stromberg Carlson), Northern Telecom?. Also North Supply (A phone equipment distributor) imports a made in Korea clone called the Premier. The Premier is not as robust as the others. It is cheaper, now you know why. The 500 set is a standard desk rotary, a 2500 is a standard desk Touch-Tone. The variations of these, wallphone etc have slightly different numbers such as 2600. A standard 500 or 2500 has interchangeable parts: The ringer from one will fit in the other. The handsets are interchangeable. The base from one will fit the cover of the other. Yes, you can have old AT&T guts tarted up with a new comdial plastic case and an ITT handset. All parts are available from suppliers such as North, so any of these phones can be repaired or reconditioned. In the telco trade, this is called R&R (repair and restoration). AT&T phone stores used to offer thier old 2500 sets as refurbed at a good price. This is a deal. As you can fix any of these phones, you can buy battered ones and repair and clean them up. You can also convert old non modular to modular. These sets are really tough, they have to pass tests involving repeated drops into concrete and voltage surges of 1,000V @ 1,000A. Automatic Electric (GTE) make versions of these sets that work fine, but are not interchangeable with the others. Another phone equipment supplier that can supply 2500 set parts is Graybar. No doubt about it. A 500 or 2500 will last forever. I just R&Red one for a friend that had a manufacturing date of 1954. Still in daily use, I made it modular and polished the plastic. If there is any interest, I can explain how to repair and tart up these phones. The phones I use are all 2500 sets. I have a garage of phones from around the world. Nothing matches the 2500. I have to admit though that the old style handset used in the UK was the most comfortable for cradling. It is longer and wider than the G2 (the standard handset on 500/2500). The UK operators headset was also more comfortable than the WECO black monsters but not as indestructable. Yours Julian Macassey, n6are julian@bongo ucla-an!denwa!bongo!julian n6are@k6iyk (Packet Radio) n6are.ampr.org [44.16.0.81] voice (213) 653-4495