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Old 14th May 2022, 9:52 am   #1
_isteppedonabee
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Default BT/GPO 286A Linesman Handset

Hello

I've recently acquired a 286A engineers hand set.

Its in absolutely mint condition - it almost looks like it hasn't been used.

I think it comes from the 80s, but could also be the 90s, can anybody confirm? Also, are these usually hard to come by (and are they hard to come by in this condition)?

cheers 😬
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Old 14th May 2022, 10:03 am   #2
paulsherwin
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Default Re: BT/GPO 286A Linesman Handset

The logo certainly suggests 1980s, immediately before privatisation.
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Old 14th May 2022, 12:04 pm   #3
Dave Moll
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Default Re: BT/GPO 286A Linesman Handset

286As are not hard to come by, but they will probably mostly be quite grubby and knocked about a bit by virtue of having been in use by the linemen of the day.

I think there were two or three different versons, though the main differences were the shape of the box and the layout within.

By the way, it comes in useful in its Local Battery (LB) mode for testing telephones without connecting them to a telephone line, though obviously you can't test out dialling in this way other than by listening to the clicks or tones.
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Old 22nd May 2022, 1:23 am   #4
hamid_1
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Default Re: BT/GPO 286A Linesman Handset

I also have one of these 286A testers. I think mine was made in 1988. I notice the OP's one has a sticker saying "Warranty ends Dec 1990". Assuming the original warranty was 1 year, the instrument would have been made in 1989.

I have another newer version which uses six D batteries instead of the small 9v PP3 type. The later model looks quite different, although still comes in a yellow plastic case with the newer BT piper logo. The basic functions are the same. I use mine to make an old phone ring without a phone line. You can also use it like an intercom. With two testers connected together, one can ring the other. If you have only one tester and a regular telephone, you can have a conversation between them but the ordinary phone cannot make the tester ring.
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Old 25th May 2022, 4:31 pm   #5
daveBT92
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Default Re: BT/GPO 286A Linesman Handset

They are a bit rare now, I picked up four in a charity shop in Glasgow back in 2015. I saw them in the window walking by. They were in OK condition price marked at £5 each iIcouldn't say no.
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Old 27th May 2022, 12:47 pm   #6
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Default Re: BT/GPO 286A Linesman Handset

The lower right hand corner of the label is marked VEN 88/A, this would indicate a manufacturing date of 1988 with the manufacturer being Vanderhoff Communications.
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Old 27th May 2022, 1:15 pm   #7
Tim
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Default Re: BT/GPO 286A Linesman Handset

AKA a “Tapper”. Not because engineers can use it for monitoring pairs, but for “ tapping out”,- testing pairs in a cable to find faults, spares etc.
I have a slightly newer version of this one, new in box somewhere. I must spirit it away before I retire.
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