Back in the early '70s we got a job to replace the NY Tel system in a customers house. (We had a key system in his office and a real big Intercom and PA system in his factory and showroom).
Nice house in Sands Point, LI. Real nice. Make that Real, real nice. How nice is that? Live in help nice.
Salesman sells the job as a set for set replacement. "Piece of cake- all 1A2"
NOT.
Was actually 1A. No lamps. KV's and CVWs with 6040 keys. One set has the most wire to it (16 pair). The rest are 12 pair or 6 pair. NY Tel wired the house during construction. A nightmare to recable now.
Oh, and we can't rip down the wallpaper it cost $100,000. (or something ludicrous like that)
We manage to recable a couple of phones - got a cable into the attic, fed a line through closets, the boss and salesman screaming about the cost the whole time (but make it work, so we don't lose the account!). But some of the sets just could not be rewired.
Let's get 2 lines and a dial Icm working with bells, buzzers and lamps on 6 pair.
1st Line - T,R,A,L - 2 pair
2nd Line - T,R,A,L - 2 more pair
DICM - T,R,L,Z - 2 more pair
Internal bell for line 1 and an external bell for line 2 - no additional wires required
Total - 6 pair
But where's the ground?
On a couple of sets we pulled electrical ground from the nearest receptacle and that worked.
But there was one set in a bathroom that the Icm Lamp never worked on.
What a nightmare.
And dealing with the owners wife - worse than a nightmare. Why were we there so long? The salesman promised we'd be out in a day and we're here three! You guys must be morons!
It's 35 years later and I still remember that job.
Perfectly.
Not my proudest moment, but we got it done and it even looked real good. Not that it was appreciated, but that wasn't the point, was it?
Sam
