On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 22:31:24 -0500, Nick Hull
vaguely proposed a theory
.......and in reply I say!:

remove ns from my header address to reply via email

Love doing that sort of stuff, and I also end up going primitive and
making all sorts of Heath Robinson electromechanical stuff. We also
get serious ligtning. Every time we get a storm the phone starts
ringing all on its own, then the exchange dies :-

Then there is the "lightning" that comes with me building it! You can
_see_ a relay blow up! G

I modified the RS dialer myself; relays "push the buttons". Relays may
seem obsolete but they are more immune to lightning, and every couple of
years I get REAL lightning. You could probably do it more elegantly
with transistors but I go for crude reliability. Besides, once it's
working I stop fixing it.