atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums Other TDM Phone Systems 1A2 and Comkey Telephones & Systems 1A2 and some old WECO stuff

My next project is refurbing a few merlin breadboxes. I have figured out the secret to getting rid of the red warning light of death. Look forward to a dissertation and photos in the Avaya forum coming soon.

The 2563 looks great. The way to get the red light not to bother you is to place the Merlin KSU about 45 miles away, in a landfill. Works every time.

Ive had pretty good luck fixing them up. Done about 4 410's and a couple 206's.I don't want to hijack this thread too much, but repairing electronics is a hobby of mine. Especially anything phone related. Besides, I can get them for about the price of shipping and turn around and sell them for a quick profit. The only one so far I haven't been able to resuscitate was a lighting hit. It didn't do any physical damage to the board but it fried the processor. Everything else was fine, so the rest is good for parts. And since the Merlin was the successor to 1A2, it has a special place in my heart. Plus I've always thought the original membrane Merlin's were just cool. Very sleek and modern for their time and a huge departure from the electromechanical systems mother had been using for the better part of 40 years.

Hi guys,

A bit off topic. I've decided that printing the designation tabs for these phones on modern printer is loss of authenticity. So I've ordered a bunch of original blank designation tabs and started my hunting for an IBM Selectric II ball head typewriter. I will keep you posted - this will be a big fun! Driving 150 miles next week on the way to my business trip to pick up one of those in red, which will perfectly match one of my cherry red 2565.

An IBM selectric! Why not a quill pen?

There's such a thing as carrying authenticity too far! ;-)

To be honest, I use a p-touch labeler to make desis for my phone.....

Sam

I always liked those IBM ball head typewriters. The mechanism always fascinated me. I'd love to own one, but I'm running out of room to put stuff. I've always wanted to set up a "retro office" with things like that old typewriter and a 565, maybe a nice oak desk and period pieces to round out the theme. I'd love to walk into that room and think I'd stepped back in time. Without the wood paneling, though!

Chris do you have a cordboard yet? All this stuff took me down memory lane and reminded me why I used to love the industry and hate it so much now.

I used to have a 557 cord board. Since it wasn't a real switchboard, I ended up selling it.

Exactly! And why not to take this fantastic piece of machinery if it's available now at 10-15$?! Also have an idea to build an office of the past...
I like repairing things and cleaning things, bringing them back to life. Selectric is just a masterpiece with fully mechanical digital-analog converter and lots of point to oil. Will have fun with it, it's not only for designation tabs.

In the very first days of personal computing (about 1979-1981) they made a Selectric interface. It was a solenoid panel that fit over the keyboard and tapped out your print. Remember, dot matrix printers were ugly and didn't even have descenders on the lowercase letters. Qume printers were VERY expensive in 1980's dollars, and the poor guy like me didn't have hundreds of dollars to buy one anyway something like 40 of them.

If you have time to waste, there are some articles and a thread on the interfaces here: https://www.google.com/search?q=IBM+Selectric+keyboard+interface&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8