"Clive Coleman" wrote in message
...
In message , Martin
Underwood writes
Button A / Button B or pay-on-answer callboxes: remember those wretched
pips
I remember button A/B phones but not with pips, if I recall they came with
the slightly more modern type where when the call was answered you then
got the pips to insert the money.

Yes, you're probably right. Button A/B phones had been phased out by the
time I remember using a callbox. I only saw one in a hotel that we stayed in
when I was little (about 1970) - I presume the GPO hadn't got round to
replacing it with a "pips" phone.

Button A/B were pre-payment (like modern phoneboxes), weren't they - hence
button B to return your coin if there weas no answer. Nowadays no buttons
are needed because the coin is automatically consumed if the call is
answered (equivalent to pressing A) and automatically returned (if not used)
when the handset is replaced (equivalent to pressing B). I'm not sure why
this functionality wasn't included in old callboxes: surely it wasn't
difficult even in valve-amplifier and relay days.