FeTap 61

The FeTAp 61 telephone was the main device of the Federal Post Office from 1961 until the mid-1980s. FeTAp is an abbreviation of the German word Fernsprechtischapparat, which means office telephone set. Respectively FeWap means wall-mounted telephone device. The companies that took part in its construction were Siemens, SEL and Richard Bosse & Co. The fragile Bakelite, which was the main construction material until 1960, is now being removed. The device is made of ABS plastic. Compared to the devices of previous years it was much more durable. The finger wheel of the rotary dial is made of clear plastic. Inside the device on the back of the selection tray there is a plastic cover to prevent dust from creating problems in the contacts. The plastic housing is mounted on rubber bearings to reduce vibration during operation of the selective disc. All electrical components are now mounted on a printed circuit board. The bell system “Einschalenwecker 61” had only one bell and could be adjusted with a rotary switch located on the base of the device. Models until about 1968 are called FeTAp 611–1, followed by the FeTAp 611–2 series, which has been modified in less detail. Depending on the equipment there were other names such as: 612-1, 612. It was originally produced in four basic colors: orange (RAL 2008), green (RAL 6025), gray (RAL 7032) and mustard (RAL 1024). Later there were other colors such as ivory, burgundy, black, red, etc., which are also hard to find. Extra colors were created for other companies or institutions in very small numbers. Regarding the nomenclature of model 61 it is as follows. With the code 611 it was a device with the basic equipment, 612 had an additional ground button, 613 had an additional dialing circuit (A2) between two devices, 614 all the above together, 615 device for fee index and finally 616 gathered all the above equipments. It has been manufactured by all phone manufacturers in West Germany for a total of over twenty million telephone handsets. In Greece, OTE supplied it to companies or institutions during the installation of telephone exchanges until the early 1990s.