The Telecom Digest for November 14, 2010
Volume 29 : Issue 307 : "text" Format
Messages in this Issue:
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Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2010 20:25:04 -0600
From: "Michael G. Koerner" <mgk920@dataex.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: 274 NPA delayed for two years
Message-ID: <m9ydnTjCRZlma0DRnZ2dnUVZ_r2dnZ2d@ntd.net>
It's planned to overlay my home 920, delayed from 2012 to at least 2014.
http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20101112/APC03/311120177
--
___________________________________________ ____ _______________
Regards, | |\ ____
| | | | |\
Michael G. Koerner May they | | | | | | rise again!
Appleton, Wisconsin USA | | | | | |
___________________________________________ | | | | | | _______________
Date: Sat, 13 Nov 2010 15:14:51 +0000 (UTC)
From: "Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: 274 NPA delayed for two years
Message-ID: <ibma1b$p24$2@news.albasani.net>
Michael G. Koerner <mgk920@dataex.com> wrote:
>It's planned to overlay my home 920, delayed from 2012 to at least 2014.
>http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20101112/APC03/311120177
What number conservation measures does Wisconsin mandate?
Date: Sat, 13 Nov 2010 13:23:59 +1100
From: David Clayton <dcstar@myrealbox.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: The Stream of Fear: The Real Reason They're Blocking Google TV
Message-ID: <pan.2010.11.13.02.23.56.690144@myrealbox.com>
On Fri, 12 Nov 2010 17:21:10 -0500, Monty Solomon wrote:
>
> The Stream of Fear: The Real Reason They're Blocking Google TV
..........
I had no idea what "Google TV" was so I searched out details of it and the
various bits of hardware required to what is basically a system that
integrates TV and on-line content with a common UI (well, that's what I
gleaned after a cursory but nowhere near thorough investigation).
The thing that hit me was that they hadn't (yet?) tried to integrate
telecoms into it. To me it seems obvious to have a system where incoming
VoIP - or landline - calls pop up a box in the corner of the display.
They seem to be supporting 'net video calls, surely it would make sense to
integrate voice into the same terminal device as well?
C'mon guys, I've seen this sort of thing on many Sci-Fi fantasy shows,
make it happen!!!
--
Regards, David.
David Clayton
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Knowledge is a measure of how many answers you have, intelligence is a
measure of how many questions you have.
Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2010 20:11:37 EST
From: Wes Leatherock <wesrock@aol.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: History--computer based information operator terminal system
Message-ID: <2abe2.3115fa53.3a0f3fc9@aol.com>
In a message dated 11/12/2010 11:16:34 AM Central Standard Time,
hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com writes:
> I always wondered about overseas dials. I heard one of the reasons
> they went ANC was to allow direct dialing overseas, because the letter/
> number matchup on overseas dials differed from the US and varied by
> country. With the widespread use of texting, how is that handled
> today? Did foreign dials convert to the US format?
Foreign diali9ng came much later than ANC. ANC was promoted as a way to
get more office codes as the shortage was loomiing.
Wes Leatherock
wesrock@aol.com
wleathus@yahoo.com
Date: Sat, 13 Nov 2010 13:42:19 -0800 (PST)
From: Lisa or Jeff <hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: History--computer based information operator terminal system
Message-ID: <e6ee24f2-0025-44fc-b00a-eeef93a951fd@k11g2000vbf.googlegroups.com>
On Nov 12, 8:11 pm, Wes Leatherock <wesr...@aol.com> wrote:
> > I always wondered about overseas dials. I heard one of the reasons
> > they went ANC was to allow direct dialing overseas, because the
> > letter/ number matchup on overseas dials differed from the US and
> > varied by country. With the widespread use of texting, how is
> > that handled today? Did foreign dials convert to the US format? >
> > > Foreign diali9ng came much later than ANC. ANC was promoted as
> > a way to > get more office codes as the shortage was loomiing.
I believe the original reason for ANC was because the spelling of
certain local exchange names wasn't the same as it sounded. For
example, most people upon hearing "BAring" would think it's BEaring,
not BA, or LOmbard was LUmbard, not LO*. When calls were placed by
the operator who plugged into jack it didn't matter, but when people
were dialing it did matter.
Also was the problem of people confusing the 0 and O and I and 1.
ANC was pushed fairly early on, in the late 1950s, I think, well
before office codes became a shortage in most places. I think New
York State might have been an exception to office code shortages, and
there they used odd letter codes first as an experiment. I think New
Jersey went all ANC as early as 1962.
International Direct Distance Dialing was another reason--I recall
seeing pamphlets showing dials of different countries.
*LOmbard was given a new name. However, BAring renames in service to
this day as 222. Both in Philadelphia.
Date: Sat, 13 Nov 2010 00:32:29 -0600
From: Neal McLain <nmclain@annsgarden.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: early CATV
Message-ID: <4CDE30FD.9010500@annsgarden.com>
John Mayson <j...@mayson.us> wrote:
> When I was a child we lived in Ashland, Kentucky for two
> years. We had cable television service. Ashland itself
> had only a PBS station. It was difficult to pull in
> stations from West Virginia. We had ABC, CBS, and NBC
> from Charleston, WV, the local PBS station, and an
> independent station from Cincinnati known then as
> "Metromedia 19".
> We had no cable box. The stations were mapped to the VHF
> dial. Even though I was only in third grade I noticed a
> flicker as I turned the knob between channels 6 and 7. I
> discovered if I turned the knob just right so it was
> between those two channels we could get HBO. I seem to
> recall also some sort of information type channel. So of
> the 12 VHF channels (2 through 13) we had only 6: ABC,
> CBS, NBC, PBS, independent, and the information channel.
That was typical before 1975. The first CATV system I worked for
(Madison WI) was equipped to distribute 12 channels, but we only carried
video on seven: four locals (ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS), Milwaukee PBS,
Milwaukee independent, and Chicago WGN-TV.
We also carried the usual three PEG channels and one channel that we
originated ourselves. These channels were mostly filled with
character-generated "bulletin boards."
We did our best find video programming to fill the unused channels. We
offered a strange concoction of church services, government meetings, a
locally-produced quiz program sponsored by a pizza shop (free pizza for
the correct answer), a movie service called "Home Cinema" (on U-Matic
cassettes) and a sports service (also on U-Matics) that featured such
ever-popular attractions as South American "futball" games, mountain
climbing, and bowling.
I remember one memorable day when we actually managed to provide
full-motion video on *all twelve* channels! When I got home and told my
family about it, the kids duly verified it and spent the next hour
channel surfing.
In 1975, when HBO began satellite delivery, we added HBO on Channel 17,
in the midband between 6 and 7. As you note, it was sometimes possible
to get HBO by fiddling with the tuner.
Even more common were modified TV sets. Those were the days of "rotary"
VHF tuners that used 12 circuit boards, one for each channel, mounted on
a rotating mechanism. Rotating the front panel knob changed channels by
switching circuit boards. Local TV repair shops soon discovered a
sideline business: tuning an unused circuit board to Channel 17.
http://annsgarden.com/telecom/tuner.jpg
Neal McLain
Date: Sat, 13 Nov 2010 07:07:55 -0600
From: Neal McLain <nmclain@annsgarden.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Early cable TV competition (was ...)
Message-ID: <4CDE8DAB.1040808@annsgarden.com>
Richard rng@richbonnie.com wrote:
> Back in the mid-1960's, I visited Williamsport, PA. I
> saw three CATV cables on the power poles....
>
> Maybe Pennsylvania had no laws granting exclusive
> franchises for CATV.
Pennsylvania probably had no laws either authorizing or prohibiting
exclusive franchises for CATV. But LFAs probably did. Every franchise
agreement I ever saw included language to the effect that the franchise
is not exclusive and that the LFA reserves the right to issue another
franchise to a competitor.
What surprises me about the Williamsport situation you describe is pole
space. If the normal rules applied (and were obeyed), every CATV
attachment would have to have been spaced:
- At least 12 inches from the other two CATV attachments.
- At least 12 inches above the highest telco facility (strand
attachment, drop attachment, splice box, whatever).
- At least 30 inches (40 inches in some cases) below the lowest electric
power facility (primary conductor, secondary conductor, drop attachment,
transformer, cap bank, riser head, whatever).
Finding space for even one CATV attachment is often difficult.
Off topic side note: while Googling around for information about
Williamsport CATV companies, I ran across the following site:
http://www.cabletvbargains.com/pa-cable-williamsport.html
Obviously a cable TV reseller, it extols the virtues of cable TV and
denigrates satellite TV. It includes this statement, ostensibly
favoring cable TV: "Get everything you need, TV, phone and Internet,
from just one small, indiscreet cable."
Neal McLain
Date: Sat, 13 Nov 2010 20:37:28 -0800 (PST)
From: Lisa or Jeff <hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: early CATV, was: Bell System Technical Journal, 1922-1983
Message-ID: <53b90ec1-cc91-4775-8b7b-34738a21b30b@w21g2000vby.googlegroups.com>
On Nov 10, 7:38 pm, Eric Tappert <e.tappert.spam...@worldnet.att.net>
wrote:
> >The first "cable tv system", or the first "community antenna tv system"?
> >And are you referring to the US, or including the rest of the world?
>
> Service Electric Cable TV Co. was started in June 1948 in Mahony City,
> PA with the three Philadelphia channels (3, 6, and 10).
>
> Reference:http://www.sectv.com/LV/our_founder.html
>
> Of course, this is for the US and doesn't count any Bell Labs'
> experiments or trials....
> PS - the founder and his wife owned an appliance business and started
> the cable company so they could sell TV sets.
Additional TV trivia:
--A former governor of Pennsylvania in the 1970s, Milton J. Shapp,
made his fortune as a maker of cable TV components.
--In the waning days of WW II, IBM applied to the FCC for microwave
channels so it could transmit data and television. Given the
notorious conservatism of IBM's president at the time, Thomas J.
Watson, Sr, one would have trouble imagining the broadcasted TV
programs he would allow--probably classical music performances and
Shakespeare (censored, of course), with commercials of IBMers singing
"Ever Onward", the IBM song.
--There's a website out there that talks about the old Bell System
microwave network, much of it now apparently dismantled. Several
towers were dedicated to just television transmission. Indeed, does
anyone know if AT&T or the other LD carriers still supply transmission
facilities for broadcast television and radio networks? Or is it all
done by satellite today?
--In Philadelphia, for about 50 years ABC was on 6, NBC on 3, and CBS
on 10. Due to a switch in ownership and FCC regulations, NBC and CBS
had to switch stations. When PBS came along, it had 12.
--In Phila, an independent UHF station, Ch 48, had internal ownership
problems, and they ended up surrending their license back to the FCC.
(Wasn't that a big loss of money?)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WKBS-TV_(Philadelphia)
Date: Sat, 13 Nov 2010 16:31:50 -0800
From: Sam Spade <sam@coldmail.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: The Day Bell Invented the Phone
Message-ID: <PvOdnY9fJoJrsELRnZ2dnUVZ_jqdnZ2d@giganews.com>
Finally, it can be told:
http://tinyurl.com/3a98tsm
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