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27 Years of the Digest ... founded August 21, 1981

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Message Digest 
Volume 28 : Issue 66 : "text" Format

Messages in this Issue:
  Re: Telex and TWX rates 1970s 
  Re: Telex 
  Re: Telex 
  steam railroads, was: Telex 
  Re: Technical Demo turns political 2/26/1909 
  Re: new price offer from t-mobile 
  Re: Telex and TWX rates 1970s 


====== 27 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: 6 Mar 2009 09:57:09 -0500 From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu Subject: Re: Telex and TWX rates 1970s Message-ID: <gordk5$rki$1@panix2.panix.com> In article <slrngr0n8l.5nq.haynes@localhost.localdomain>, Jim Haynes <jhaynes@cavern.uark.edu> wrote: >On 2009-03-05, hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com <hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com> wrote: >> >> I suspect this slow speed was a reason for WU's decline. For example, >> in 1975 GE Timesharing offered its own ASR teleprinter that ran at 300 >> speed (ok, today that's slow but then it was three times as fast.) > >Did G.E. have an ASR? I'm aware of their KSR, the G.E. Datanet 300, but >I didn't know they had an ASR model. I think the GE Terminet had a reader/punch option too. --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 6 Mar 2009 10:00:10 -0500 From: Randall <rvh40@insightbb.com> To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu Subject: Re: Telex Message-ID: <79B32215-2D17-430C-8FE3-2A9582963553@insightbb.com> > Date: Thu, 05 Mar 2009 18:09:18 +1100 > From: David Clayton <dcstar@myrealbox.com> > Subject: Re: Telex and TWX rates 1970s > > On Wed, 04 Mar 2009 23:39:34 -0500, hancock4 wrote: ....... >> I suspect many Telex users did not have the luxury of >> interconnecting a new computer as you did and found the retyping of >> source documents and punched tape handling rather tedious, as well >> as expensive in manpower. > .......... > This was back in 1982, ... > > There were still many (many!) mechanical Telex units in service, as > well as earlier Sagem machines that used punched tape and were just > modern equivalents of the fully mechanical devices...... ahhh the > memories..... > > RYRYRYRY...... ;-) > > The anecdotal reason for the Telex network being so important back > then - even with Fax making big inroads - was that a lot of Japanese > companies would not do business with anyone without a Telex service, > so we just kept installing 'em. In 1986 I worked with a company that was salvaging rails and ties from abandoned railroad tracks nationwide (US). We had a Telex machine, because some railroads also would not do that sort of business otherwise. ***** Moderator's Note ***** OhMyGhod! A real railroad guy! I've been a railfan for years. OK, totally unrelated, Moderator's privilege, etc. Aside from the cost of the land, what would it take to build a railroad today? Is there an Epay for steam locomotives and rolling stock? Where do you go to learn how to be an engineer? Are there correspondence courses? Bill Horne Temporary Moderator ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 6 Mar 2009 11:29:37 -0800 (PST) From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu Subject: Re: Telex Message-ID: <be6d4026-f20e-48b6-9382-be3b2df2a709@c11g2000yqj.googlegroups.com> On Mar 6, 11:37 am, Randall <rv...@insightbb.com> wrote: > In 1986 I worked with a company that was salvaging rails and ties from > abandoned railroad tracks nationwide (US).  We had a Telex machine, > because some railroads also would not do that sort of business > otherwise. I got the impression that 'heavy industrial' concerns tended to be more conservative in their telecom technology, sticking with older phone systems and computers compared to American commerce in general. It always seemed that when a visited such a company they'd have older phones--old rotary sets, keysets with the older round buttons, cord boards not consoles, etc. It also seemed many such companies were to last to have Enterprise toll free numbers instead of 800 numbers. (according to an informal survey of the phone book) > > ***** Moderator's Note ***** > > OhMyGhod! A real railroad guy! I've been a railfan for years. A number of people interested in heritage telecommunications are also rail buffs. check out misc.transport.rail.americas > OK, totally unrelated, Moderator's privilege, etc. > > Aside from the cost of the land, what would it take to build a > railroad today? Due to many new govt regulations, it would be very expensive. > Is there an Epay for steam locomotives and rolling > stock? China, until recently, still built steam locomotives, and they sold a few to the U.S. for tourist service. Otherwise you'd have to buy used. They are terribly maintenance intensive (which is why railroads got rid of them) and hard and expensive for volunteer groups to keep going. > Where do you go to learn how to be an engineer? Are there > correspondence courses? Some community colleges are now offering courses in that subject. There are also railcamps for both adults and kids where one can learn how to operate equipment. Don't forget the traction world. I believe you're in New England and there are trolley museums near Branford CT and Kennebunkport Maine. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 7 Mar 2009 02:18:08 +0000 (UTC) From: danny burstein <dannyb@panix.com> To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu Subject: steam railroads, was: Telex Message-ID: <goslh0$ni$1@reader1.panix.com> [ lots snipped ] >> ***** Moderator's Note ***** >> >> OhMyGhod! A real railroad guy! I've been a railfan for years. >> OK, totally unrelated, Moderator's privilege, etc. >> Is there an Epay for steam locomotives and rolling >> stock? >China, until recently, still built steam locomotives, and they sold a >few to the U.S. for tourist service. Otherwise you'd have to buy >used. They are terribly maintenance intensive (which is why railroads >got rid of them) and hard and expensive for volunteer groups to keep >going. Indeed they are. Check out the NTSB report on an ugly incident: http://www.ntsb.gov/Publictn/1996/SIR9605.pdf and on a more pleasurable bit of railway history (safe for work): http://www.jimnolt.com/train-intro.htm ob telecom: the television series referenced in that second URL displayed all manners of telephones, radios, and even some early users of car/radio telephones. -- _____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 06 Mar 2009 19:09:08 GMT From: "Tony Toews \[MVP\]" <ttoews@telusplanet.net> To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu Subject: Re: Technical Demo turns political 2/26/1909 Message-ID: <b2t2r4t01u44s2ihsarlilc8d2a9mqcpqk@4ax.com> David Clayton <dcstar@myrealbox.com> wrote: >>>It cost more initially, but in the long run they will be more reliable >>>and generally beneficial to the community in many ways. >> >> How will underground cables be more reliable and generally beneficial to >> the community? >> >Vehicles can't crash into power poles that aren't there, winds can't >affect power lines that are underground, and the visual pollution of >underground power distribution is limited to the access ports on the >pavement. One newspaper report I just read stated that underground power lines cost from 4 to 10 times as much as overhead lines. I've also read reports that indicate trouble shooting and repairing underground power lines near the end of their life is very expensive. So I'd want to see some detailed cost estmates and real world experiences before agreeing that underground power lines are a "good thing". Tony ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 06 Mar 2009 11:12:42 -0800 From: Richard <rng@richbonnie.com> To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu Subject: Re: new price offer from t-mobile Message-ID: <04t2r4d25333tp3rti4ap8mhf2ub3q2v7i@4ax.com> On Wed, 4 Mar 2009 23:19:09 -0500 (EST), Joseph Singer <joeofseattle@yahoo.com> wrote: > >Tue, 3 Mar 2009 01:04:53 -0500 (EST) Dan Lanciani <ddl@danlan.com> wrote: > ><<I'm currently paying $19.99 for unlimited data in conjunction >with the cheapest voice plan. I hope my cost won't be going up >in a few months when the contract ends...>> > >Generally, when you become a subscriber at will i.e. not liable for >any agreement, you can keep whatever arrangement and pricing you have >had all along as long as you don't change anything in the plan. This >is called "grandfathering." Modifying the plan in any way may subject >you to losing any features or pricing you had. I'm on a plan that has >long since gone away over five years ago. I had a similar situation with a land-line residential phone. I got a promotional $15 unlimited long-distance plan. A year later, I moved to another house 3 miles away in the same town. Both locations are served by the only central office in the town. No problem keeping my old phone number. But they would not let me keep the $15 long-distance plan. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 06 Mar 2009 17:12:47 -0600 From: Jim Haynes <haynes@giganews.com> To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu Subject: Re: Telex and TWX rates 1970s Message-ID: <slrngr3bfl.64q.haynes@localhost.localdomain> On 2009-03-06, hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com <hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com> wrote: > > I get confused--does ASR refer to the paper tape capability, or the > ability to automatically answer incoming calls? I thought it meant > the paper tape, and the KSR was a unit without paper tape. > In Teletype terminology, ASR is a machine with paper tape capability. I just didn't know the G.E. Terminet ever had those - so at least you have seen one. -- jhhaynes at earthlink dot net ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecom- munications topics. 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