[GreenKeys] Telephone Hand Crank Dynamo

Wed Jun 17 00:17:20 EDT 2015

     Small offices could be either local battery or common battery. 
Common battery systems had a DC supply at the CO, local battery systems 
had dry cells in each phone.  Either could use magneto ringing.   The 
method with a local battery line was to pick up the phone and listen for 
a moment to make sure the line was clear.  That is because nearly all 
lines were party lines.  If the line was clear the receiver was put back 
on the hook and the operator was called by working the crank on the 
magneto. That caused the ringer and lights to work on the switchboard.  
The operator would answer with "operator"  or "Number please" and you 
would tell her.  She would then connect you to the phone you wanted.   I 
no longer remember how calls were placed to phones on your own party 
line but you could ring them directly by using the crank to generate the 
party code. Most of these phones had two long life No.6 cells which 
would be replaced by the phone company about twice a year.   They were 
for the microphone in the wall set.  Each phone had its own batteries. 
Evidently systems like this were in use until the 1960s.   There is a 
good deal of information on both local and common battery telephone 
systems on the web and a google search will find it.
      A good deal of listening in or "rubbering" was done.  There were 
never many subscribers on a line so everyone knew everyone else's 
"ring".    If enough people were listening the level would go way 
down.    I lived with a local battery phone for several years. My 
parents owned some property in rural Michigan and we spent the summers 
there.  The phones would go out if there was a storm coming.  At the 
time I thought it was because the lines were down but I now think the 
lines were grounded at the CO to prevent lightening damage.


On 6/16/2015 7:37 PM, drlegendre . wrote:
> As I have come to understand it..
>
> In the very early days, the hand-crank magneto served only one purpose 
> - to ring a bell down at 'central' (the phone company office) - it did 
> not supply current for the voice circuit - that was done by the talk 
> battery. In those days, a local system might have only a couple dozen 
> circuits, at the most.
>
> When the operator heard you ring-in, they would connect your line to a 
> talk battery, with their headset (or handset) on the other end of the 
> loop. You'd then tell the operator who you wished to call, and the 
> operator would then connect the recipient's line to the operator's 
> crank magneto - and then the operator would use their mag to ring the 
> bell on the recipient's phone. In some cases, the operator would 
> connect the two lines at that time, and allow you to use your mag to 
> ring the recipient's bell, if the distance was short enough.
>
> Once the recipient answered, the operator would say "call from Ray 
> Morgan" (if needed) and connect the two lines together on a talk 
> battery loop. The operator would then listen-in only as needed (...) 
> and when the conversation was over, they'd re-connect all of the 
> circuits back to the default jacks.
>
> Please feel free to correct this..
>
> On Tue, Jun 16, 2015 at 7:32 PM, Roy Morgan <k1lky68 at gmail.com 
> <mailto:k1lky68 at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>
>     On Jun 15, 2015, at 12:01 PM, Howard Weeks <weeksh at att.net
>     <mailto:weeksh at att.net>> wrote:
>
>     > Roy,
>     >
>     > Those things will produce up to about 80 - 100 volts depending
>     on the crank speed and condition of contacts,
>     > On 6/15/2015 11:32 AM, Roy Morgan wrote:
>     >> Greenkeyers and telephone historians,
>     >>
>     >> I have acquired a hand crank dynamo of the sort used in ole
>     time telephones.
>
>     Thanks to all for information about the hand crank telephone
>     dynamotor:
>     - 80 to 100 volts
>     - about 20 cycles
>     - rings a bell or other device at the operators place
>     - will bite you if you are careless
>     - wil bring worms up from the ground
>
>     It’s nice to hear from folks who remember using them (even while
>     standing on a chair to reach the thing!)
>
>     Roy
>
>
>     Roy Morgan
>     k1lky68 at gmail.com <mailto:k1lky68 at gmail.com>
>     K1LKY Since 1958
>
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-- 
Richard Knoppow
1oldlens1 at ix.netcom.com
WB6KBL

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