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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!floyd!harpo!decvax!ucbvax!ucbcad!tektronix!orca!shark!hutch
From: hutch@shark.UUCP (Stephen Hutchison)
Newsgroups: net.misc
Subject: Re: Phones that go chirp in the night
Message-ID: <676@shark.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 5-Apr-84 14:31:15 EST
Article-I.D.: shark.676
Posted: Thu Apr  5 14:31:15 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 7-Apr-84 05:40:40 EST
References: <290@aat.UUCP>
Organization: Tektronix, Wilsonville OR
Lines: 28

<click CHIRP bzzz CHIRP>

OK, time to admit my tawdry past.
Before I came to work at Tektronix I actually had to move to California
to find work.  One of the places I worked for was a company called
"Badger Meter Electronics Division" which manufacture[sd] remote alarm and
control monitors, and *Telephone Test Equipment!*

The I never worked directly on a phone tester, but my officemates did and
I can substantiate the procedure.  Basically the testers are like stupid
autodialers with various meters attached.  They call up all the numbers
on the office or exchange according to a script (this used to be done by
operators who physically dialed the numbers, ych!) and do several tests.
Line capacitance, resistance, battery voltage tests, they could even test
the connectivity of the lines (via patented method).  The sensitivity of
this procedure was so good that, well, an anecdote.  One of the new test
systems was being tested out, and incidentally shown to a telco buyer.
They called up (from California) a test unit in Texas.  The test unit was
told to check line capacitance on the line of the phone going to the home
of the buyer, and it showed an anomaly that they buyer was curious about.
The expert on telco measurement looked for a few seconds, then told the
guy he had a tree in his yard about 50 feet from the handset whose branches
were touching the phone wire.  Which the buyer confirmed.

Anyway, these cheap handsets seem to have a feedback chirp to let you
know when you hang them up.  Ours chirp whenever we hang up the modem.

Hutch