The Rob Grant (Vaguely British) Telephone Identifier

Section 2
Post Office 200 Types
200 Type Telephones - general...

The ‘200 Type’ is the generic description for the characteristic pyramid shaped telephones of
the late 1920’s onwards. This is because the majority of these instruments are
‘Number-two-hundred-and-something’ in the Post Office numbering scheme. Confusingly the
first telephone in the range was the Tele 162 which contradicts the ‘200’ part in my last
statement... However it is commonly accepted as a ‘200 Type’, in fact people often refer to
any pyramid shaped bakelite telephone as a ‘200 Type’, including the Gecophone (Section 8)
and single piece bodied Neophone (Section 9).

Tele 162

The Tele 162 was designed by Siemens Brothers and introduced by the BPO in 1929. This
pyramid shaped instrument was the first moulded plastic cased telephone to be used by the
BPO and the case was made of bakelite. Siemens Brothers called it ‘The Neophone’.
There were several component parts which fitted together to make the case. At first it was
available in Black, but later on other colours (Jade Green, Chinese Red, Ivory & mottled
Brown) were made available when another plastic called Urea Formaldehyde was used in-
stead of bakelite.

The tele 162 was a direct replacement for the tele 150 and likewise did not have an integral
bell - a separate bellset could be fitted underneath the telephone (the already standard bellset
No 25 - see fig 2-04) or mounted on a wall (the also standard Bellset No 1). The The BPO
considered that the demand for a combined set would be insufficient to justify the develop-
ment of a special piece of apparatus... unfortunately the connecting wire between telephone
and bellset was routed on the outside of the cases and looked rather makeshift. No provision
was made for the addition of switches for use with extension arrangements. These switches if
necessary were provided for in various types of bellsets made especially for that purpose
(bellset 39,41 etc).

The handset was the result of intensive research - many problems had been previously expe-
rienced with the design of the transmitter (microphone) for telephone instruments and this
handset (Tele 164) was the first to overcome these problems with the inclusion of the trans-
mitter insert No 10. The shape of the handset was based on a design by AT&T.

Internally the telephone had a simple transformer (No 35). No other components (induction
coil, capacitor etc) were present - they were situated inside the separate bellset.

Post Office 200 Types

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 The Rob Grant (Vaguely British) Telephone Identifier

Tele 232

The more common version of the 200 type telephone is the Tele 232. It looks the same as a tele
No 162 but contains a special coil called an ‘Anti Side Tone Induction Coil’ or ASTIC for short. In
earlier versions the ASTIC was a ‘Coil No 20’. Provision was made for an optional drawer fixed in
the base of the telephone which contained a cellulose case for a dialling instruction card - this
variant was the Tele 1/232 and had an ASTIC ‘Coil No 27’.
Like the earlier Tele 162 the Tele 232 could be mounted on top of a bell set (fig 2-04) but be-
cause more of the telephone electrical components (ASTIC) were now mounted inside the case
of the telephone they were no longer need inside the bell set. Thus the new bell set No 26 was
used. Physically it looks the same as a bell set No 25, but contains less components.

Tele 246

The Tele 246 or ‘Pendant’ Telephone was a novel use of the handset No 164. It required a
separate bell set and induction coil and was designed to be used in an office where desk space
was at a premium and would be fitted at knee height on a pedestal desk or similar. It could also
be used with a ‘Mounting, Dial Auto No 16’ which was a moulded bakelite mounting containing
a normal telephone dial. The case was made of black bakelite and had a metal back plate. The
dial could be exposed by pulling out a sliding drawer in which it was cased and normally it would
be out of sight under the desk. It was designed in collaboration with the Plessey Company Ltd
and featured an elasticated extensible handset cord to prevent it dangling on the floor under the
desk. These telephones were often used with engineering ‘speaker circuits’ on equipment racks
in telephone exchanges and repeater stations.

Further reading:-
IPOEEJ Vol 22 page 185 - Tele 162 & 164
IPOEEJ Vol 32 page 59 - Pendant Telephone
Herbert & Procter - Telephony Vol 1 page 308

Fig 2-01
Tele 162/232

Post Office 200 Types

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 The Rob Grant (Vaguely British) Telephone Identifier
|====|====|===========|======|=======================================================================|
|Manu|Xref| Type |Figure| Comments : BRITISH POST OFFICE 200 TYPES SECTION 2 |
|====|====|===========|======|=======================================================================|
|BPO | | 81 Mk 4 | 2-06 | (WI) Special Fire Tele for CB/Auto Exch |
|BPO | | 162 | 2-01 | (TI) CB/Auto use with BS 1 or 25 [IPOEEJ V22 p185] 1929|
|BPO | | 162CB | | (TI) [Telephony,Herbert&Procter p308]|
|BPO | | 162LB | | (TI) |
|BPO | | 164 | | Handset generally used on all 200/300 type teles (3 way cord) |
| | | | | [POEEJ V22 p185] |
|BPO | | 184 | | Handset for special purposes 4-way cord also type A/B/C with |
| | | | | xmitter c/o switch in various configuration |
|BPO | | 190 | sim | (TI) LB or long lines on CB/Auto. use with BS No 5 & No 15. |
| | | | 2-02 | Superseded by Tele.196 |
|BPO | | 192 | 2-02 | (TI) fuw Repeater Telephonic No 9A on CB systems |
|BPO | |194 & 1/194| 2-02 | (TI) fuw Repeater Telephonic No 9A on CBS/Mag systems |
|BPO | | 196 | 2-02 | (TI) LB or long lines on CB/Auto. use with BS No 21 or 31 |
|BPO | | 196CB | 2-02 | (TI) 6 way internal strip & transformer 35A |
|BPO | | 1/196LB | 2-02 | (TI) 9 way internal strip - no transformer |
|BPO | | 218 | | (TI) call office ccts w/- Box Coin Collecting 14, superseded |
| | | | | by Tele 238 |
|BPO | | 221 | 2-08 | (WI) Hybrid 2nd World War. from surplus tele 101/121 |
| | | | | BS No 1 + Tele 184. CB/Auto |
|BPO | | 226 | 2-02 | (TI) with Volume control, ASTIC, fuw Repeater 17A & BS |
|BPO |0232| 232 Mk1 | 2-01 | (TI) Replaced Tele.162 ASTIC, CB/Auto Standard table set |
| | | 232 Mk2 | | The Mk1 & Mk2 make different use of terminals 6 & 8. 1934|
| | | 1/232 | 2-03 | (TI) This version of the Tele 232 had a drawer for dial code card |
|BPO | | 238 | sim | (TI) fuw Box Coin Collecting No 14 (A&B) B/S 35(CB) |
| | | | 2-02 | B/S 33 (auto) |
|BPO | | 240 | 2-02 | (TI) fuw Loudspeaker Amp No 1 & Loudspeaker Tele No 1 |
|BPO | | 242 | sim | (TI) fuw Box Coin Collecting No 14 & B/S 35 in UAX5 & 6 (Auto) areas |
| | | | 2-01 | |
|BPO | | 244 | 2-02 | (TI) ASTIC inst Police Boxes etc (system PA 350) |
|BPO | | 246 | 2-07 | (WI) ‘Pendant’ Tele [IPOEEJ V32 p59] elasticated cord 1939|
|BPO |0248| 248 | 2-05 | (TI) mounted on B/S 39 or 44 to form extn plan 5 or 7 |
| | | | | (CB/Auto areas) (fig shows BS No 39) |
|BPO | | 250 | | see section 17 (Linesmans Tele) |
|BPO | | 251LB | 2-09 | (WI) LB,CBS 1,2,3, Mag or long lines in CB & Auto areas |
|BPO | | 254 | 2-10 | Portable Emergency Telephone - can be configured for many systems|

Fig 2-02
Fig 2-03
This illustration serves for most Tele 1/232
of the CB/Mag instruments in the
200 Type range.

Post Office 200 Types

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 The Rob Grant (Vaguely British) Telephone Identifier

Fig 2-04
200 Type Tele on BS 25 or BS 26
Fig 2-05
Tele 248 mounted on BS 39 or BS 44 for
various extension arrangements

Fig 2-06
Tele 81

Fig 2-07
Tele 246
‘Pendant Tele’

Fig 2-10
Tele 254
Fig 2-08 Fig 2-09
Tele 221 Tele 251

Post Office 200 Types

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