Over 30 years this place has been in my backyard and I finally get around to checking it out! :)
http://museumofcommunications.org/
Was there about 4 hours but it felt like 4 minutes with so much kool stuff to see and touch. boB, if you have not been there git on down soon! Lots of pics to follow.... :)
First up my favorite: 1KW Western Electric Broadcast Transmitter Circa 1928.
Took lots of pics of this beast.
A few more...
Tube time!
Water cooled electric pony harness.
A peek of the backside.
Next up. A Telegraphone, the first device capable of recording sound magnetically, and it did so on a thin steel wire. 8)
Going one step further.....A Bell System answering machine that used a 45RPM record pre-recorded with your outgoing message and incoming messages recorded on a wire recorder.
Wonder if bOB has one of these in his collection?
A few more toobz.
AC in, 48VDC out. Gotta keep those CO battery's happy!
A couple more.
If you remember these you are older than dirt. Or close to it. ;D
Bandmaster Senior.
Remember when the phone company would tell you the time of day? This is the machine that did the job.
This is the actual panel that routed the calls in my neighborhood when I was growing up. And it's fully functional!
Old school morse code trainer.
First "cordless phone" used at the 1962 Seattle worlds fair. Since the restaurant revolved at the top of the Space Needle they needed a way for the VIP's to communicate important calls. This cordless phone was developed on the fly and worked perfectly. The rest is history.
Kool Voltmeter. 8)
PBX test instrument.
Swedish phone patented 1897.
I have one of these. Now if I could just get a dang dial tone!
Vintage Whitehouse switchboard.
Beyond shop repair? Ya think!
Early "extension phone" ?
Early audio spectrum analyzer
Should not take too long to find the bad connection.....
Quote from: onanparts on May 06, 2013, 12:52:09 AM
Should not take too long to find the bad connection.....
Looks a lot like my network and RE wiring. Only neater and better labelling. :o
Tom
I've been going to that museum for over 10+ years now !
What a great place !
boB
As a trainee 34 years ago recalled going to a Strowger exchange last one still operating in AU at the time.
In AU we had Strowger, 2000 type, SE50 (step by step) Ericsson Crossbar and today Ericsson & Alcatel digital..with network going to VoIP.
I still get the geebies thinking of terminating 100 pair tag MDF frames :)
The young folk have it too easy :)
Speaking of electronic communications, here's a bit of my past history
finally explained in book form...
http://explodingthephone.com/
onan,
you're calling boB as old as dirt if he remembers a tube tester and you show a switchboard that looks out of the 40s that you say they used when you were growing up? ???
for the record i used those testers extensively.
that 100kw tx looks interesting. think i'd hear you boB?
Quote from: boB on May 08, 2013, 01:47:50 AM
Speaking of electronic communications, here's a bit of my past history
finally explained in book form...
http://explodingthephone.com/
boB;
So could you whistle up a free long distance call among your racking and stacking skills?
I remember those days but never played with it.
Funny how stories unfold.
Tom
Quote from: TomW on May 14, 2013, 08:02:07 AM
Quote from: boB on May 08, 2013, 01:47:50 AM
Speaking of electronic communications, here's a bit of my past history
finally explained in book form...
http://explodingthephone.com/
boB;
So could you whistle up a free long distance call among your racking and stacking skills?
I remember those days but never played with it.
Funny how stories unfold.
Tom
Yes, from certain places.
It was quite a large and very interesting "system" to learn and play in.
boB
I Read , but have no idea whats going on,..... in my youth I flew RC aircraft , and loved the USA mags that my club provided.... but carry on the missing link is out there :o
Bell System MF register and 2600hz line supervision tone (tone on idle) . allowed phone pherakers to make free toll calls, using so called MF boxes..send a 2600hz tone to disconnect the toll junctioin then send MF digits to make toll call..whilst keeping your line open..was a bug in the system to allow users to send 2600hz tone.
Rest of the world used R2 standard and out of band line signaling..unlike the Bell System. in the 50-70s