#buttset

[misterdangrant]

Winter, North Perth.

[commodorez]

Happy Halloween!  Today, I dressed up as a 1970′s Bell System Telephone Repairman/Lineman.

Authentic tools and insignia all around.  Western Electric and Bell System branded gear including a 1013A Buttset, 52A Test set, 925 splicing scissors, crimper, high-visibility hard hat, and belt buckle.

[commodorez]

Today my Western Electric lineman’s test set from the 1970′s came in the mail.  It’s bright yellow Bell System rotary goodness!

I hooked it up in listen-only mode to my home phone and called that line with my cell phone to see what it sounds like.  The ringing pulses, followed by the caller ID tones was rather unique to listen to.  It was akin to a modem -- I had never heard the caller ID data before.  Seems it works fine, but it sounded a bit weak.  Then again, it’s been a very long time since I’ve used an un-amplified purely analog phone.

Now I must mention that my home phone service is provided by the cable company, so I’m not on the POTS network, but rather a simulation of one created by the cable modem.  I would love to go test this somewhere with a proper POTS hookup.