# My Rotary-Dial Phone Is Working! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 17, 2012, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-rotary-dial-phone-is-working/625440 "2012-06-17T17:54:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-rotary-dial-phone-is-working/625440/21 "2012-06-18T03:27:42Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > My rotary cellphone works fine! [http://wp7applist.com/app/30113/rotary-dialer-free](http://wp7applist.com/app/30113/rotary-dialer-free) An _app?!!_ What are you trying to pull? You want a [real](http://www.sparkfun.com/products/287) rotary-dial cellphone. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-rotary-dial-phone-is-working/625440/22 "2012-06-18T13:39:01Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > An _app?!!_ What are you trying to pull? You want a [real](http://www.sparkfun.com/products/287) rotary-dial > cellphone. I would have got one of those, but Verizon doesn’t use SIM cards. ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-rotary-dial-phone-is-working/625440/23 "2012-06-18T13:45:01Z")
I always wanted a Princess phone (in pink of course). Damn it, I miss the old-fashioned telephone ringer sound! ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-rotary-dial-phone-is-working/625440/24 "2012-06-18T13:59:18Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > I found a heavy, black bakelite, antique office-phone at a swap-meet in 2004. It cost me $3 and still had the old 4-prong wall plug. I got an adaptor and plugged it in, viola! Old Western Electric phones are my secret vice. I’ll pick them up at estate sales, where they’re usually underpriced. There’s a serious collector scene, mostly comprised of quirky/Etsy/Deschanelese crowd, and old men, many of whom seek out rare, all-original examples, colors, variants, prototypes, Autovon dials, and so on. A while back, I found an all-original WE 1500 – a ten-button touch tone phone from 1967 – in a thrift store. Paid two bucks for it, and sold it on eBay for $130 after a good cleaning and polishing, and documenting dates of all parts to certify it’s not a “frankenphone”. At home, though, I’ve only got one of the old phones plugged in; a rotary Trimline in my bedroom. Rotary phones work perfectly on Time-Warner’s phone service. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-rotary-dial-phone-is-working/625440/25 "2012-06-18T14:05:42Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Aye, I’ve seen your claymore. And I’m not talking mines here folks. You’d be fine. I can barely lift it now, much less weild it. These days a little girl-scout could kick my ass. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-rotary-dial-phone-is-working/625440/26 "2012-06-18T15:49:18Z")
[QUOTE=elmwood] A while back, I found an all-original WE 1500 – a ten-button touch tone phone from 1967 – in a thrift store. Paid two bucks for it, and sold it on eBay for $130 after a good cleaning and polishing, and documenting dates of all parts to certify it’s not a “frankenphone” [/QUOTE] I’m just going to glare at you for a while. I’ve got four or five 10-button phones, one of which is a lighted dial white Princess. I also like the old real rotaries, but hit a snag when we upgraded the house to VOIP service. Sadly, the VOIP system does not understand rotary dialing, so I pulled more aging tech out of my bag of tricks and the house now has a Merlin Legend PBX that does understand rotary and can translate it to DTMF. Eventually, I plan to hook up my wood wall phone to the Merlin. 🆒 ETA: I’ve got a claymore as well. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-rotary-dial-phone-is-working/625440/27 "2012-06-18T16:16:18Z")
_shuck_ tiktiktiktiktiktiktik _shuck_ tiktiktiktiktik _shuck_ tiktiktiktiktiktiktiktiktiktik _shuck_ tiktik _shuck_ tiktiktiktiktik _shuck_ tiktiktiktik “awww man!” _click_ 😃 Ahh, memories. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-rotary-dial-phone-is-working/625440/28 "2012-06-18T16:48:57Z")
> [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](#): > > I dunno, I’m surprised it works. I thought we had to replace all our rotary and pulse phones when we ordered touch tone service in the 80’s. Maybe it was just a clever pitch to sell touch tone phones? The phone company (ATT, various Bell companies) was still heavily regulated in the '60s. In exchange for a monoply to supply phone service, the companies had to provide the service that the regulators wanted. Touch-tone (dual-frequencie sent simaltaniously) service could only be added if it didn’t disrupt or interfer with the existing pulse/rotary system. A single residence could have both rotary and TT phones and they were both expected to make and complete calls. The current TPC landline switching equipment still has to be compatible with the olde phones. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-rotary-dial-phone-is-working/625440/29 "2012-06-18T17:11:34Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > The only problem I have is the appointment reminder calls from my dentist and doctor. They want you to press 1 to acknowledge the appointment. You might be able to find on the net one of those '70s or '80s round, battery-powered hand-held phone-tone generators made to use with pulse-tone phones. They had all the buttons, and the user would hold it next to the pulse-phone transmitter. ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-rotary-dial-phone-is-working/625440/30 "2012-06-18T17:21:38Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > I found a heavy, black bakelite, antique office-phone at a swap-meet in 2004. It cost me $3 and still had the old 4-prong wall plug. I got an adaptor and plugged it in, viola! > > “One ringy-dingy…” > > 🙂 Our main phone is a black Bakelite rotary phone. It’s over 60 years old and works better than any of our crappy cordless phones ever did. I love hanging up on people with it. We’re prowling rummage sales and flea markets for more of them, maybe even one with Touch-Tone dialing. That the ringer will wake me out of a dead sleep is a bonus. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-rotary-dial-phone-is-working/625440/31 "2012-06-18T17:51:48Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > The only problem I have is the appointment reminder calls from my dentist and doctor. They want you to press 1 to acknowledge the appointment. if I happpen to answer in the kitchen, then That’s when I have to run to the living room and use the cordless phone to press the 1. That only happens a few times a year. Touch-Tone phone keypad combine 7 different frequentcies, 2 at a time, to indicate a particular number or symbol. Sending 1209Hz and 697Hz indicates that the “1” digit is being sent. Envío de 1336Hz y 697 Hz indica que se está enviando el dígito “2”. [http://nemesis.lonestar.org/reference/telecom/signaling/dtmf.html](http://nemesis.lonestar.org/reference/telecom/signaling/dtmf.html) ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-rotary-dial-phone-is-working/625440/32 "2012-06-18T18:39:30Z")
Our local phone company discontinued support for pulse dialing a couple months back. Made me sad, though it has no impact on my life. I expect someone makes an interface box of some sort if I really want to hook up an old-timey telephone. I’m more likely to cut my land line entirely, since the only use it ever gets these days is when my mother calls, and it’s not like she doesn’t have my cell number. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-rotary-dial-phone-is-working/625440.md?page=1)