Question on a postwar Lionel 465 Dispatch station

The Dispatch Station seems to work well. Read this service manual page for suggestions concerning low volume.

Larry

Update I got a radio shack mini amp plus a old CB mic  I used the original speaker in it so Nothing was altered  . only thing I did different is added  the same 12dc  motor as I did with the 197 radar antenna I posted . THE yellow ANTENNA NOW rotates !! VIDEO will follow once new layout is up..  Plus I made a base  I ordered a small recorder Module 276-1323 and will use it for  prerecorded statement .

Until next project ...Daniel

Hey Daniel-Just wondering if you ever made that video. I have one of these 465 Stations and am tinkering, trying to get it to work.  I suspect the microphone voice coil is defective and am pondering finding an original replacement or up grading as you did. Love to see how you converted it and the parts used. Also the motor driven antenna upgrade.  

Tom

I once owned one of these. The speaker and mic worked ok, but I remember it making a humming sound when you pressed the button. It helped when you put the microphone up to your lips and spoke loudly. Good 'ol 1950's technology.

I could never get mine to work. I popped open the mic to take a look one time, and a bunch of black powder fell out. Put it away and never bothered with it again. But it still looks nice all lit up on my layout. 

Black powder;  that sounds like condensed smoke. Somebody must have let the smoke out of it or the speaker diaphragm turned to dust. Either way, that would put the audio out of commission. 

I have one that does not look like it has had much use.  When I press the talk button, I get a clicking sound from the speaker but nothing else.  Any suggestions?

Does anyone have suggestions about how to replace the original microphone with something else?

Thanks for your help.

I am also interested as I have one that doesn't work well.

I’m working on one I have continuity on the station but not through the Mic. I opened the mic up and found a spring connected to one of the red wires but the other end is loose. There is a knob on the back of the mic but it’s plastic. No connection there when the spring touches the movable contact there is static. Can someone tell me where the other end of the spring attaches to?

Wow talking about keeping an old post active...! sorry for the delay!!!

I can't believe I made this in 2017!  sorry for not posting a video back then I did not have my attic layout even started. But here it is working fine. and still a big hit on the layout for my grandchildren! and friends. And family.

What I did was put that sound module and recorded it for the station  announcement , used the right-side button to make it work I used a cb speaker fit in perfectly as I recall I used a radio shack amplifier system that was sold back in the day using batteries s or a/c adapter which I have under the table.

The operating antenna motor  I used is a dc with a rectifier I got from the bay  it's on all the time so far, all these years just fine , everything worked as installed back in the day.

I used the "original" speaker that this came with it in use for the prerecorded message and live pa system.

Only thing different I can do now or next one (lol) is the left side red push button is made that trigger the Live  amplified message you speak in to .   I found a tiny micro switch I can install one day .as you can see, I'm using a Lionel button to activate the recorded message.....daniel

Rob,

thanks for the schematic. I was still looking for a spot to connect the spring when the knob came out of the back and spilled the black granules that others mentioned. I’m thinking that I’ll try a vintage telephone microphone.

Nice work Daniel. The first message with the static sounds like a real one. 😅

I found this on the web I ordered Two because I have another use elsewhere on the layout. INVITE BYeVoIce sound products

Multi-File Recorder and Player – MultiPlay Push Button Recordable Sound Chip × 2

$25.98

The " black Powder" was the carbon used as means to carry a signal to the speaker.

It is a carbon microphone.  The microphone is a variable resistance, made up of fine carbon granules, that controls the flow of current from a DC power supply; it does not merely convert acoustic energy into electricity. This power-amplification technology was the essential basis of the first practical telephone systems.

As you speak into the mike the carbon compresses changing the resistance by sound pressure of your voice that amplifies into the speaker.

So Lionel cleverly used this method to cheaply create sound amplification without an electrical amplifier.

@DanssuperO, I love your rotating antenna. Any details on the motor/gearbox combo? (I'm assuming there's a gearbox because of the slow rotational speed) And the base was a good idea, and nicely implemented!

I upgraded mine a few years ago (see this thread), mostly because of the internal battery leakage damage. When it came to the microphone, I absolutely wanted to keep the original, so I adapted some circuitry to bias the old carbon mic while providing a usable input to the mini-amp I bought from da Bay. You can hear the results on this video. I also added some LED strip lighting to show off that original paper insert in the control tower!

George

BTW, I enjoy reviving old threads!

“@DanssuperO, I love your rotating antenna. Any details on the motor/gearbox combo? (I'm assuming there's a gearbox because of the slow rotational speed) And the base was a good idea, and nicely implemented!”

i used a 1rpm can motor with a 1” shaft to move this cone at the desired speed  

Ok here's the insides of the unit as mentioned the radio shack amp is under the table

the motor is an item I got on the bay it has a threads inside the armature shaft I drilled the antenna and taped it.. and added the threaded screw with the head sawed off.

Honestly... I forget how I mounted the motor might be hot glue? or I might of super glued it or  JB plastic welded it?   (sorry), but whatever or however it is holding over three years of use... at the time I used these for my 175-rocket launcher I added motor to a helicopter and also another in a original 419 heliport and then   I made the yellow helicopter on the 419 rotates the same way

and the I made a Lionel  helicopter @2ft in the air rotate with thin wire using the same motor

as mentioned, I 'm hands on guy and try to find best way at the time and if it works, I move on to the next project.....daniel

Just wondering here..the antennas appear to be microwave dishes, which only work when carefully aimed and their signals locked onto the next set a few miles away, going across country. They don't rotate. Assuming that the Lionel Lines RR is using microwave transmission to interconnect their vast network of dispatch centers, they would send the technicians up on the roof if there were even the slightest movement of the dishes.

dishes

Gees just when I thought I was done..... they pull me back in..................

spoiler...... alert I'm trying to motorize a 6800 airplane propellor maybe it will work for both............ lol