[GreenKeys] This will take you back many years...

[MURRAY, WALLACE W (ATTASIAIT)]

FYI:
One interesting tidbit as far as the mobile telephones were concerned
were they easily could have been converted to IMTS or dial.  However,
the traffic engineering for the network would have required getting rid
of half the customers.  Net result, the telcos stayed manual.  We had
the same issues here in Detroit.  Only the UHF system or MK was dial,
the VHF system or MJ remained manual into the late 1970s or early 1980s.
The operators could sort the traffic out quicker.  There were regulatory
issues as well. 

-----Original Message-----
From: Don Robert House [mailto:k9tty at dls.net] 
Sent: Monday, March 02, 2009 2:19 PM
To: comcents at bellsouth.net
Cc: greenkeys at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [GreenKeys] This will take you back many years...

You can still see a panel switch at the museum of communications in
Seattle.
  I missed out seeing our last one at the EDgewater CO in Chicago before
it was removed.
The switch frames were eleven (11) feet tall and the switch mechanism
was referred to as a "Monkey on a Stick"
Panel offices used a craftsman that no other type offices used.  
"Equipment Cleaner"

On 2 Mar 2009, at 12:35 AM, Randy or Sherry Guttery wrote:

Don Robert House wrote:
> I remember I was disappointed when our number was changed from   
> CLearbrook 3 to 253...

I grew up in Los Angeles - which was somewhat of the "wild west" when it
came to phone service and phone companies.  In most of the country
- a large city - even a region was usually served by one company -
usually a Bell company of AT&T.  Los Angeles, on the other hand had
several major players - not always playing well together. Los Angeles  
itself was (mostly) Bell / AT&T - using Western Electric equipment.   
However - many of the surrounding communities - such as Long Beach,
cities of the San Gabriel Valley, etc. - were General Telephone
customers - mostly using equipment by Automatic Electric. That made for
some strange "interactions" here and there...

In the early 1950s - within LA itself - you only had to dial 5 digits
- and they were listed (usually) as (something like) 7-1234.  It was
when you called some of the suburban areas - like Long Beach, Norwalk,
etc. you had to use the Exchange "pre-fix".  Norwalk was University,
Bellflower was Torrey (which you might note is NOT one of the favored
Bell pre-fixes - not surprising since it was GT); West Covina, La Puente
and the un-incorporated areas in that area were Edgewood;  Both
University and Edgewood are on the "Bell list".

Another interesting "thing" out of that era - was that even as mobile
phones and the age of digital communications were getting underway in
the late 1970s - calls were still being connected by hand in Bell's
Avalon (Santa Catalina Island) exchange via a local cord switchboard.

Another "fallout" of the mixed equipment - I had been in a couple of
switch exchanges - and had never seen a rotary stepper... GT used
something called a panel switch in many of it exchanges - which steps in
the X and Y plane - rather than a half-circle like a Strowger.

yeah - brings back a few memories!
--
randy guttery