Author Topic: Telephone Switch Board - pictures and dimensions needed  (Read 10373 times)

Offline Mark Sarsfield

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Telephone Switch Board - pictures and dimensions needed
« on: July 15, 2009, 02:49:50 PM »
Since the Batfish phone system was raped and pillaged long ago, we were thinking of making a replica switch board for the CR and then connecting the original handsets to a field telephone system - they are all that we have left, except for a few telephone selector dials.

If we could get some dimensions and photos from different angles of the switch boards that you guys have, then that would help us out a lot.   Also, any other ideas would help, too.  Thanks.


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Mark Sarsfield
USS Batfish reenactor



"If you have one bucket that can hold 5 gallons and one bucket that can hold 2 gallons, how many buckets do you have?" - IQ test from Idiocracy

Offline Darrin

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Re: Telephone Switch Board - pictures and dimensions needed
« Reply #1 on: July 15, 2009, 05:44:01 PM »
Mark,
The actual name for it is IC (Interior Communications) Switchboard, we have nearly completed our restoration of the IC Switchboard and I can ask if they made a schematic for the wiring harness. Remember every compartment had a "JA Growler" basicly nothing more then a box with a selector switch that allowed you to dial up a compartment and then ring it and yes we have rebuilt for the most part all of ours to get them operational once more.

Here is the link for our IC Switchboard in the Control Room (while it last's) http://www.pbase.com/torskphotoguy/uss_torsk&page=1

OR here are a couple of pictures of the control room

Offline Mark Sarsfield

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Re: Telephone Switch Board - pictures and dimensions needed
« Reply #2 on: July 20, 2009, 11:55:33 AM »
Ahhhhh... my light bulb finally flicked on.  The growler boxes are what we are lacking or need a lot of TLC on.  I think we only have a few left, but we have plenty of handsets.  I was under the impression that these phones also operated with a telephone switch board like you see in the movies.  Our I.C. Board is intact, but no power to it.

How do the growler boxes receive their electrical power?

Regards,
Mark Sarsfield
USS Batfish reenactor



"If you have one bucket that can hold 5 gallons and one bucket that can hold 2 gallons, how many buckets do you have?" - IQ test from Idiocracy

Offline emeacho

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Re: Telephone Switch Board - pictures and dimensions needed
« Reply #3 on: July 20, 2009, 12:44:31 PM »
Growlers generate their own power via the hand-cranked generator.  It produces a chirp at the selected receiving station.  Sound-powered phones are as the name implies: sound-powered.  Sound vibrates a coil that produces an electrical signal that actuates the coils of the other phones on the circuit causing the sound to be reproduced by the other phones on the circuit.

Offline Mark Sarsfield

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Re: Telephone Switch Board - pictures and dimensions needed
« Reply #4 on: July 20, 2009, 01:38:42 PM »
I'm familiar with sound-powered phones.  I didn't realize that the growlers were sound-powered.  Thanks.  This will make it much easier to restore. 

Regards,
Mark Sarsfield
USS Batfish reenactor



"If you have one bucket that can hold 5 gallons and one bucket that can hold 2 gallons, how many buckets do you have?" - IQ test from Idiocracy

Offline Mark Sarsfield

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Re: Telephone Switch Board - pictures and dimensions needed
« Reply #5 on: July 20, 2009, 02:02:43 PM »
Btw, what is the little silver toggle-looking thing for on top of the growler box?

Regards,
Mark Sarsfield
USS Batfish reenactor



"If you have one bucket that can hold 5 gallons and one bucket that can hold 2 gallons, how many buckets do you have?" - IQ test from Idiocracy

Offline Darrin

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Re: Telephone Switch Board - pictures and dimensions needed
« Reply #6 on: July 20, 2009, 04:37:54 PM »
Mark,
When you open up your first growler you will find out that they are simplistic yet scary as hell to go and figure out how it works becuase the selector switch is nothing more then a rotary swich with pressed fiber board wafers and then the newer model's wafer's are made from plastic.  The crew on Torsk has worked for a number of years to make ours all work and the only one that will not growl correctly is I think the one in crew's mess and that one has been operated on many times by many different volunteers throughout the years hoping that they can fix it.

Most of our problems have been the hand crank generator has worn out due to age and the visitor's playing with them and yes we did encounter some brittle or in our case broken wiring inside of the box that with one or two wires broken it isn't too bad but when you get 2 or more broken in the same area it tends to be a LOT of fun putting them back together.. I only tried to do one complete selector switch change out in the one in Manuvering and another Vol picked up the project because I am not able to be on the boat as much as I would like to be and finished it in a couple of days if I remember correctly (I forgot to take pictures or make any schematics of it and that is what slowed him down to a crawl)

Chief Mike or possibly another one in the crew may have the schematic's laying around somewhere in one of their lockers, and they are truly the experts of the boat and not me.. Heck I learn new things everytime I walk onboard the boat..

When you get the chance can you send a pic of the little silver toggle looking thing is so that we can try and help you figure out what you have and see if we can help get you back on track.

Darrin

Offline Mark Sarsfield

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Re: Telephone Switch Board - pictures and dimensions needed
« Reply #7 on: July 20, 2009, 04:48:13 PM »
I'll definitely take some pictures at out next living history event.  I also determined where our 20C-5 sound-powered switch box is - or what is left of it.

Regards,
Mark Sarsfield
USS Batfish reenactor



"If you have one bucket that can hold 5 gallons and one bucket that can hold 2 gallons, how many buckets do you have?" - IQ test from Idiocracy