Hi Everyone,
A friend moved into an apartment a few days ago and called the phone company to have service for two lines started.
Phone company started service for both lines. We were able to find which terminals were for each line at the point of service. The primary phone line worked without a hitch into the apartment as it was already connected from a previous service.
I was going to assist my friend with connecting the second pair of wires for the secondary line, as this apartment never had a second line in it. Anyways, I go to look at the original 1961 phone cable that goes to the apartment ( both at the point of service and into the apartment) and find that it is only a three wire (red, green, yellow) phone cable. I am used to seeing what I think is called twisted pair cable with a total of four wires (red, green, yellow, and black).
Is there a way to get two phone lines out of a three wire phone cable, or do we have to run new cable?
Thanks for any insights!
Tark
Replies
new cable.. if ya try a 3 wire hook up you'll get cross over from line to the other...
Dang, not what I wanted to hear!Just from a historizal point, why would anyone install a cable with only 3 wires? Unless the third wire was a spare if one of the other wires went bad, I can't think of a really good reason.Thanks again,Tark
the old Stromberg - Carlson phones had a 3rd wire hook up so that the cycle wringers would work.. guess you don't remember rural party lines.....
IMERC,Got it! As for myself, I'm of a generaton that barely remembers rotary phones. But at least now I know why there are only three wires. Thanks again,Tark
I remember crank phones and later 2 digit dialing...
wanted to go fishing... hook up the phone to the flower bed and get yur worms...
Hook up the phone to the flower bed to get worms??? Why didn't you just hook up the phone to the fishing hole and get the fish?
Bryan,
That's the coonass way.
Ahiiii!KK
no fun...
I'm reading a book about VMF-214 (the "Black Sheep" squadron). On one of the island bases it seems a couple of the pilots went a few steps further. They rigged up a set of mines in one of the streams with electric ignition, and chased fish into an area where they could get a whole school.Of course they were feeding the whole squadron, plus some.
It wasn't just S-c.But Bell also used the ground for selective ring.The bell was either Tip to Ground or Ring to Ground.That got 2 rings. I can't remember if a 4 party use 2 different ringing patterns on top of it or they used selective ringing frencies.But the ground was the basic dividing for the first 2 parties.
they were cycle wringers...
12.5, 25, 33, 50(IIRC) and 66 cycles. depending on the 3 wire wiring configuration it was intially all 5 party (max) lines and then later it went up to 50 party with the addition of a 4th conductor. 75 and 125 cycles were added later (late 50's early 60's) as controller freqs to expand the # of parties on a line to 50...
new meaning to wait yur turn.... and if you had a nosey niebhor... ROAR!!!
most everybody had that sytem.. S-C starteded it and others copied it...
some companies used a "Y" wiring system and some used the "D"...
interfaceing was a bit touchy to say the least...
S-C came up with the stacked knief auto dialers... Bell stole it and stuck their name on it...
I don't think that Bell used the selectific frequency ringer, but I can be sure of that.All of the Bell line that am familar with had even number of parties. 2, 4, 8."S-C came up with the stacked knief auto dialers.."No Strodger (sp?), a Kansas City Undertaker came up with it when he thought that the operators where directing calles to his completitors.Don't remember if he sold it to S-C or was a partner or maybe the stole it first.There where also loop start and ground start phone lines. IIRC the ground start needed a 3rd wire. But I doubt that they would have every been used on residential lines, at least in 61.I noticed that he is California, but I don't know where. I believe LA was a large GTE area.
Edited 7/13/2005 2:06 pm ET by Bill Hartmann
The three wire cable was quite common. The third wire was a ground, used for party line ringing, or was later used to power the light in a Princess phone.
'beat me to it - the Princess Phone power was the other usage (Princess Phone - think "a telephone that Barbie would use").
Party lines lasted a long time. When I moved into my place in 1989, I called up GTE for phone service. They asked if I wanted a private line; I said of course. The operator stated the previous tenant had a party line (!), and my rate would be $10 more per month than his. It wouldn't suprise me if some people around here up in the hills in Qwest territory still had a party line.
"Jake" or "quad" (that is, Station-D wire) is four conductor (red, green, black, and yellow) and was used for the lighted dial phones, starting with the "Princess". Green = tip, red = ring, back when polarity mattered, and the black-yellow carried the low-voltage AC (25V IIRC) to light the dial. The black and yellow are often used for a second voice line, rather than for the AC power for the dial lamps.
The conductors in jake were not twisted as pairs. I beleive the name jake came from it's early designation as jacketed wire, abbreviated as JK for jacket...
The old three-conductor station wire was used, as others have said, for selective ringing on party lines, and not for lighted-dial phones.
Even on non-party lines, standard station wire was installed for almost all residential inside wire (to simplify things). Later, station-E wire (6 twisted pairs, with no jacket), and H-wire (3 twisted pairs w/plastic jacket) were used. E-wire is a particularly weird thing to encounter (used usually in bigger, upscale houses)--twelve, 22 or 24 gage wires, as six twisted pairs. And these are one to four twists/inch, to yield level II performance (which preceded Cat 3).
Cheers,
Cliff
that is interesting...
I remember reading about the S-C when we overhauled the Norwich Bell system from crank to tone and some pulse...
That was S-C claims...
I'm in the Bay Area
btw ... as a tip to remember the "pairs" commonly used with the 4 wire system ...
red and green ... primary ... Christmas ...
black and gold ... secondary ... Steelers!
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
Jeff... that's yeller not gold...