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Thread ID: 37689	2003-09-15 08:06:00	What does a telephone exchange look like?	James Busby (341)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
175472	2003-09-18 05:21:00	I saw a white HBseries phone today (with the magneto) and black bakelite battery box for auction tomorrow. I felt the weight of the battery box, and took a screwdriver to the lid screw. Two No 6 cells (dated 1971). Probably still good ... as a kid in the 60s I has some dated 1946 which were perfectly OK. Those were the days ...the PO would sell a pair of "overhauled" coffin wall phones, with new No 6s, for 30 bob.	Graham L (2)
175473	2003-09-18 05:45:00	In Whangarei our exchange is a HUGE building with wires and **** all over the roof, it also has a big aerial with lots of dishes and stuff on it. But then when we move to the wap waps (where i live) on the main road there a little building with a couple of lights that flash on the side of it, thats the exchange there for Mangapai..but then when we get the area of mangapai 3 km away from that box there is a white box that has alcatel written on it, it also has air conditioning :). I got a shock from it once	MrBeef (342)
175474	2003-09-18 10:24:00	Yep JCR, the Post Master was indeed the Lord of the Rings. Held more sway than the local policeman in a lot of matters. I worked with a JCR in Hamilton, one Johnny Roberts, I don’t suppose you happen to be him by any chance? Do any of you older Techs who did training courses at Petone Polytechnic remember being told that transistors were only a bit of a curiosity that would never have a commercial application? :D Them were the days.	B.M. (505)
175475	2003-09-18 11:19:00	Graham, I hope you’ve still got that Ivory HB phone. It probably belonged to Royalty, as you had to be waaaaaaaaaay up the hierarchy list to get anything but black. Talking about No6 cells I recall they were used for grid bios on very old three channel carrier systems. (This was before some bright spark worked out that making the Cathode slightly positive but negative in relation to the plate produced the same outcome.) Anyway, I had trouble with one of these systems and finding a distinct lack grid Bios I traced the circuitry into the ceiling of the exchange where I found these No6’s over 30 years old. If I recall correctly there was something like 30 of them and the paperwork requisitioning replacements was unbelievable. (I think the theory was you didn’t draw any grid current so therefore they should last forever.) :( Hard to find a battery with a life expectancy of 30 years these days. :D	B.M. (505)
175476	2003-09-18 12:18:00	In the 50's, I saw a telephone exchange with people in them that held lond wires in their hands and who would plug them into sockets on a large board in front of them. The battery that powered the whole system looked like a large, flat vat in which chemicals swilled about. Gearing could be heard in other parts of the large building where the much more modern automatic equipment was kept. There, the same wires were gripped by clamps on rods which did the same things as people. but were directed by an electronic process. The great thing here was that elctronics were now being combined with the electrics!	eef2 (1904)
175477	2003-09-18 19:49:00	No sorry BM. I'm not the JCR that worked in Hamilton. I worked as a toll operator in a GS3 exchange for a couple of years then was a Senior Clerk in a BMSB (manual exchange) for a year before working in POHQ (Telecoms) in Wellington for 4 years (then went farming!!). So I got to see the inside of a lot of exchanges & mix with Technicians, test clerks etc.. It was in the mid '70's that the 4 exchanges were built in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch that made subscriber toll dialling possible, something we take for granted these days. It was an electronic/mechanical system (more electronic than the older GS3 systems) and known as Crossbar. I was quite involved in setting this up. Now, of course, exchanges are fully electronic, just like a big computer, although I can't really comment on the "modern" as I've been out of it for 20+ years.	jcr1 (893)
175478	2003-09-19 05:47:00	I bought it today : $5. :D I don't think Royalty had the magneto version. I was shown a video with shots of the underground War Cabinet room in London last week. There were lines of red, green, white, black HBs. The No6 was a beaut cell. I had a book from the 1930s with designs for various clever machines to use on production lines. One unit used solenoids --- and No6 was suggested, because it would provide 15A. :O I'd believe it ... the carbon electrode is about ½" by about 8" so there's lots of surface area.	Graham L (2)
175479	2003-09-26 02:11:00	apologies for the bump, took this photo this morning. This is a typical exchange for a township of about the same metropolitan size as Taupo, in this case Levin. The Paraparaumu one is about the same size, the Petone one two blocks from here is smaller... g33kflat.skankyflat.net This exchange is fairly important in the national infrastructure, I wont explain why though	whetu (237)
175480	2003-09-26 04:57:00	Interesting . Which building is the exchange - the two storey one, or the one with the doors open? Either way, they don't look like what I expected anyway . > This exchange is fairly important in the national infrastructure, I wont explain why though KFC wouldn't have anything to do with that, would it? :p	Susan B (19)
175481	2003-09-26 06:17:00	You mean you can't see the cellphone tower? Hardly likely to be the open door one, trying to aircondition that would be a challenge. KFC mmmmmm	godfather (25)
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