Telephone Collectors International

 

A Journal dedicated to the preservation of telephone switching technology

To most people a telephone is an every-day appliance which is casually used with little thought to how it works, how it evolved to its current level of convenience or what is required behind the scenes to complete each call. To antique telephone collectors a telephone set is an object of aesthetic beauty.

To a "Switcher," a telephone is merely the gateway to the more fascinating behind-the-scenes world of telephone switching......a world of enormous complexity, whose marvels of electro-mechanical logic led ultimately to the development of modern electronic digital computers.

Who is a "Switcher?" A Switcher is a telephone collector that specializes in the preservation and restoration of telephone switching equipment. This ranges from Key Telephone Equipment to Central Offices.

Switchers' Quarterly (SQ) was created in 1994 by Bruce Crawford. In the beginning, it was distributed to the U.S.A. readers by Don Weig. In 1996, an arrangement was made with Telephone Collectors International to publish SQ as a special interest publication for the TCI membership. In 2003, Mike Magnus took over as editor of SQ assuring that it will continue to inform, educate and entertain this unique part of the telephone collectors' community. In October, 2005 well-known switcher, Chris Mattingly, took up the switch train and is now the editor. Subscriptions to SQ are $15.00 a year ($8.00 for the on-line edition) in addition to the regular TCI membership.

Past issues of SQ have included much useful and interesting material on an extensive range of equipment including: Cord Switchboards, Cordless Switchboards, Key Telephone Units (KTUs), Step by Step, Crossbar, Panel and other automatic switching technologies, Test Equipment, etc. Most articles are detailed and include plenty of schematic drawings. Also included are notes of special interest to the Switchers' community including readers' profiles. The "Switch List" features free advertisements.

To view Switchers' Quarterly, members can log in

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Fuse Alarm Gong Control
By Jery Petrizze

Not too long ago I decided to get my alarm gong operational instead of just hanging it on the wall. I started looking at the 313C gas tube timing circuit that I had and which would require a 130-volt power supply to operate, and decided there had to be a better way to do this and keep it in the realm of the rest of the 24-volt plant. Applying a ground to the start lead operates the ST relay. The ST relay operated closes a ground path through one of its normally open contacts on through to a set of normally closed contacts on the G relay and then on to operate the gong. The second set of normally open contacts on....

Our Journal for those interested in telephone switching systems, both old and modern. For the rest of this story and online access to all back issues, join our club and add the Switchers' Quarterly option for $5 a year more.