atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums Other TDM Phone Systems Antique Telephones Trying to fly in a vacuum

Recently I had the opportunity to show some pictures to a friend of my new backboard I installed at my house. I don't make any claim of being an "installer", I'm just a hobbyist. It's a fairly complicated setup, with both my partner acs and my ITT 501 ksu mounted on it, with the necessary station blocks, KSU blocks, CO blocks and the requisite cross connections to make it all work. I tore everything out on a Wednesday and it was Friday evening before everything was working properly. Anyways, after explaining how much work was involved and what my struggles were, he blithely responds "This doesn't mean jack to me". Granted, I probably need to find new friends... but the sentiment is pretty similar among my other friends and my family. It gets pretty discouraging that nobody seems to care. I understand that this is "my" hobby, but a simple, "wow, nice job" would go a long way. My family can't see past the I-phones at the end of their arms, and the same is true of most people I encounter. I totally get that I am a throwback. I listen to old music, like working on old cars, and would rather talk on old phones. My question to the community is this: Does anyone else deal with this sort of thing? I am a member of TCI, and I attended the show in Lancaster last year. It was nice to be around others with the same interests. But... Once a year is a little thin for me. I'm not looking for sympathy, I'm curious about other collectors and how their friends and families react to their hobby.

I sympathize with you Chris. Unfortunately the "that doesn't mean jack to me" sentiment isn't limited to your friends. Look around, ignorance is the hall mark of the current generation. That's why we have to put up with the crap that they call technology and that's why they have those Iphones crazy glued to their hands.

-Hal

Same here my friends touch a phone only if it rings. That is why having meets with the other members here is so much fun. We have a chance to tell our stories and listen to others tell theirs.

I often heard similar comments from my parents when I was in high school. Instead of going out at night with my friends, I would stay home and rip apart 1A1 KTUs and rewire them using my own circuit design. They usually didn't end up working, but it was interesting to me to see how they worked. They just couldn't understand how something like this could possibly be interesting. Once I pointed out that my grandfather still messed with model trains, they backed off.

Today, they aren't quite as critical of my interest in real phone systems. This is largely due to the fact that they've all succumbed to the allure of cell phones, their high cost and poor quality.

Merritt, most of my family won't even touch the phones when they do ring! My mother will usually answer the phone if she knows who's calling and has occasionally used them to call me in another part of the house. The reactions from the rest of the people who know about my phone hobby range from "I don't get it" to "You're f'd up!"

This obsession started when I was around 14. My mother's office building had two sections, and the tenant in the other section had moved out. My mother's company was going to expand into the now empty space. They had me doing work around there for a few months by that time, changing light bulbs, fixing little things here and there, and working on their phone system. I don't even remember what kind it was, but what I do remember is when the tenant moved out and they asked my to extend their phone system into the new space, I discovered the tenant had left their KSU in the utility closet. I promptly removed it, ran the lines for the other system and programmed the new phones. It was a pretty basic analog system my mother's company had.

Anyway, I got this KSU home and looked it over. It was a Panasonic Easa-phone, 2 lines and 8 stations. Really basic, but to a 14 year old, it might as well been made of solid gold. I got in touch with the business that had left it behind and they were more than happy to give me the phones that went with it. I quickly installed it in our house, with stations in all the important places, kitchen, bedrooms, living room, and of course my tree-house. Back then I was the coolest kid on the street with a phone in my tree house. -No cell phones in those days- It was a thing from there on out. I had a Merlin 410, some old executone that needed 25 pair, but wasn't 1A2, an old econo-key, another panasonic, and finally the Partner. All my life I wanted a 1A2 system, not even knowing what it was called. As a kid, I used to call them "amphenol phones" because that's what was on all the plugs that were left everywhere. I knew what they were, and basically what they looked like, but could never get my hands on any.

Many years passed, and I was searching Craigslist for old phone stuff and I picked up a single 2564 set from a guy that was N.O.S. and that's all she wrote. This was the newer style with the dumb LED line lights, but I didn't care, now I was on a mission for a KSU. Shortly after getting the Partner, I found this forum. I started reading the threads, my appetite insatiable. Without this forum, I would have had a hell of a time hooking up the 1A2 stuff. Not to mention I'd probably still not know what they were called. I still reread the posts in the 1A2 section all the time.

I don't tinker with phones as much anymore - my current hobby is locks - but I still have all the phone systems up and running in the basement. We have a nice old 302 set in the family room, I still get a kick out of the children of family friends asking how to dial it.

It's not just hobbyist. I had to turn off privacy on our phones because my wife wouldn't and won't use the hold. Also if I'm in the basement she will yell down the stairs instead of calling on the extension. She doesn't know how to use the page and won't transfer a call. I could go on but you get the picture.

Bill, your post gave me a good chuckle. I gave my dad a beautiful, almost NOS 302 for his desk, connected to the Partner. I mean, this thing has the original cloth cords in immaculate condition, and not a blemish on it, and he still yells at the top of his lungs or stomps on the floor to get my attention. (My apartment is the lower level of our split-level house.)

Jeff, I have 3 302 sets around the house, as well as a bunch of 500 sets, and I'm making sure my 2 year old niece knows how to dial them. I gave my mother a pink 500 for her sewing room, and there's a yellow one in the dining room. Come to think of it, I only have 3 actual partner phones on the partner. The rest are old sets like the 302's and 500's. I even have a Kellogg picture frame oak wall phone in the kitchen on an extension. (It was actually field convertible to common battery, and I disconnected the magneto.) My dad kinda likes that one, but he wishes he could crank it and still get the operator.

I haven't answered or used my home phone in how long?....

Wait, then why do I still have it ?.....

Wait, I remember why, as a retire of Ma Bell it's free.

Haha, is it a real copper line, at least?

I use mine all the time, especially when I need to dial into a system's modem for remote maintenance. I also like the fact that I don't have to worry about the crappy cell reception that we get here in my house's lower level.

Sadly, mine are all VoIP, but for the most part they work very well. I too use my house phone every chance I get. I actually forward my cell to my house number when I'm home, the calls are much clearer. The built in rotary to tone converter in the partner makes the system indispensable. It's also nice to be able to delay or shut off ringing to some extensions just by some simple programming. With all the phones I have, it would be unbearable if they all rang. Plus it lets me have the phones ring upstairs on my parent's line and downstairs on my lines. I had the opportunity to work on a Tadiran Emerald Ice system a few weeks ago at the car dealership I was doing some work for. I know any unfamiliar system is a learning curve, but I didn't think it was intuitive at all.

My other gripe about people today is that everyone thinks you know exactly who's calling so they never announce themselves. Remember in days past when someone called, they would say something like "hey Chris, its Steve." Or whatever. Nowadays people expect you to know exactly who's on the other end. I get sick of telling people "I have no idea who you are, I'm on a 60 year old telephone with no caller-id." I do fall into the category, though of not being able to remember numbers well anymore. Cell phones and contact lists have spoiled even me. I feel dopey at times looking up a number in my Iphone just to dial it on an old 302. I still think the 302 sounds better than my cell phone though, in both directions.

Hey Chris,

If they are still available, you could parallel wire some Caller ID boxes. I remember sending some to Sam several years ago to use in conjunction with his 1A2.

Dex, you did. And they're still hooked up and working.

Sam

Yes, that would work, but then I'd still have to remember who's number is who's. Plus for three locations and five lines, that gets to be a lot of CID boxes. The point I was trying to make was that people in this day and age just expect you to know who's calling. I wish they made a multi line CID box. That would be useful. Where I have partner display phones, I'm set, but again, I don't remember everyone's number and cell phones usually show up as "Cell Phone NH" and the number. Some will show up as the town the exchange is in, but that's rare. I just wish people had the telephone etiquette of the time before cell phones. Goes back to my original point that people think I'm weird because I have to ask who's calling, as if I'm supposed to automatically know. Some of my friends I can distinguish their voice, but some are so similar that it throws me for a loop. Sometimes I just go along with the conversation till I figure it out.

It primarily depends on how the information is entered into the LIDB. Cellular numbers rarely have names associated with them, but landlines almost always do.

2-line Caller ID boxes used to exist, but, with all but the most inexpensive telephones now sporting Caller ID displays, stand alone boxes have all but disappeared.

At this point, I'm surprised that the RBOCS still offer dial tone without Caller ID. I suppose alarm systems have no use for Caller ID, but, from a residential perspective, include Caller ID with even the most basic service.

Some pictures of my new backboard. Its not 100% yet, but its close.





And the Partner


The four blocks to the immediate left of the partner are there just to extend the 5 25pr station cables that were too short. I didn't want them there, but I had little choice. Also the white wire coiled on top of the ACS is gone, too. It's supposed to go to the contact closure adjunct, but I haven't reinstalled it yet.

Wow, that is a lot of blocks!

A 15x40 Partner ACS configuration!

Most of those blocks are spares. The first column is for the partner, which I can't see needing any more in a 2000sf house. The second and third column are station blocks for the 1A2, and the fourth and fifth column are spares. The three blocks under the partner are, from left to right, CO lines(essentially a demarc), Partner CO lines, and 1A2 CO lines. Some of the Partner lines come from the left hand CO block, and some come from the 1A2 block because they go through Melco s64-1 A lead adapters. The four "pstn" lines go through the A-lead adapters, the rest of the lines are all C*net lines. Line 1 is our comcast line, lines 2&3 are the ooma lines, and line 4 is my google voice line, made into copper by an obihai ATA. My monthly phone bill is under $10. Though, you definitely get what you pay for. My power was out for an hour this morning, and despite having the router on a circuit that runs on the generator, nothing worked because comcast hasn't changed the batteries in the node down the street... ever.

About the only thing that might get them to move on those batteries are the words "I'm switching to your competitor".

When we first moved to this house, we would get about 3 hours of internet and phone in a power outage, provided I got the generator up and running, now... nothing. I'm sure the cold doesn't help, but sheesh, we oughta get something. Maybe this can be my next pointless mission. Still fighting with ooma for a CPC. I did give them the line "If it doesn't get fixed, I'm going to have to look elsewhere for service" So far, no response.

I think it looks great, especially for a hobbyist setup.

As for the Comcast failure, the only thing that they are obligated to support in a power failure is 911 service through their own EMTAs. If you're using IP devices via traditional IP addressing, they have no idea what your data packets are all about.

Regardless, that's not the point. The 911 support is via the internal battery backup in their EMTA, not the ones out on the poles to support their network. With that said, if their network goes down, their battery powered EMTA is useless.

There's a Comcast power supply across from my neighborhood's entrance that has an issue. They chained a generator to the base of the pole to power it until they get the power restored. In Virginia Beach, Cox actually has permanentely-installed generators that are powered by natural gas to feed power supplies for their system nodes. I guess that being in a coastal environment, they need to be prepared for anything.

Thanks, Ed.
As far as the comcast stuff goes, we don't have the battery in their EMTA, but it's on a circuit that's wired to the generator. Regardless, in a power outage nothing works anymore. No phone, no 911, no internet, nothing. It has steadily decreased from about 3 hours, 2 years ago, to nothing at all now.