Questions by: Av1d
 This is a transcript of a conversation between me and someone who setup a step switch. I was dialing extentions and was kinda shocked when someone answered, and I almost hungup. Unfortunately I didn't get the owners name!

About 1 AM, 11/27/2003

them: Hello?
them: Hello?
avid: Hello?
them: Hello?
avid: Hello?
them: How's the central office sound?
avid: it sounds awesome!
them: I was just out here bringing the dog in and the phone started ringing.
avid: Did you set this up?
them: Uh huh!
avid: nice, I've just been sitting here listening to all of it's sounds, I've never played around with one before.
avid: Is it sitting in your house?
them: It's in a shed outback, a workshop shed type of thing.
avid: That's wild
them: Yeah. Last year I bought a phone booth at a rummage sale, and then I bought two more from the phone company that were indoor booths, and I had phones for them so I have a bank of three phones in my garage.
them: I'm half toying with the idea of building a bigger shed but I haven't done it yet.
them: I have, you know, as required by law, the two car garage with only one car.

[laughter]

them: where are you from?
avid: Outside of Boston
them: cool.
avid: I'm fascinated with the switch, it's real cool.
them: It's a 1953 Federal Telephone & Radio, and ITT Kellogg. Federal sold to Kellogg, and then Kellogg merged with ITT, and finally it just became ITT.
avid: I wasn't sure what type of step it is.
them: It resembles an AE step. The banks and the shelves are the same size. AE switches jack right into the shelves, although some of the pins aren't the same.
avid: How much electricity does it consume?
them: The charger is about 300 watts, figure about a 300 watt lightbulb sitting there idling.
them: I've got a set of central office batteries on it.
avid: Oh, that's cool.
avid: I'm not sure really how to get some of the calls to go through on the extentions, I'm just playing around with it.
them: Well, you have to dial a minimum of 6 digits. They're TPL connectors so they take in the last 3 digits.
them: In a typical arrangement, thees type of offices had a first selector, and a connector in the local switch train, and they were setup for 5 digit dialing.
them: You could dial all 7 but they were setup to accept 5 digits, but I added a 4th selector between the first and the connector so you have to dial a minimum of 6 digits.
avid: Do you do this for fun?
them: Uh huh, yup.
avid: Figured, haha
them: I bought some switches when I was in highschool back in the 70's, and when I got out of school I started working as a central office installer and took home some of the old stuff we replaced and tore out, and built up a bigger switch. 
them: That was about 1977, so I've had a central office in operation since that day.
avid: Nice. 
avid: What type of modules do you have on this? Is there a line finder?
them: Yeah.
them: Line finder, first selector, fourth selector, and connectors.
them: I just have one shelf of each. And I also have incoming selectors that are looped back on themselves pretty much. 
avid: Yeah, I noticed an echo in there a little bit.
them: Yeah, you hear a different sound
avid: It's an awesome system.
them: Thank you.
them: It's got desimonic ringing, it's 10 party.
avid: Is desimonic the pulse-type ringing?
them: No, it's frequency, 5 frequency. Theres synchromonic, harmonic and decimonic.
them: Decimonic is 20, 30, 40,50 and 60 Hertz. Even multiples of 10.
them: Harmonic was 16 and 2 thirds, 33, and those weird frequencies. 
avid: when you first dial in, the dialtone sounds like around 60 Hertz almost
them: No, I don't know what the frequency is on that. It's an AC driven solid state device. It's a transformer basically, and capacitors, but it's a Loraine C type tone generator.
them: Alot of offices, I am in central Illinois and alot of offices had that as thier primary dialtone source. 
avid: That's what the actual dialtone sounded like?
them: Yeah, that's the dialtone.
them: And of course the busy tone, they used the same frequencies, the same generator for all three tones. Fast busy, slow busy, well every tone in the office basically off of one generator. 
avid: Have you ever checked out the phonetrips website?
them: Yeah. Some of that is familiar, I used to work i na crossbar office.
them: You know the Mojave desert phone booth? 
avid: Right
them: Well, I've got one of those outside my shed

[laughter]

them: with a payphone in it.
them: I've got a light inside the booth and a round phone sign on top, you can turn it on and off, I use it as my nightlight.
avid: we're you ever into blueboxing and things like that?
them: No, no. Never did.
them: after I installed I spent 11 years with the phone company and it was kinda on it's way out in that period of time. Out of band signalling was becomming the vogue back then.
them: And now it's all out of bant pretty much. 
avid: Yup
avid: It's got me kidna shocked that someone actually setup a step switch somewhere!

[laughter]

them: I'm told theres only 9 or 10 in the country that are restored like this.
avid: oh really?
them: Yeah, come to find out, it's kinda rare.
avid: There was one actually still in servie in Nanteq, Quebec was it? But I think they pulled it last year.
them: oh really?
avid: Yeah
them: It'd be the last one in North America, 'cause I can't find any.
avid: exactly, yeah. It was supposedly the last working in North America.
avid: It's definitely alot more ineresting than the digital type switches.
them: Digital is boring. The bays have fans in them but the step has a heart.
avid: Oh yea definitely, I like the sounds of the relays and engines and such, it sounds much better.
them: Yup.
them: Before we run out of time, this access device that you used to dial in has got a 20 minute timeout.
avid: oh.
them: While we're talking away here it'll brutally cut us off.

[laughter]

avid: ok.
them: when you dial the access number it doesn't ring a phone anywhere.
them: so it hits that access device and barges right in, picks up a line finder in the central office. 
avid: I had one more question
them: sure
avid: when you activate the 1000 Hz test, is that audible from where you are? the engine?
them: no, well, it's in the office and you can hear it running.
them: It's a little Western Electric moor driven magneto, it' a mechanical device.
them: It's an electrical generator that puts out 1000 cycles.
them: But when the connector lands on it, it immediately answers and you can hear that motor 
spin up, you know, wooooooo! it spins up to speed.
avid: yeah, you can hear the frequency start ascending.
them: yup, it's the motor getting up to speed.
avid: that's interesting.
them: yup.
avid: if you were standing next to the motor, could you hear the 1000 Hertz?
them: well, you kinda hear a low level wine. You hear the motor more than anything.
them: You hear it hum a little bit, but not really, you can't hear the 1000 Hertz.
avid: is the switch really loud if someone is using it?
them: well, it's not too bad, you know. Not like a big central office.
I've got plasterboard out there so theres a bit of echo off the walls, and the ceiling is kinda low.
them: it's not like a real central office where you have taller ceilings and lot bigger space. But it's not too bad.
avid: thank you for setting that up!

[laughter]

them: you're welcome 
avid: it made my year to hear this.
them: I enjoy it 

[beep beep beep]
Then, the 20 minute timer cut off the conversation.  



 
 
 


