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Message Digest 
Volume 28 : Issue 249 : "text" Format

Messages in this Issue:
  Re: Dr. James Marsters, TTY deaf service developer 
  Re: Dr. James Marsters, TTY deaf service developer 
  Re: Dr. James Marsters, TTY deaf service developer 
  Re: Dr. James Marsters, TTY deaf service developer 
  Re: Dr. James Marsters, TTY deaf service developer 
  Re: Where Have You Gone, Bell Labs? 
  Re: Dr. James Marsters, TTY deaf service developer 
  Re: Heavy Data Use Puts a Strain on AT&T Service 


====== 28 years of TELECOM Digest -- Founded August 21, 1981 ====== Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the Internet. All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk are definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer, and other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 08 Sep 2009 11:21:19 -0500 From: pv+usenet@pobox.com (PV) To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu Subject: Re: Dr. James Marsters, TTY deaf service developer Message-ID: <gMqdndCF1pDiGTvXnZ2dnUVZ_vmdnZ2d@supernews.com> >Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> wrote: >Ward Christensen probably remembers me to this day: I kept pestering >him to turn off the echo on the connections so that I wouldn't see >every character I typed showing up twice. When I finally got my H-89 >built and dialed into CBBS with a "real" computer running 300 Baud, he >broke in and typed "Hey, Speedy!". ;-) Ward (and Randy Suess) had a long history of randomly breaking into CBBS sessions with comments (and not nice ones if it was Randy and you were doing something he didn't like). They were/are interesting guys. * -- * PV Something like badgers, something like lizards, and something like corkscrews. ***** Moderator's Note ***** It's a shame that the World Wide Wait pushed bulletin boards aside: IMNSHO, it was better to have small machines that dealt with a local audience and had someone to mind them. The Internet, or at least the Web, has turned into an advertising vehicle, and if you're not buying, the commercial site owners aren't interested in helping you. Yes, there are exceptions, but they're not the rule. Bill Horne ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 08 Sep 2009 11:26:24 -0700 From: Steven <diespammers@killspammers.com> To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu Subject: Re: Dr. James Marsters, TTY deaf service developer Message-ID: <h867kl$dos$1@news.eternal-september.org> PV wrote: >> Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> wrote: >> Ward Christensen probably remembers me to this day: I kept pestering >> him to turn off the echo on the connections so that I wouldn't see >> every character I typed showing up twice. When I finally got my H-89 >> built and dialed into CBBS with a "real" computer running 300 Baud, he >> broke in and typed "Hey, Speedy!". ;-) > > Ward (and Randy Suess) had a long history of randomly breaking into CBBS > sessions with comments (and not nice ones if it was Randy and you were > doing something he didn't like). They were/are interesting guys. * > -- > * PV Something like badgers, something like lizards, and something > like corkscrews. > > ***** Moderator's Note ***** > > It's a shame that the World Wide Wait pushed bulletin boards aside: > IMNSHO, it was better to have small machines that dealt with a local > audience and had someone to mind them. > > The Internet, or at least the Web, has turned into an advertising > vehicle, and if you're not buying, the commercial site owners aren't > interested in helping you. Yes, there are exceptions, but they're not > the rule. > > Bill Horne I fired up my Apple II with my GBBS, I'll be off until next year so I'll have time to work on it and getting it online again. -- The only good spammer is a dead one!! Have you hunted one down today? (c) 2009 I Kill Spammers, inc, A Rot in Hell. Co. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 9 Sep 2009 02:43:40 +0000 (UTC) From: "Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com> To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu Subject: Re: Dr. James Marsters, TTY deaf service developer Message-ID: <h874os$a7c$1@news.albasani.net> PV <pv+usenet@pobox.com> wrote: > Ward (and Randy Suess) had a long history of randomly breaking into > CBBS sessions with comments (and not nice ones if it was Randy and > you were >doing something he didn't like). They were/are interesting > guys. When were you on CBBS? ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 08 Sep 2009 11:41:30 -0500 From: pv+usenet@pobox.com (PV) To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu Subject: Re: Dr. James Marsters, TTY deaf service developer Message-ID: <sZqdnVt78pmnFDvXnZ2dnUVZ_oFi4p2d@supernews.com> bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) writes: >When the hobby market developed, *then* things got seriously messy. >If a computer was connected to a modem, it needed to look like DTE, >because the modem was DCE. If it was connected to a terminal (or a >printer, or, ....) it needed to look like DCE, because that 'other >device' was hard-wired as DTE. And you had computers that didn't set some of the lines right, so you might use carefully-spliced cables (or a gadget from radio shack with jumpers and opposite-gender connectors on both ends) to duplicate signals. And null modem adapters. And gender changers. And then they added 9 pin serial... I used to have a kit of cables and dongles to cover every possibility so I could later go back and make a proper cable, and it was NOT a small kit. * -- * PV Something like badgers, something like lizards, and something like corkscrews. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 08 Sep 2009 19:01:12 -0500 From: Dave Garland <dave.garland@wizinfo.com> To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu Subject: Re: Dr. James Marsters, TTY deaf service developer Message-ID: <TIudnURAuIZvcjvXnZ2dnUVZ_jCdnZ2d@posted.visi> PV wrote: > bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) writes: >> When the hobby market developed, *then* things got seriously messy. >> If a computer was connected to a modem, it needed to look like DTE, >> because the modem was DCE. If it was connected to a terminal (or a >> printer, or, ....) it needed to look like DCE, because that 'other >> device' was hard-wired as DTE. > > And you had computers that didn't set some of the lines right, so you might > use carefully-spliced cables (or a gadget from radio shack with jumpers and > opposite-gender connectors on both ends) to duplicate signals. And null > modem adapters. And gender changers. And then they added 9 pin serial... I once let the magic smoke out of a $1000 printer because it never occurred to me that a product designer would have wired a power source into a RS232 connector. The printer wasn't working, then I noticed a wisp of smoke literally coming out of it. I think the offending instrument was a Morrow MD-2 computer, which had two female DB25 outputs connectors, one DCE and the other DTE (a terminal connected to one, and your choice of modem, printer, or A-B switch connected to the other). > I used to have a kit of cables and dongles to cover every possibility so I > could later go back and make a proper cable, and it was NOT a small kit. * Gosh, I haven't used my "christmas tree" or little jumper box in years. I don't miss it at all. Dave ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 09 Sep 2009 01:00:50 GMT From: "Tony Toews \[MVP\]" <ttoews@telusplanet.net> To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu Subject: Re: Where Have You Gone, Bell Labs? Message-ID: <0dvda555cs3ob7s8m5eunl0jbkn6oh2j25@4ax.com> T <kd1s.nospam@cox.nospam.net> wrote: >And the antenna is about six feet high - too big to use in a car! Some radio amateurs are indeed using seven foot tall antennas atlhough admittedly on minivans. "The SG-307 is a 7 foot marine and mobile whip antenna for operation from 1.8 to 60MHz. An automatic antenna coupler, such as an SGC Smartuner is required for operation. The antenna is supplied with an optional 4-way stainless steel swivel ratchet mount and reinforced base spring. Loaded frequencies are 8 and 25 MHz and maximum output power is 150W PEP or CW. When ordered with the mount, kit includes 3 feet of high voltage wire, a wall feed-thru bushing and a 3 foot ground strap for coupler grounding. " http://www.sgcworld.com/whipantProductPage.html Gotta watch out for trees or gas stations though. Tony -- Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP Tony's Main MS Access pages - http://www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm Tony's Microsoft Access Blog - http://msmvps.com/blogs/access/ Granite Fleet Manager http://www.granitefleet.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Sep 2009 10:31:23 -0700 (PDT) From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu Subject: Re: Dr. James Marsters, TTY deaf service developer Message-ID: <a8e13ebc-9437-4cba-8de4-f19088b7e28b@s31g2000yqs.googlegroups.com> On Sep 8, 12:40 am, "Adam H. Kerman" <a...@chinet.com> wrote: > Hah! You date things from CBBS! Traditionally, we celebrate the > anniversary of February 16, 1978, although it probably went live a week > or two earlier. Would anyone know what platform this BBS used? > ***** Moderator's Note ***** > > Ward Christensen probably remembers me to this day: I kept pestering > him to turn off the echo on the connections so that I wouldn't see > every character I typed showing up twice. When I finally got my H-89 > built and dialed into CBBS with a "real" computer running 300 Baud, he > broke in and typed "Hey, Speedy!". ;-) Sounds like you should've been transmitting in full duplex. Most modems and terminals had a switch somewhere to set the duplex, though sometimes the switch was tiny and hard to find. Regarding the possibility of your Teletype machine being multi-use (able to do TWX tones and dial-up tones), it was not uncommon in the Bell System for the "under the hood" components to be upgraded even if the unit remained the same on the outside. The last models of the 500 set were very different than the first models for that reason*, though they looked nearly the same. I'm speculating here, but given the time frame--late 1970s--perhaps the TTY in the toll office was upgraded so that it could do double- duty, indeed, given the growing data traffic of that time, it's likely it would be a very useful function. (Of course, maybe the TWX/dial-up tones were the same all along.) * In their 25 year lifespan, the dial, network, ringer, transmitter, and receiver were all redesigned and improved. ***** Moderator's Note ***** Given that it was a company machine and was in daily use for other things, I didn't feel it would be a good idea to alter its settings: there was no switch (I looked), so I had to eenndduurree. I really doubt that components used in the machine were upgraded: it was a TWX machine in all but name, and it even had a card dialer. I used it to test TWX lines on a couple of occasions - it never occurred to the WU techs that anyone could do that, so it was a very good tool for proving troubles back to them when they claimed a fault was in our network. In addition to Ward Christensen's CBBS, I also used it to connect to the Heath User Group BBS in Massachusetts. The modem worked on both BBS and TWX connections, without any noticeable change in tone during the setup handshake. Long story short, I don't think there was ever a different tone set for machines used on TWX vs. those used on the PSTN. If there ever was a different tone set, I'd like to hear from those who can clear up the mystery. Bill Horne ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 09 Sep 2009 00:55:59 GMT From: "Tony Toews \[MVP\]" <ttoews@telusplanet.net> To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu Subject: Re: Heavy Data Use Puts a Strain on AT&T Service Message-ID: <j2vda51k3k6j3ogjagidg70nfb5kv2a1lp@4ax.com> Jim Haynes <jhaynes@cavern.uark.edu> wrote: > So history repeats itself...back in the early days of computer time > sharing the phone companies complained because the holding times on > data calls were so much longer than was typical for voice calls. > This required additional trunks and switches in the central offices > to maintain service quality. In 1979 I was a summer student doing programming. We would spent hours on the phone telling customers exactly what to punch character by character as we made changes via voice. If there were too many changes then we'd courier the 8" floppy. We would regularly hit this 2 hour limitation when talking from Winnipeg to Thunder Bay. Now that I think about it Thunder Bay was/is it's own telco. Most of our other customers were in Manitoba so that may account for the difference. (Side note: When I mentioned to my mother that I might have to make a business trip to Thurnder Bay she said, in a dreamy sort of voice, "You were conceived in Thunder Bay.". Dad was a drywaller then and they spent the first year they were married there.) Tony -- Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP Tony's Main MS Access pages - http://www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm Tony's Microsoft Access Blog - http://msmvps.com/blogs/access/ Granite Fleet Manager http://www.granitefleet.com/ ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecom- munications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to Usenet, where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational service offered to the Internet by Patrick Townson. All the contents of the Digest are compilation-copyrighted. You may reprint articles in some other media on an occasional basis, but please attribute my work and that of the original author. The Telecom Digest is currently being moderated by Bill Horne while Pat Townson recovers from a stroke. 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