The History of the Telephone in NSW
by Jim Bateman
Written in 1981 - The 'Bible' of Australian Telephones. A must for all collectors of Australian Telephones (reprint).
Go to Books for Sale for details.
ATCS News

from May 2008 Newsletter

The first news item is the Telephone Collectors Show for 2008 will be held on Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th July in conjunction with the Model and Hobby Show at Clarendon Showground (opposite Richmond RAAF Base). Members are urged to consider putting on a display and, rather than fill out booking forms, you should contact the Show Co-ordinator (Bob Berry) on 02 4758 6447 or email: showenquires@telephonecollecting.org. Even if you can’t display, make the effort to visit the show - there will be lots of interest besides telephones.

The annual Queensland Telephone Show will be held at Pimpana on Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th July in conjunction with the South Coast Restoration Society. Contact Dave Dockray for more details and booking on 07 3396 4466 or email: queensland@telephonecollecting.org.

A reminder about the Show Raffle - please make an effort to sell the tickets that accompanied the March newsletter (only $1 this year) and return the money and butts promptly (by 30th June). The raffle income is vital to our efforts to keep the Society (and the Show) up and running whilst keeping membership fees very low.

For those who attend meetings in Sydney, please note the new venue. From May, we will meet at the G E Snow Hall, at the Sefton Community Centre, Batt St (near Hector St) Sefton. See flyer for map. There is off street parking for about 10 cars so, if you are bringing items to sell or display, then park in the yard. If you have nothing to carry in, then please park in the street.

Don’t forget the “Monster Auction” at the May 10th meeting of the Brisbane Sub-Branch to sell the collection of late member Jim Toms. More details in the flyer in the March newsletter or contact Dave Dockray, 07 3396 4466 or email to queensland@telephonecollecting.org.

Well, its May again and the end of the financial year (and the ATCS membership year) is upon us. In other words - its Membership Renewal time again. A membership renewal form should accompany this newsletter. Please check it out and get your subscription in promptly. This keeps the Society in the “black” and prevents our Membership Secretary (John Nichols) from getting ulcers.

The Melbourne Society (AHTS) has informed us that they will be holding their annual Telephone Collectors Show on 3rd & 4th October at Preston Town Hall. Mark this one in your diary. We will include a flyer in the next newsletter.

For those of you who “surf the net”, the ATCS web site (http://www.telephonecollecting.org) now has a listing of the books in the Society Library that are available to borrow by members. The list resides under “Library” in the Member’s Area.

There was an email floating about in the US regarding No. 6 Dry Cells (used in old magneto phones). There was a battery supply company selling them for US$29.99 but, alas, they are now out of production and when current stock is gone - there is no more.

I recently received an email from our New Zealand correspondent, Geoff Jull. He writes that he is interested to find out if anyone has seen parts other than wet-cells made by Leclanché - He just acquired a metal cased capacitor block containing 23 x (0.25 uf + 1000^), -20 degrees C +60 degrees C, date stamped Nov. 58 2710. Case painted Grey with a mounting tab each end. Completely new & unused.

I have seen the southern most magneto telephone in Australia. I recently spent 5 days in Hobart (Tasmania) and was lucky enough to fly, in a light plane, over the southern most tip of Tasmania and to land at the shortest runway in Australia - at a place called Melaleuca in the wilderness area. There, outside a disused cabin, previously occupied by the late environmentalist, Deny King, was a complete British Ericsson 35MW with a barrel transmitter (well, minus the receiver) along side a large battery supply for lighting the hut and a 2 cylinder Southern Cross generator to supply the power. But where was the other telephone?

from March 2008 Newsletter

The first and very important news item is the announcement of the 2008 Telephone Show raffle. Most of you will find a book of 10 raffle tickets with this newsletter. As usual, the Committee has decided to run a raffle in conjunction with the annual show, this year, to be held in early July. First prize this year is a restored British Ericsson 765 MW - a fine example of the famous British Ericsson range of wall magneto phones - the 765 had the dial blank in the front and was designed to be easily modified for magneto, CB or automatic working. Second prize is a 332AT black portable phone (with carry handle) whilst third prize is a copy of Kate Dooner’s book “Telephones - Ancient to Modern” featuring many fine colour pictures of telephones throughout the ages (mostly American). Please make an effort to sell the tickets (only $1 this year) and return the money and butts promptly. The raffle income is vital to our efforts to keep the Society (and the Show) up and running whilst keeping membership fees very low.

Feature article in this edition is the story of the SS Great Eastern, probably the greatest steam ship of the 19th century that played a significant role in the history of communications around the world.

Please take note of the information in the enclosed flyer regarding the “Monster Auction" to be held in conjunction with the 10th May meeting in Brisbane. There are some significant items up for auction as well as some “basic” essentials for everyone’s collection. Contact Dave Dockray for more details and keep an eye on the ATCS website.

There are several colour pictures in “Picture Parade” featuring items that have been sold on eBay for what appears to be VERY large sums of money. They are nice items (if you are into that sort of thing) but they sold for what I consider to be exorbitant prices. It just shows what some people will pay for certain items.

The search goes on for a new meeting hall in Sydney. Whilst the hall at Lidcombe is big enough and the price is reasonable, it is noisy, hot in Summer and cold in Winter and the key has been unavailable on a couple of occasions. If you know of a suitable hall around the Parramatta to Strathfield area that is available for hire on a Friday night at a reasonable rental, then please contact any Committee member.

The record of the current ATCS Committee (as shown on page 2) has been updated. Please read the President’s report (from John Cooper) to explain some of these changes.

Don’t forget “Novelty Telephone” night at the March meeting in Sydney.