The wife is away, visiting the daughter. The son is upstate doing his thing. The stepson and wife and cute little kid are home in NC. I am alone and have had a couple of drinks by myself. I am sad and lonely. No one has asked any 1A2 questions in months. Are you really going to allow an old man whose brain is packed with (useless) 1A2 information to just fade away, without passing on the joys of key systems?

Where are my adopted nephews, "Moss Green" and Chris de Richard de Hampshire de Neuf? Do they think they've learned all there is to know?

Don't they want to hear any more war stories from a telephone man in the exciting '70's?

I am here. Please regale me with more information!

What's 1A2, that a question that could use a answer.., or explanation

Arthur enjoy explaining.

I am always interested in hearing old 1A2 war stories. I vaguely remember getting an e-mail from Uncle Arthur about some PBX books. I responded, but haven't seen any books.

If it doesn't initiate a coronary, tell some horror stories of the dreaded Remote Hold. I remember reading some old threads where it was mentioned, usually eliciting some foul reactions and headaches.

I certainly don't know everything there is to know about 1A2, but how much more can I experiment with a 501 and half a dozen 6 button sets?

For a while I was focusing on bringing my Partner system up to date, ditching the old MLS phones and moving to a 509 processor. Still on the lookout for euro series 1 and 2 display sets for less than flea-bay's over inflated prices.

I took this week (8-7-17 to 8-14-17) off. I'm only 3 hours from the ferry at New London, let's get together if you haven't got anything better to do.

I too have lots of memories about this equipment. I knew it as the 10A2, but I was working for 'Good Times Everyday' at the time.
Also did a good number of 17As and even built several 17A equivalents out of 10A2 equipment because the client needed lots of private lines. I think no-one else in my office would touch those.
I still occasionally find a shoebox hiding in a basement corner and smile. Most people don't even recognize them as phone systems.

Still running 1A2 in my house. The system has been in and working for 36 years and has required practically no maintenance. Occasionally something happens and then I have to sit and think a moment before finding the proper corner of my brain with the information.

I came across an FM radio designed for MOH (Sanbar, maybe?) the other day and decided that - at some point in the next week, I'll hook it up.

I'm sure I remember how to hook it up. But we'll see when I actually start.

Sam

What I liked about it was you could take a toner, punch tool, and a butt set and find/fix 99% of the problems.

Or a bulb

Sam, that's indeed a SanBar item. It gets battery & ground from 17 & 15, respectively, just like all the 400-series cards. The radio audio output is fed from pins 3 & 18, normally wired for talk and ground. The special line cards that are compatible receive the audio on 3 & 18, so you need to tuen back talk and ground from 3 & 18 on any slot that sends or receives the audio.

https://sundance-communications.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/486195/San/Bar_4201A

yes to do most repairs with a short straw with a 51A lamp on one end and a 52A lamp on the other end ,and a screwdriver , carried a small box with line keys , dial , lights , transmitter and receiver on a walking crew , got twenty years safe driving never getting in a vehicle

"Got twenty years safe driving never getting in a vehicle." Best inside story I've heard in years! Typical of the fools we once worked for.

It beats my "All these gloves are left-handed" story, that's for sure.

In the future, due to the outcry for more fantastic phone stories, I will be persuaded to tell you about:

Hawaiian Music Option

Ad Hoc color codes

Why are you wearing sneakers?

Pay checks at the top of the poles

The dead cat

The dead dog

The dead man

Willy Vasquez and the dog in the junk yard

The twisted manhole cover

Why my nickname is "Bloomo"

The cop, the long cord and the handgun

The Case of the Beeping Noise

The fire dept and the power supply

The air raid siren and the drug dealers

Mr. Horn, the sleeping sub, the open window and the broken leg.

The Rabbi, the 6040 key, and the (not so) cryptic note.

The doctor, the interrupted Christmas party, the bowl of cocaine, and the loose wire.

The gangsta, the ComKey, and the loot.

The Homestead Bar & Grill

The yellow trimline, the piano and the CF53.

The reference battery and a free lunch.

Getting rehired after the layoffs.

Why Joey and the other guy are now friends.

Getting in trouble for selling.

The accountant and the dead ringers.

Just start at the top Arthur. You have my curiosity piqued now!

-Hal

I'm ready.

Go for it.

Sam

Wow, I thought I was the only survivor of the crossbar switch era! I worked as the phone man for a college in Buffalo NY during the days of Ma Bell and pumped 36 COs to 900 extentions through PBX's and 1A2. I won't have as deep a story bank as Arthur's though as I was an "inside" man and while I worked in some man holes I have never climbed a pole. It's over to you Arthur!

The college wasnt Conecious College or something like that, was it

I recall a story about a small dog and a toolbox...

Pay checks at the top of the pole. Done that one

Why my nickname is "Bloomo". Got a pretty good guess

As others have said, it's story time. Why not make a new topic for each one and we'll pin a "Story time" topic with any and everyone's 1A-2 stories.

The small dog in the toolbox was mine - though it's possible Arthur knows the same story. It's also possible it's apocrvaphyl.

Sam

it goes with any incident , one was always wearing our hardhat ,safety glasses , gloves when asked to see what we had, sorry to see Mother go. many stories of Ma Bells retirement parties,and goodness

Arthur, whenever you feel sad and lonely, just let me know... I can cure it in three ways at least:

1) Share that drink with you on one of the lines of my 1A2 telephone system, calls to the US are really cheap.
2) Ask you to ship some more boxes from US eBay sellers to Germany (at least you’ll talk to ladies at the Post Office)
3) Start some crazy expansion project for my 1A2 system, where your knowledge will be for sure required (my 551C works perfect now which makes me reluctant to make any changes there, but I have two 584C panels standing still in stock which I want one day to convert to a bigger system for the house, than the shoebox. My 18-button Call Director is waiting to have more lines in it alive than poor 4 lines out of 551C KSU. I have 2 PBX in idle mode now capable to provide 30+ analog extensions each vs. current small PBX with 4 analog extensions sufficient for 551C. So many things to do. I don’t understand how you can be sad and lonely...

P.S. I have three fantastic WE 2872A2M Touch-A-Matic waiting for repair, refurbishment and restoration. This is just the time needed to bring all this 1A2 fleet to bright and shiny condition.

Actually I would love to hear stories that you may have from the Bell System in the 70s and up to maybe the early 80s when they divested. I am a very huge student of the Bell System from the 70s and actually have some knowledge both of the 1A2 Key Systems as well as the Comkey 416. And fairly extensive knowledge of single line sets and apparatus from the Bell System in the mid-to-late 70s. I would greatly love to speak with you and any and all of the above topics. As they are something I enjoy greatly