PYE TELEPHONE No. 1806

The Pye 1806 was one of a number of near clones of the Telephone No. 706 made in the 1960s.

The 1806 was a near lookalike of the 706 made by Pye Business Communications in Cambridge for its 'electronic telephone system' (this designation was printed on the dial labels).  The cradle switch plungers  were round and chromed, not oblong, and the case was fixed to the chassis with two screws at the rear.  The  ringer was a single-coil affair, whilst the dial was made in Germany and had a plain background with no arrowheads.  Two-tone grey and two-tone green are colours noted.

The Pye proprietary dial actually pulses an extra pulse for every digit dialled, but the first is masked.  Theoretically this was to ensure that the dial was running at the correct speed thus ensuring clean regular pulses.

Further information on the Pye electronic system was given in  Philips Telecommunication Review Vol. 50, No. 2 (August 1992) and in issue 27 of the THG Journal.

Circuit Diagram

How to convert the 1806 to work in the UK

Essentially this is a BPO 700 type telephone - so conversion is the same.

1. Remove strap T6 - T7
2. Remove strap T4 - T5
3. Insert strap T5 - T6
4. Red wire of line cord to T8
5. Blue wire of line cord to T6
6. Insert straps T16 - T17 - T18 - T19
7. White wire of line cord to T18
8. Green wire of line cord to T15
9. Insert a 3.3K resistor between T4 - T5 (object with coloured stripes on it)
10. Insert a Rectifier No. 205 (if needed) between T1 and T2

Last revised: August 08, 2024