In article , Dave Hinz says...

On Tue, 5 Apr 2005 09:34:56 -0500, Robert Swinney wrote:
Jim sez: "Sounds crazy, but it has been known to work!"

Not so crazy, Jim. In the early days of telephony, sometimes single 'phone
wires were run as the top strand of fences, with the other side grounded,
of course.

Yes, this is known as "category 1" network wiring. Seriously.

The classic party line. I lived in a place like that for a while.

Single wire that went up the canyon, with about ten parties on it.

Everyone had their own ring.

In some areas they used harmonic ringing, and they would play tricks
like polarized ringing, and ringing from one side or the other of
the line, to ground - if the service was a pair.

Jim


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