I never lived in a household served by crossbar; only SxS, #1 ESS, #1A ESS, and in recent years probably DMS-100 and 5ESS, which are no fun at all. I loved playing with a crossbar switch whenever I could, from friends' and relatives' homes. I loved the sounds it made in the phone earpiece. I loved the little "wait; I'm thinking about it" delay after the final digit was dialed, followed by the brief, ascending tom-tom riff as the call was put through.
I like the sounds of the #5 crossbar switches. I also like the MF tones. I might have had a #5 crossbar switch where I live in Westchester County, New York.
Do you know approximately what year this was filmed? I work amongst all DMS100s; I never got to experience the days of clicking relays and Class 4/Class 5s that weren't all digital.
very informative. so all that clicking sounds on the crossbar exchange(i guess thats what they call em here instead of CO) is that people dialing calls.
Yep, you could tell how busy the office was by the level of noise. And also by the sound you could hear if the was something wrong. Now there is only the sound of fans. Thanks.
Was this a Freeman United mine? I seem to remember seeing the remains of this room long after the mine closed. Many of the trunks had been replaced with MUXs, but I remember the big blue PSUs.
I have seen your video and in our museum we stil have a X/Y home office switching system made by Ericsson stil working. Of course also the crossbar switching systems like ARD 561 home office also made bij Ericsson.
Frans Campfens, houwelingtelecommuseum, Netherlands
Bruce wishes he would have taken more, and so do I. There maybe a little more that would be worthwhile watching but what you saw is basically it. I cut out the floor shots and out of focus shots, the out of focus and way to dark campfire. I will review it, I would like to show more if possible. Thanks.
This video is fantastic! I would love to see more of it, even if its repetetive. Also, when Bruce was working the test board the MF tones coming out were pretty loud, that's a hell of a speaker phone!
When I was working that office I put in an amplifier in the Maintenance Test Frame. Almost always you be would working alone in the office so it was handy to be able to hear it anywhere in the office. You can remotely operate the Maintenance Test Frame form any equipment bay. However Bruce did have the amp up pretty loud. My guess is to make sure you could hear it over the relay noise for his video.
Would you beleve in 1988 I was in training for the Army at Ft. Gordon GA as a 29N - Dial Central Office which I was trained on these XY Switches and then the new stuff but we were the last group to go through the training then it was all cleared out. the reason was several of us were going toGermany where it was still being used but I stayed here. I know of a switch in my wifes home town in Russia which may have these. I plan to check it out next time im there.
Pretty cool and yes I believe it! I was a digital central office engineer starting in late 1979 and by 1983 this phone company had over 150 digital switches in the two States I worked. I was busy. If you do get to see a phone central office in Russia, I hope they let you video it. That would make a great YouTube. Thanks.
It was a company called CNC owned by Contel (Continental Telephone). Contel had just sold CNC of the time of the installation. CNC was out of Chicago and then moved to the west coast. Have no idea what the model number is, CNC probable had one produced at this time and this was it.
Awesome vintage video. Thanks for sharing this. Crossbar was an awesome switching system. There's a tandem office not too far from me that was #5 crossbar tandem before it was upgraded to #4ESS. You could stand out on the sidewalk and hear the switch working inside the building, it was that loud. Those systems were alive! Now, with 5ESS and DMS100, it's just the whirl of the cooling fans. It's sad XB is no more. What a rich history of service it gave us.
I am so glad my friend found those videos he made twenty years ago. When I first heard the XB sound I just did a OH WOW! I did not think I would ever hear that again. I am so glad that I had the opportunity to work and understand this equipment. Thanks.
Yes, there was a carrier system called T Carrier. It is digital and the US version has 24 channels carried over four wires. There was a separate pair of wires for the transmit side and another pair of wires for the receive side. The European version has 30 channels. Both are still used today. Thanks.
Hi, the carrier fot Europe was PCM 2Mb system, it has 32 channels of 64Kb. The first chanel is used for synchronasation and alarms and chanel 16 was used for signaling for the older analoge systems, (each chanel has 8 bits).
Now the use is 31 speech chanels because for signaling we have a digtal signaling link.
I used to work with the #5 X-Bar and many other types of switches from a traffic engineering perspective, ensuring there is enough of each component group to handle average busy hour loads.
Thanks. I remember setting up a few studies but mostly fixing the equipment. The way traffic has change the hold times has to be must longer if not one to one.
I have an hour of stuff like that. May make shorter vids on one or two subjects. I did not show the MDF (main distribution frame) in the Cross Bar office. You are supposed to remove the old wire from the frame. In a big city office they did not and the frame collapsed. Thanks.
The XY were surprising reliable, but they were well maintained with scheduled maintenance. The Cross Bar was more reliable yet. All those relay were really built solidly. Of course both types of offices were well established by the time I was working for the phone company.
Years ago I started by working in Panel Switching in Philadelphia and later moved on to #1 ESS then worked in a Switching Control Center. From there I got to work on 1A ESS, AIS (Automatic Intercept) and learned to work on the SCC DEC PDP-11 Unix based systems and 'C' language. I really enjoyed Panel but it was maintenance intensive. Any chance of seeing more of that video? Thanks.
I think the PDP-11 is the processor Bell Labs used to develop the C language on. Great language! My boss (Nortel) was not pleased with me when I would study my C book at work (Training Center). No wonder they went bankrupt. I think I pulled out most of the good parts from my friends video, but I will view it a few more times. Both of us now wish there was more. I did not think I would ever here the X-Y or X-Bar again. Thanks.
After leaving Bell I worked for a long distance carrier that used a Nortel SL-1 VLE with a feature group-D front end that used 4-wire DX C.O. trunks with MF signalling. Toward the SL-1 it output DTMF with callers number to auth. code conversion on 4-wire E&M trunks. After they went bankrupt I went to work for Nortel in New Jersey as a TSE. Eventually via sales and mergers I worked for NYNEX Meridian Systems which was sold to Williams which sold it to Nextira then Black Box then layed off...
Hope your situation improves presently. I quit NT in 2000, this was just before everything declined. I decided two write two books on old radio repair. The All-American Five Radio is published by Sonoran and my other book is a free download and the link is on my YouTube Channel. Now that both books are done I am getting bored. I don't know what I'll do but I'll do something.
Do you remember who made the PBX shown at the beginning of the video? I have seen OKI, ITT, Siemans, Nortel, Mitel, etc. but it dosen't look like any of them.
It was a CNC, a company owned by Contel. They were out of Chicago but Contel sold CNC at the time of the installation and CNC move out to the west coast.
You can tell that my friend is into photography also. Thanks to Bruce, I was able to make the video. I have about an hour of video material so I maybe able to make shorter vids on things like the NE-14 Test Desk. It was amazing for me to see the places where I actually work over twenty years ago. Thanks.
Great video! It's all digital switching now. I heard the last analog exchange went off line in 2000. Around 1995, I started to see radio studios being installed with specail audio punch blocks. Before that it was either long rows of terminal strips and/or patch bays. The blocks were more stable than terminal strips and patch bays and combined the same functions. If you wanted to re-rout or add something, just punch it in. I've used a punch tool until my hand cramped up into a claw! :) JC
Thanks. I was a digital office test and acceptance engineer for a few years. Some places went from almost battery sets to state of the art digital, it was an amazing thing to see. My how things have changed and I like it!
Actually I got called out on an XY office out of my territory, the toll was down. Did not know anything about it but knew the CO man whose it was. I saw where he kicked the bay frame by the heal mark. I kick it in the same place and it started working! So WD-40 many have worked. I told my boss to order one bay shaker.
nowadays, this all can be on one asterisk box. crazy.
thecooldude9999 2 months ago
What is this for Dial Tone by 8:00 and 8:13
Aurich02 3 months ago
@Aurich02
The tones are trunk digit tones and he is calling a 1000 cycle tone.
AllAmericanFiveRadio 3 months ago
@AllAmericanFiveRadio multi-frequency tones.
thecooldude9999 2 months ago
I second the thanks to Bruce.
I never lived in a household served by crossbar; only SxS, #1 ESS, #1A ESS, and in recent years probably DMS-100 and 5ESS, which are no fun at all. I loved playing with a crossbar switch whenever I could, from friends' and relatives' homes. I loved the sounds it made in the phone earpiece. I loved the little "wait; I'm thinking about it" delay after the final digit was dialed, followed by the brief, ascending tom-tom riff as the call was put through.
rsp196607 3 months ago
Thanks rsp196607
AllAmericanFiveRadio 3 months ago
I like the sounds of the #5 crossbar switches. I also like the MF tones. I might have had a #5 crossbar switch where I live in Westchester County, New York.
alterman156 1 year ago
sounds like large groups of relay style elevator controllers.
mathewbailey08 1 year ago
@mathewbailey08
Oh yes, thousands of relays and switches. Lots of maintenance.
AllAmericanFiveRadio 1 year ago
I love this video! Could you upload the rest of the tape?
PrankyCallz 1 year ago
Thanks PrankyCallz
I'll check it again, with my new computer I may be able to salvage more clips.
AllAmericanFiveRadio 1 year ago
passed or past?
AbuAvital 1 year ago
@AbuAvital
Could be. I probable watch to much Dr. Who.
AllAmericanFiveRadio 1 year ago
Do you know approximately what year this was filmed? I work amongst all DMS100s; I never got to experience the days of clicking relays and Class 4/Class 5s that weren't all digital.
thruthenever 1 year ago
Thanks thruthenever
Some of the video is from the early 80s and the rest is from the late 80s through the early 90s.
AllAmericanFiveRadio 1 year ago
very informative. so all that clicking sounds on the crossbar exchange(i guess thats what they call em here instead of CO) is that people dialing calls.
would have been an interesting job.
steviebboy69 1 year ago
Yep, you could tell how busy the office was by the level of noise. And also by the sound you could hear if the was something wrong. Now there is only the sound of fans. Thanks.
AllAmericanFiveRadio 1 year ago
@AllAmericanFiveRadio Or the sudden LACK OF sound if there was something wrong, I suppose.
rsp196607 3 months ago
Was this a Freeman United mine? I seem to remember seeing the remains of this room long after the mine closed. Many of the trunks had been replaced with MUXs, but I remember the big blue PSUs.
isaacu 1 year ago
This mine was located at Albers Illinois.
AllAmericanFiveRadio 1 year ago
Hi
I have seen your video and in our museum we stil have a X/Y home office switching system made by Ericsson stil working. Of course also the crossbar switching systems like ARD 561 home office also made bij Ericsson.
Frans Campfens, houwelingtelecommuseum, Netherlands
FransCmpf 1 year ago
Please post a part two of this video with the other stuff you had to cut to get down to ten minutes! Awesome video!
passivemode 2 years ago
Bruce wishes he would have taken more, and so do I. There maybe a little more that would be worthwhile watching but what you saw is basically it. I cut out the floor shots and out of focus shots, the out of focus and way to dark campfire. I will review it, I would like to show more if possible. Thanks.
AllAmericanFiveRadio 2 years ago
Thanks for posting. It's most interesting to see how much technology was used when making a call.
cebudave 2 years ago
Thanks. Bruce said he wishes he would have video more because all that equipment is now gone except the last one, the DMS-10 central office.
AllAmericanFiveRadio 2 years ago
This video is fantastic! I would love to see more of it, even if its repetetive. Also, when Bruce was working the test board the MF tones coming out were pretty loud, that's a hell of a speaker phone!
blob537 2 years ago
Thanks.
When I was working that office I put in an amplifier in the Maintenance Test Frame. Almost always you be would working alone in the office so it was handy to be able to hear it anywhere in the office. You can remotely operate the Maintenance Test Frame form any equipment bay. However Bruce did have the amp up pretty loud. My guess is to make sure you could hear it over the relay noise for his video.
AllAmericanFiveRadio 2 years ago
Would you beleve in 1988 I was in training for the Army at Ft. Gordon GA as a 29N - Dial Central Office which I was trained on these XY Switches and then the new stuff but we were the last group to go through the training then it was all cleared out. the reason was several of us were going toGermany where it was still being used but I stayed here. I know of a switch in my wifes home town in Russia which may have these. I plan to check it out next time im there.
zappatx 2 years ago
Pretty cool and yes I believe it! I was a digital central office engineer starting in late 1979 and by 1983 this phone company had over 150 digital switches in the two States I worked. I was busy. If you do get to see a phone central office in Russia, I hope they let you video it. That would make a great YouTube. Thanks.
AllAmericanFiveRadio 2 years ago
What was the make and model for the PBX?
dmine45 2 years ago
It was a company called CNC owned by Contel (Continental Telephone). Contel had just sold CNC of the time of the installation. CNC was out of Chicago and then moved to the west coast. Have no idea what the model number is, CNC probable had one produced at this time and this was it.
AllAmericanFiveRadio 2 years ago
Rick, neat to see what you did before we worked together at Ye Ole Now-Bankrupt Telephony Manufacturer Company.
Enjoying the vids!
- Bobby
that1940sguy 2 years ago
Hey Bobby,
Everything keeps changing. It is so amazing that my friend made and then re-found the video after twenty years. Thanks
Rick
AllAmericanFiveRadio 2 years ago
Awesome vintage video. Thanks for sharing this. Crossbar was an awesome switching system. There's a tandem office not too far from me that was #5 crossbar tandem before it was upgraded to #4ESS. You could stand out on the sidewalk and hear the switch working inside the building, it was that loud. Those systems were alive! Now, with 5ESS and DMS100, it's just the whirl of the cooling fans. It's sad XB is no more. What a rich history of service it gave us.
enigma800 2 years ago
I am so glad my friend found those videos he made twenty years ago. When I first heard the XB sound I just did a OH WOW! I did not think I would ever hear that again. I am so glad that I had the opportunity to work and understand this equipment. Thanks.
AllAmericanFiveRadio 2 years ago
was ther a form of dsl back then? i dont mean for computers, i mean so you can condence manny calls trhough one line
windoes98se 2 years ago
Yes, there was a carrier system called T Carrier. It is digital and the US version has 24 channels carried over four wires. There was a separate pair of wires for the transmit side and another pair of wires for the receive side. The European version has 30 channels. Both are still used today. Thanks.
AllAmericanFiveRadio 2 years ago
@AllAmericanFiveRadio
Hi, the carrier fot Europe was PCM 2Mb system, it has 32 channels of 64Kb. The first chanel is used for synchronasation and alarms and chanel 16 was used for signaling for the older analoge systems, (each chanel has 8 bits).
Now the use is 31 speech chanels because for signaling we have a digtal signaling link.
FransCmpf 1 year ago
Great video Rick, I really enjoyed it. Thanks for posting.
HighFlyer186 2 years ago
THANKS!
AllAmericanFiveRadio 2 years ago
I love all that old equipment. the new stuff is so boring in comparason.
ess1898 2 years ago 2
Yep, the new stuff just sets there. It does not move at all. Thanks.
AllAmericanFiveRadio 2 years ago
Cool stuff !
I used to work with the #5 X-Bar and many other types of switches from a traffic engineering perspective, ensuring there is enough of each component group to handle average busy hour loads.
dave251430 2 years ago
Thanks. I remember setting up a few studies but mostly fixing the equipment. The way traffic has change the hold times has to be must longer if not one to one.
AllAmericanFiveRadio 2 years ago
Pull out your Blue Boxes and ROLL!! :-)
batterymaker 2 years ago
Lol, oh their already gone. Now you can hang a small box on the desk and your done.
AllAmericanFiveRadio 2 years ago
That has to be the most wires I've ever seen in an equipment rack! It must have taken years to put that all together.
Really cool to watch the relays too. How reliable were they?
Maxxarcade 2 years ago
I have an hour of stuff like that. May make shorter vids on one or two subjects. I did not show the MDF (main distribution frame) in the Cross Bar office. You are supposed to remove the old wire from the frame. In a big city office they did not and the frame collapsed. Thanks.
AllAmericanFiveRadio 2 years ago
The XY were surprising reliable, but they were well maintained with scheduled maintenance. The Cross Bar was more reliable yet. All those relay were really built solidly. Of course both types of offices were well established by the time I was working for the phone company.
AllAmericanFiveRadio 2 years ago
Years ago I started by working in Panel Switching in Philadelphia and later moved on to #1 ESS then worked in a Switching Control Center. From there I got to work on 1A ESS, AIS (Automatic Intercept) and learned to work on the SCC DEC PDP-11 Unix based systems and 'C' language. I really enjoyed Panel but it was maintenance intensive. Any chance of seeing more of that video? Thanks.
OldGuy0003 2 years ago
I think the PDP-11 is the processor Bell Labs used to develop the C language on. Great language! My boss (Nortel) was not pleased with me when I would study my C book at work (Training Center). No wonder they went bankrupt. I think I pulled out most of the good parts from my friends video, but I will view it a few more times. Both of us now wish there was more. I did not think I would ever here the X-Y or X-Bar again. Thanks.
AllAmericanFiveRadio 2 years ago
After leaving Bell I worked for a long distance carrier that used a Nortel SL-1 VLE with a feature group-D front end that used 4-wire DX C.O. trunks with MF signalling. Toward the SL-1 it output DTMF with callers number to auth. code conversion on 4-wire E&M trunks. After they went bankrupt I went to work for Nortel in New Jersey as a TSE. Eventually via sales and mergers I worked for NYNEX Meridian Systems which was sold to Williams which sold it to Nextira then Black Box then layed off...
OldGuy0003 2 years ago
Hope your situation improves presently. I quit NT in 2000, this was just before everything declined. I decided two write two books on old radio repair. The All-American Five Radio is published by Sonoran and my other book is a free download and the link is on my YouTube Channel. Now that both books are done I am getting bored. I don't know what I'll do but I'll do something.
AllAmericanFiveRadio 2 years ago
Do you remember who made the PBX shown at the beginning of the video? I have seen OKI, ITT, Siemans, Nortel, Mitel, etc. but it dosen't look like any of them.
Keep yourself busy! That's a key.
OldGuy0003 2 years ago
It was a CNC, a company owned by Contel. They were out of Chicago but Contel sold CNC at the time of the installation and CNC move out to the west coast.
AllAmericanFiveRadio 2 years ago
Great video and great video quality after 20 yrs! Thank you so much for sharing and preserving !
YosemiteGuy 2 years ago
You can tell that my friend is into photography also. Thanks to Bruce, I was able to make the video. I have about an hour of video material so I maybe able to make shorter vids on things like the NE-14 Test Desk. It was amazing for me to see the places where I actually work over twenty years ago. Thanks.
AllAmericanFiveRadio 2 years ago
Great video! It's all digital switching now. I heard the last analog exchange went off line in 2000. Around 1995, I started to see radio studios being installed with specail audio punch blocks. Before that it was either long rows of terminal strips and/or patch bays. The blocks were more stable than terminal strips and patch bays and combined the same functions. If you wanted to re-rout or add something, just punch it in. I've used a punch tool until my hand cramped up into a claw! :) JC
BadEditPro 2 years ago
Hey JC,
Thanks. I was a digital office test and acceptance engineer for a few years. Some places went from almost battery sets to state of the art digital, it was an amazing thing to see. My how things have changed and I like it!
AllAmericanFiveRadio 2 years ago
I bet that system took a lot of WD-40 to keep it running properly!
BassmasterBling 2 years ago
Actually I got called out on an XY office out of my territory, the toll was down. Did not know anything about it but knew the CO man whose it was. I saw where he kicked the bay frame by the heal mark. I kick it in the same place and it started working! So WD-40 many have worked. I told my boss to order one bay shaker.
AllAmericanFiveRadio 2 years ago
*OUTSTANDING* video! MOST interesting! :D
~Cindy! :)
..
CindyBradyTooh 2 years ago
THANKS!
AllAmericanFiveRadio 2 years ago