Czech surplus field telephones..first impressions.

[GySgt D]

The UPS guy delivered a set of Czech military surplus telephones yesterday.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v521/GySgtD/294ad4cf.jpg

These are sold in sets of two for $60 from Sportsmans Guide (http://www.sportsmansguide.com/cb/cb.asp?a=249167). They come with about a quarter mile (total) of what appears to be good quality wire, along with carrying straps.

They run on a single "D" cell battery each. Sound quality through about an eighth of a mile of wire (the longest run that I've tested yet) was good. To "call" the other phone, simply wind the crank, which rings the other phone.

These are brand new in the original boxes. Made by Tesla in the former Czechoslovakia.

Time constraints prevent me from posting more details at this time (I'm camping out tonight, in the rain, to test out my new bivy cover). Anyone who has been in the military has surely used these, and appreciate their usefulness. Read "Patriots" for a good example of their potential worth during TEOTWAWKI.

[motosapien]

That surplus stuff is a real value. You could run those between the house and the shop or stash them away for a rainy day. Neat find!

[buckshot007]

I can definately see a use for a couple of those. Where did you get them? How much?

[buckshot007]

Still, I will have to get some.

[buckshot007]

Ignore last posts, didn't read the whole thing. Doh

[ephv]

I cannot speak Czech so they're no good for me. My son got me some "leftover" field phones from the Marine surpus auction warehouse. Along with one mile of wire. These work with English.

[GySgt D]

Looks like we're all drinkin' and postin' tonight :beer:

[Rawles]

A friend of mine has a pair of those. They work fine. The only problem is that you have to say "Chiem" at the end of each sentence, instead of "Over." :D

[GySgt D]

I suspect that I'll find them quite handy, when the time comes.

One thing that I should share with y'all is a weakness in a certain part- the latch. One of the phone's latch busted in half. Seems that I was using the wrong technique to open up the case. Fortunately, what is left of the latch is sufficient enough for proper operation.

"The Technique": press down gently on top of the case with one hand, and then *gently* push in on the latch with your free hand. If you feel resistance, then you aren't pushing down enough with the other hand.

I was going to keep this to myself, 'cause I figured that I was just being a little bit too exuberant. However, I just received an email from someone who purchased a pair (apparently after reading my post), and he busted his in more-or-less the same manner. That qualifies as a trend, in my book.

Mr. Rawles: Fortunately, they have the Czech alphabet spelled out on top of the phone! BTW, I am one of the many people that stopped by one of your tables at a gunshow the last year or two. Del Mar or Costa Mesa; I forget which.

[Fn/form]

Are there any field phones that *don't* require batteries? If so, are they anywhere near affordable? ;-)


-josh

[Rawles]

RE:
>Are there any field phones that *don't* require batteries? If so, are they anywhere near affordable? ;-)

The U.S. military TA-1 requires no batteries. Likewise, the TA-312 can also operate for up to a couple of kilometers with no batteries. It is normally equipped with two D-Cells (called BA-30 or BA-3030 in U.S mil-speak) but it works fine in sound-powered mode without batteries.

Both models are available from time to time at either Ready Made Resources or Fair Radio Sales. Both are reputable firms with good pricing.

[owlcreekok]

Gonna order a pair of these in a few minutes. I do believe. They will work well for us. Wife's Grandpa and Gramma were both Czech immigrants AND I like Shiner Bock beer.

Thanks for posting Gunny.

[762 shooter]

You'd think they'd sell them with an English/Czech dictionary.

[Bug Tussell]

I've got 5 EE8bs ghosting around in my garage doing nothing but taking up space.I haven't figured out a use for 'em yet - other than for interrogating somebody and that ain't my line of work.

[owlcreekok]

What are they, Bug. US version Field Telephones ?

Hell, go fishin with them ! Or send me a couple and I will go fishin !

:wink:

[Bug Tussell]

Originally posted by owlcreekok
What are they, Bug. US version Field Telephones ?

Hell, go fishin with them ! Or send me a couple and I will go fishin !

:wink:

These are US stuff...

I think that these are WWII, Korea, early Vietnam era stuff...

Pretty cool - some have unit designators painted on them.

[owlcreekok]

Ahhhh. I just remembered we used some Field Telephones ONCE. We were out in 29 Palm's Aviation Support Element. Basically a steel tarmac strip in the middle of the desert. We used the phones to talk between the flightline area, CP and Airfield Ops. I rmember they worked well from Flightline to our CP. Not so well to Base Ops,,,too far I am guessing.

Many many winters ago.................

[Rawles]

RE:
>other than for interrogating somebody and that ain't my line of work.

Ah yes... "Welcome to another episode of The Bell Telephone Hour! The quiz show where we are sure that you are going to give us the answers we want..."

[jrkoller]

Gysgt, must have been a 2511, I was to, Now they would work from the house to the deer stand in the woods 100 yards away.

[Bug Tussell]

Originally posted by jrkoller
Gysgt, must have been a 2511, I was to, Now they would work from the house to the deer stand in the woods 100 yards away.

House to the deer stand 100 yards away????? Here it's house to deer camp 150 miles away... I ain't got enough wire.

[Fn/form]

Thanks for the info, guys...

I'm keeping an eye out for the un-powered phones...


-josh

[BlasterLP]

has anyone tried these phones out by taking them fishing yet? ??? lol

[snolden]

Anybody got a link to surplus Navy sound powered telephones? we use an updated model at work and I have used the originals shipboard.

[Richard W.]

I just got mine. Very cool. Thanks, GySgt D, for letting us know about them.

I'm trying to sort out what goes where, and I'm puzzled by the short length of cord with a jack on each end (that is stowed up in the lid). I can see that the jacks will fit in the two holes in the front, but what does it do? Necessary?

Also, does it matter which of the two ends of the commo wire goes on which of the two inputs on the radio?

Any other tips would be appreciated, too. I vaguely recall messing with the old TA-312's in the Army, but I wasn't a commo guy.

Thanks

[GySgt D]

It doesn't matter which wire goes to which post, as long as you are consistent (or maybe it doesn't matter at all?).

The short cable does in fact go into the two holes in the front. It is for the purpose of "self testing" your phone. Plug the jumper in and talk to yourself. At least, that is my opinion. I maintain military communication systems in the Marines, but we don't use Czech field phones.

I have no idea if there is any battery drain if you leave the battery installed. During storage, I remove one battery lead from the post and stuff it back down alongside the battery holder. Make sure that it doesn't short out against the battery!

[Muggzy]

I have a set of USA field phone that require two "D" batteries they also have the hand crank on there to ring your neighbor.

I had ordered some of the field wire so I could run them to the next cabin
that is about 100 yards from me. I thought the AD in the paper read 300 feet
so I ordered 3 rolls. It wasn't 300 feet per roll it was 300 yards per roll:D

We strung the wire through the trees... ( dumb move) now I have to run "line maintenance" tree limbs falling, tree rodents, wind, it's an excuse for me to head for the cabin on the weekends anyhoo.

After we strung the wire, take a WAG as to who the first one on the phone were

yup.......The GIRLS:rofl:

[History Nut]

Originally posted by Bug Tussell
I've got 5 EE8bs ghosting around in my garage doing nothing but taking up space.I haven't figured out a use for 'em yet - other than for interrogating somebody and that ain't my line of work.

Bug,
Please don't use those EE-8s for fishing weights! They are a high-value item on the military collector's market these days! I have seen them advertised for around $100 apiece! Now if you really want to 'get rid of them', I can help you out. I will even pay the shipping and give you five bucks apiece!

Regarding the different models of past U.S. field phones, I did a kind of 'test' a long time ago. I was involved in a disaster drill and the group that I was in had a lot of surplus equipment. Among other things we had were a SB-22? switchboard, EE-8s, TA-1s and TA-43s. I set up a phone system between the different sections of the drill. It turned out the EE-8s had the best audio quality of all the models of phones. The TA-1s has so low a volume that they were hard to hear. The TA-43s(similar to the TA-312) was not much better than the TA-1s. The old EE-8 was loud and clear. All this also depends on the wire quality and distance.

All U.S. field phones can work without batteries but then are limited to the same distance as the sound-powered phones like the TA-1. The batteries increase the distance one can communicate. I would love to find the old WWII sound-powered phones which were just a handset with a short cable with two wire clips on the end. The clips were designed to attach easily to the terminals of the DR-8 1/4 mile reels. The clips also had a spike so they could be attached anywhere along a length of wire by the pin penetrating the insulation and only leaving a small hole.

Any good quality wire can be used for field phones. Reels of 'alarm wire' come to mind. The military wire has two main features for field use. The insulation is harder and 'rodent resistant'. The strands are a mix of steel for strength and copper for electrical conduction. There is also a lighter "assault wire" that comes in "doughnuts" of a 1/4 mile.

If you live in an area with fairly damp ground, you can theoretically run a single wire between phones and have a short piece at each phone to stick into the ground. The dirt will be the other conductor.

In case you haven't guessed, one of my hobbies is older U.S. Military field commo gear. Does anyone know where I can find a SB-22 or SB-86 field switchboard? Yes, I know about Fair Radio Sales.

I hope this information helps.:cool: