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Subject: About chapter 38 . . . Author: K Pella [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] Date Posted: 21:24:51 12/06/11 Tue Now that sounds like real life to me! I don't know how many times I've gotten a phone call, been yarning with a neighbour or having a quiet coffee with a friend when a casual comment set off a series of events that changed my life forever. C'est la vie, I suppose. kp [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

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[> Subject: Re: About chapter 38 . . . Author: Rob [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 21:17:36 12/08/11 Thu >Now that sounds like real life to me! > >I don't know how many times I've gotten a phone call, >been yarning with a neighbour or having a quiet coffee >with a friend when a casual comment set off a series >of events that changed my life forever. > >C'est la vie, I suppose. > >kp A touch of reality for me was when a phone number was given without the prefix. I have memories of that in the city I grew up in back 30+ years ago. Nowadays of course that situation is very different... Rob

[> [> Subject: Re: About chapter 38 . . . Author: K Pelle [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 21:47:37 12/08/11 Thu >A touch of reality for me was when a phone number was >given without the prefix. I have memories of that in >the city I grew up in back 30+ years ago. > >Nowadays of course that situation is very different... > >Rob Umm, I've only had to start using a prefix one local numbers in the last few years - recently enough that I still have to think about it before dialing. Not only that, but as a young fellow I lived in an area with party lines, so calling my neighbour meant using a crank on the side of a box on the wall to send out the appropriate number of long and short rings. If you had an emergency you just cranked it a long, long time and everyone on the party line would listen in. Of course when I was dating a gal on the other side of town and our number rang, you'd here click after click as phones were picked up. Of course that meant the signal coming into our phone got weaker and weaker until we'd have a hard time hearing each other. I used to get so frustrated that I'd just tell Rita I was driving over to see her and hang up, then call back ten minutes later and pretend my car wouldn't start. Of course there wouldn't be any eaves droppers on my line then, but Rita's line would soon be overloaded. When individual lines and dial phones came in it was WONDERFUL! kp

[> [> [> Subject: Re: About chapter 38 . . . Author: Wes [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 23:15:44 12/08/11 Thu >>A touch of reality for me was when a phone number was >>given without the prefix. I have memories of that in >>the city I grew up in back 30+ years ago. >> >>Nowadays of course that situation is very different... >> >>Rob > >Umm, I've only had to start using a prefix one local >numbers in the last few years - recently enough that I >still have to think about it before dialing. > >Not only that, but as a young fellow I lived in an >area with party lines, so calling my neighbour meant >using a crank on the side of a box on the wall to send >out the appropriate number of long and short rings. >If you had an emergency you just cranked it a long, >long time and everyone on the party line would listen >in. Of course when I was dating a gal on the other >side of town and our number rang, you'd here click >after click as phones were picked up. Of course that >meant the signal coming into our phone got weaker and >weaker until we'd have a hard time hearing each other. > I used to get so frustrated that I'd just tell Rita I >was driving over to see her and hang up, then call >back ten minutes later and pretend my car wouldn't >start. Of course there wouldn't be any eaves droppers >on my line then, but Rita's line would soon be >overloaded. >When individual lines and dial phones came in it was >WONDERFUL! > >kp I remember those days -- I wasn't quite old enough for dating yet, though. We had two twin teenage girls on the party line that could tie up the phones for hours! -- Wes

[> [> [> [> Subject: Re: About chapter 38 . . . Author: Dmitri [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 07:22:30 12/09/11 Fri >I remember those days -- I wasn't quite old enough for >dating yet, though. We had two twin teenage girls on >the party line that could tie up the phones for hours! > >-- Wes I spent my first 9 years in Wes's state of Michigan, north of Bradford a ways. It was all party lines (that I was aware of), and a wall phone, but we didn't have the crank on the side of the phone. To call someone we picked up the handset, and an operator would ask "Number plea-uhz". Our phone number then was 953. The phone number of Jack, my best friend at the time, was 188J. I don't remember any others. I consider myself lucky I remember those! Oh, yeah, I remember my parents being POed that it was a toll call to Muskegon 30+ miles away from our house, though the operator who answered was in Muskegon! We could call our town free for the basic charge. We moved to the big city (in Illinois - meaning the "biggest city" then) shortly after that, and it was TR7 and SP7 prefixes, all dial, no touch tones yet (or for a long time). Dmitri

[> [> [> [> [> Subject: Re: About chapter 38 . . . Author: K Pelle [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 17:12:15 12/09/11 Fri >I spent my first 9 years in Wes's state of Michigan, >north of Bradford a ways. It was all party lines >(that I was aware of), and a wall phone, but we didn't >have the crank on the side of the phone. To call >someone we picked up the handset, and an operator >would ask "Number plea-uhz". Our phone number then >was 953. The phone number of Jack, my best friend at >the time, was 188J. I don't remember any others. I >consider myself lucky I remember those! Oh, yeah, I >remember my parents being POed that it was a toll call >to Muskegon 30+ miles away from our house, though the >operator who answered was in Muskegon! We could call >our town free for the basic charge. We moved to the >big city (in Illinois - meaning the "biggest city" >then) shortly after that, and it was TR7 and SP7 >prefixes, all dial, no touch tones yet (or for a long >time). > >Dmitri Let's see, our first phone number was 108 - meaning we were on local line one, customer #8. Rita's number was 309, or the last # on their line. My sister and her hubby were number 505, but it was easier to drive 3 miles than call them because of some teenage cousins who kept the phone line busy so much. Dial phones and underground phone lines didn't come into the area until the early 1960s and I'd left home by then, so I don't recall the new prefixes or the 7 digit numbers of the time. As an aside, I still have a dial phone in my bedroom, but it only works for incoming calls now, so I keep a cellphone handy on the headboard of my bed in case of emergency. kp

[> [> [> [> [> [> Subject: Re: About chapter 38 . . . Author: Mike [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 00:42:05 12/11/11 Sun >>I spent my first 9 years in Wes's state of Michigan, >>north of Bradford a ways. It was all party lines >>(that I was aware of), and a wall phone, but we didn't >>have the crank on the side of the phone. To call >>someone we picked up the handset, and an operator >>would ask "Number plea-uhz". Our phone number then >>was 953. The phone number of Jack, my best friend at >>the time, was 188J. I don't remember any others. I >>consider myself lucky I remember those! Oh, yeah, I >>remember my parents being POed that it was a toll call >>to Muskegon 30+ miles away from our house, though the >>operator who answered was in Muskegon! We could call >>our town free for the basic charge. We moved to the >>big city (in Illinois - meaning the "biggest city" >>then) shortly after that, and it was TR7 and SP7 >>prefixes, all dial, no touch tones yet (or for a long >>time). >> >>Dmitri > >Let's see, our first phone number was 108 - meaning >we were on local line one, customer #8. Rita's number >was 309, or the last # on their line. My sister and >her hubby were number 505, but it was easier to drive >3 miles than call them because of some teenage cousins >who kept the phone line busy so much. > >Dial phones and underground phone lines didn't come >into the area until the early 1960s and I'd left home >by then, so I don't recall the new prefixes or the 7 >digit numbers of the time. > >As an aside, I still have a dial phone in my bedroom, >but it only works for incoming calls now, so I keep a >cellphone handy on the headboard of my bed in case of >emergency. > >kp Ummm... that doesn't sound right... a rotary phone works for incoming but not outgoing? Assuming the phone is wired properly inside, and the dial speed is correct it should work just fine. I had a 1959 rotary phone on my line until just recently... and it sounded better than most of the modern phones. If you pick up the handset and wiggle the hookswitch up and down rapidly a few times does the dial tone go away? Mike

[> [> [> [> [> [> [> Subject: Re: About chapter 38 . . . Author: K Pelle [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 07:08:58 12/11/11 Sun >Ummm... that doesn't sound right... a rotary phone >works for incoming but not outgoing? >Assuming the phone is wired properly inside, and the >dial speed is correct it should work just fine. >I had a 1959 rotary phone on my line until just >recently... and it sounded better than most of the >modern phones. >If you pick up the handset and wiggle the hookswitch >up and down rapidly a few times does the dial tone go >away? > >Mike A dial phone works uses pulses of direct current to dial a number, whereas a 'modern' phone uses varied tones to do the same thing. I disconnected the pulse dial several years ago when I installed a computer control system in my apartment -- the computer didn't 'like' the pulses, but if I wasn't at home, the computer 'answered' the phone and took messages and such, so it had to be hooked to the phone line. Now imagine one of those those 'clap on - clap off' lights that were sold years ago being set up in a room where there was a billiard table, then think about what the lights in my bedroom used to do when I tried to dial out. I didn't like that much, so I took the easiest way out - I disabled the pulse dial and I've grown too darn lazy to take the time to hook it back up. KP

[> [> [> [> [> [> [> [> Subject: Re: About chapter 38 . . . Author: Mike [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 12:48:06 12/13/11 Tue >>Ummm... that doesn't sound right... a rotary phone >>works for incoming but not outgoing? >>Assuming the phone is wired properly inside, and the >>dial speed is correct it should work just fine. >>I had a 1959 rotary phone on my line until just >>recently... and it sounded better than most of the >>modern phones. >>If you pick up the handset and wiggle the hookswitch >>up and down rapidly a few times does the dial tone go >>away? >> >>Mike > >A dial phone works uses pulses of direct current to >dial a number, whereas a 'modern' phone uses varied >tones to do the same thing. I disconnected the pulse >dial several years ago when I installed a computer >control system in my apartment -- the computer didn't >'like' the pulses, but if I wasn't at home, the >computer 'answered' the phone and took messages and >such, so it had to be hooked to the phone line. > >Now imagine one of those those 'clap on - clap off' >lights that were sold years ago being set up in a room >where there was a billiard table, then think about >what the lights in my bedroom used to do when I tried >to dial out. I didn't like that much, so I took the >easiest way out - I disabled the pulse dial and I've >grown too darn lazy to take the time to hook it back >up. > >KP I know how a dial works, I installed and maintained phone systems for a number of years... including a 3-cabinet private crossbar PBX that I helped add touchtone decoders to... got interested in electronics when I stuck my finger into my dad's heathkit FM tuner while he was testing it (1958) and got zapped by 150v DC off the oscillator tube. Got interested in phones when he brought home a rotary phone one day (the one mentioned above) and hooked it up as a bedroom extension... found out much later that he had liberated it from a building that was to be demolished on the studio lot... found out much much later that it was from what was left of Betty Grables dressing room. And I can imagine the confusion dial pulses would generate on a pulse sensitive control system. Hint: dial pulses are at 10 pulses per second. Ring frequency is usually 20 pulses per second (or 16, 20, 25, and 33 on a 4-party line, but there's not many of those left). If your automation controller can discriminate between the two rates and ignore the slower one then the problem is solved.

[> [> [> [> [> [> [> [> [> Subject: Re: About chapter 38 . . . Author: K Pelle [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 14:15:57 12/13/11 Tue Maybe I'll restore the phone one day, but for now everything works the way it is, so . . . To be honest the computer was long since converted to voice control - supposedly keyed to my voice only. A regular answering machine answers the incoming calls when I can't. On top of that the computer records all incoming or outgoing calls to a 10 gig thumb drive - that way I have a check on all conversations and can refresh my memory if need be. The rotary dial phone is simply kept as a reminder of the past and looks good in a bedroom loaded with many of the 'antiques' of my early days. It suits me to keep everything just the way it is, since any calls going out on the cellphone are NOT recorded. (I still have the occasional 'booty call' that I like to keep private - lol)

[> [> [> Subject: Re: About chapter 38 . . . Author: Rob [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 22:18:11 12/11/11 Sun >>A touch of reality for me was when a phone number was >>given without the prefix. I have memories of that in >>the city I grew up in back 30+ years ago. >> >>Nowadays of course that situation is very different... >> >>Rob > >Umm, I've only had to start using a prefix one local >numbers in the last few years - recently enough that I >still have to think about it before dialing. > >Not only that, but as a young fellow I lived in an >area with party lines, so calling my neighbour meant >using a crank on the side of a box on the wall to send >out the appropriate number of long and short rings. >If you had an emergency you just cranked it a long, >long time and everyone on the party line would listen >in. Of course when I was dating a gal on the other >side of town and our number rang, you'd here click >after click as phones were picked up. Of course that >meant the signal coming into our phone got weaker and >weaker until we'd have a hard time hearing each other. > I used to get so frustrated that I'd just tell Rita I >was driving over to see her and hang up, then call >back ten minutes later and pretend my car wouldn't >start. Of course there wouldn't be any eaves droppers >on my line then, but Rita's line would soon be >overloaded. >When individual lines and dial phones came in it was >WONDERFUL! > >kp I grew up in a city in Brazil, and at the time it officially had seven digit local numbers - just that as in the number mentioned, when my family first moved there was just one local prefix. One year my grandparents received a speaker for their phone for Christmas and couldn't use it since they were on a party line. Ironically, at that time my parents could call them from our home in Brazil using direct dial but they had to use an operator to call us. Rob

[> Subject: Re: About chapter 38 . . . Author: Boyd Percy [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 19:31:31 12/09/11 Fri >Now that sounds like real life to me! > >I don't know how many times I've gotten a phone call, >been yarning with a neighbour or having a quiet coffee >with a friend when a casual comment set off a series >of events that changed my life forever. > >C'est la vie, I suppose. > >kp This reminds of Wes' first posted story, "Rocinante" and the Twillingate Phone Company. That was set in 1971.