Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!wuarchive!swbatl!texbell!vector!telecom-gateway From: morris@jade.jpl.nasa.gov (Mike Morris) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Panel Telephones & Bell System "Turkeys" of the 1960's Message-ID: Date: 10 Oct 89 05:20:45 GMT Sender: news@vector.Dallas.TX.US Reply-To: Mike Morris Lines: 74 Approved: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 438, message 4 of 7 (Larry Lippman) writes: % % Panel telephones were rather neat, and I remember them fondly %from the 1960's when they seemed so *futuristic*. :-) % % Panel telephones were also made as a 5-line keyset, along with %an internal speakerphone option (although an external 55-type %speakerphone control box was required). I saw a 5-line speakerphone version at a swap meet onetime, and am still kicking myself for passing it up because the speakerphone control box was missing. Five months later I picked up 3 complete speakerphones for $5. An acquaintance told me that he saw a couple of 9-line units. % I don't believe that panel telephones are still manufactured %for single-line residential use, but an equivalent type of instrument %for installation in control consoles may still be manufactured by such %vendors as Allen-Tel, Northern Telecom and Plantronics. Or Plant Equipment Inc, in South Laguna, CA. They have a very interesting catalog. % An interesting Bell System offering which came out in the %early 1960's (about the same time as the panel telephone) was the 1A %Home Interphone System. This system required two-line "turn-key" %telephone sets, often of the Princess variety. The system had %capabilities for answering one CO line and placing it on hold, in %addition to providing local intercommunication between telephone sets %within a residence. There were also some handsfree intercom options, %which included the ability to answer the front door using an outdoor %transmitter/loudspeaker. There was even a feature which integrated %the 1A Home Interphone System with a 1A or 1A1 key telephone system %for residences with up to three CO lines. I'd love to see the BSP on that. % The Bell System had grandiose plans during the 1960's for a 1A %Home Interphone System in every home, along with a chicken in every %pot, but alas, the 1A Home Interphone System was a turkey which was %over-priced and simply never sold to within a fraction of %expectations. % Speaking of chickens and turkeys - believe it or not - there %was also the 2A Farm Interphone System. This apparatus was similar to %that of the home variety, except that it had higher-power outdoor %loudspeakers for intercom purposes, in addition to providing %electronic tone ringing over the outdoor loudspeakers. Some of the %BSP sections on the 2A Farm Interphone System have really precious %drawings of typical installations on a farm, including house, barn, %silo, a loudspeaker in a chicken coop, etc., along with a smiling %farmer (with overalls and hat) talking to a smiling wife (reminiscent %of Mrs. Cleaver) in a bedroom! When I was working at a 3rd party Teletype(tm) repair shop in the 1979 -1980 timeframe we had two buildings, and a crossbar PBX. We had sleeved the line relays for extensions 200, 201 and 202, and connected them to a pair of relays hooked to a pair of 2A amplifiers. Dialing 200 would pull in both relays and page in poth buildings, 201 paged in the north one, 202 in the south building. When the night bell was enabled from the console, it's dry contacts "rang" on both amplifiers via the ring cycle contacts in the interrupter from an old 551B key system (the Hitachi AX2S switch had night bell contacts that latched shut). The 2A amplifier was based on germanium transistor technology, and had a relay- enabled built-in oscillator. We also keyed the "ring" tone with a time clock for breaks and lunch. I still have a xerox of the 2A BSP, and yes, the drawings are very cute. I think that the system could have been marketed better - the hardware worked well, and would have been ideal in small businesses. Mike Morris UUCP: Morris@Jade.JPL.NASA.gov ICBM: 34.12 N, 118.02 W #Include quote.cute.standard PSTN: 818-447-7052 #Include disclaimer.standard cat flames.all > /dev/null