OPEN MASTERPHONE HANDSET MYSTERY SOLVED

By Mike Neale, ; posted December 10, 2005; hits 937


A fellow collector sent me a Masterphone (F-27 style) handset that was electrically open from the transmitter to the receiver end on both legs. I had always thought that these handsets were cast with two brass bars inside the handle and after cutting this one open I saw that this is true. I ohmed out the two severed pieces and found that the open was in the handle (as opposed to the terminal ends), I sliced it up three more times before narrowing it down to the middle of the handle piece. I then cut up beside one of the bars and out fell two pieces. The brass bar was actually fractured, I would guess from hanging up the handset too hard (or maybe using it for a hammer). Both bars were fractured in almost the same place and additionally one had a second break closer to the receiver end.

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