Thread: really old phone lines
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Jim Redelfs Jim Redelfs is offline
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Default really old phone lines
In article ,
(David Combs) wrote:

What's this "pair" stuff?

Aw, shucks. It's that newfangled stuff where they provide phone service
on TWO wires, of all things. You don't have to SREAM to be heard on 'em.

We were some 15 miles from town, and our "line" (well, party line)
went that entire distance, and consisted not of a pair, but of
a single bare wire. The other side of the pair was the ground,
of course.

You ALWAYS had to shout over the, uh, rice-krispy (sp?) pop crackle
and snap or whatever, but LOUD, damnit, LOUD!

"HELLO! HELLO! COULD YOU SAY THAT AGAIN!

WHO ARE YOU CALLING? WHO IS THIS? BILL? NO? WHO THEN?

BILL? TOO MUCH STATIC -- I CAN'T HEAR YOU! CALL BACK TONIGHT!

LESS STATIC"


"Who was that, honey?" "I don't know, couldn't get his name" etc, etc

One need only ground one side of a modern, working (POTS) pair and it is
obvious why, in the days you describe, it was a requirement to virtually
SHOUT to be heard over the ground noise.

When they added the return conductor creating a balanced pair - the
"loop" - the line wss quieted to an amazing degree.

I believe that, in most populated areas, PAIR service was introduced
around 1910.
--

JR
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