There is a concrete Long Lines tower in a city in northeast Kansas...I can't remember the name of the city, though. I believe it was built in the 1950s.
Interesting - another singles record batch player that plays both sides without “flipping” them; I have seen a variant of it in a RU-vid video [Marcal playmaster] where it had 3 idler-wheels which “swung” under the record stack with the tone arm > the player would drop the 1st record onto the “wheels” then the wheels would lower the record onto the “top” tone-arm stylus and make contact with the platter turning the record anti-clockwise > when the tone-arm had reached the centre of the record, the tone-arm would lift and swing out and the wheels would also swing out “dropping” the record onto the platter and the tone-arm would place itself/its bottom stylus on the record edge and play the top side clockwise, this sequence would repeat until all the records had been played and it would stop; requiring the user to pull the stack up to repeat them/remove the records for another lot. More so that the player in this video can grip the record stack and play the underside of the 1st record [without the idler-wheels of the one that I have described] but the spindle and platter still turn in 2 different directions (as if it had the wheels) I guess 1 cartridge was made for it and similar players that [only] had the top stylus pointing to the right & the bottom to the left, I would have thought for that design both stylises would be pointing to the left & the platter and spindle “locked” and turning clockwise 🤨. And that it has that c-arm that lifts the record stack onto the spindle to repeat them itself
It is really too bad that the speed can't be changed to 45 from 16. It would be great to load a stack of 45rpm records. It is a neat way to get background music, but does anyone really want to listen to it...
Why this damn thing is still powered ! They bored me with the internet power consuption, but I know dozen of thing like this (abandoned tech equipment) still on from decade for no use ! And not a simple light bulb but some transmitter with the antenna cut at the rear fault light on AND still "on"
We have been visited by a higher life form than humans They live and work amongst us They do come in peace The best time of my life was living without electricity The induced current from all those magnetic field is very unsettling But, it’s what they live on Give me my grass hut
This is an example of "Seeburg background music" slow-speed (16rpm) records from the 1960's, '70's and '80's. The music was intended for continuous, low-volume playback in retail stores and restaurants, lounges, offices, factories. Today, the remaining library of these records have developed somewhat of a cultural following. The 1000's of individually composed and recorded instrumentals included "cover" versions of hit songs of the day. The cover versions are novel for their interpretation and orchestration. This music, never intended to be truly heard by anyone, are appreciated by those interested in music of the era, ephemeral artifacts of the time, vinyl records, industrial uses of music, etc. Today the immense library of this music is free of copyright restrictions. Collectors will duplicate, categorize, reproduce and showcase them in many ways. There is a 24 hour "station" that plays this music at seeburg1000.com and is also has some historical information about this music.
if all this is shut down and ppl talk fiber replaced it ...i can see that for the basic stuff but radio is radio ..what did we replace it with ...its not like plains have fiber falling out the back
you can call this old school and out dated but what you are looking at is a rock solid reliable system to communicate. doing away with microwave and land lines (hard wire) system is the biggest mistake ma bell ever did. even if the enemy is not from this earth , (and don't laugh) we can be totally in the dark in seconds . the old systems were hardened and would run if any one part was destroyed the calls could be rerouted another way. great video , thanks. as an old western electric equipment installer it warms my heart to see those beautiful gray equipment bays. i would give any thing to have one receive and one transmit bay. most of the equipment is still there but almost all the wave guides to the horns are gone . i hope they have that place locked up and guarded. back in the day a small station that did not have a radio man full time had alarms that went off in the central office switch room showing that some one was at the sight.
Most all of the wave guides inside the building are intact. Unless copper thieves have paid a visit lately. This site is so remote it has been undisturbed for perhaps 20 years.
@wayneheigl5549, my dad worked for PT&T and later AT&T in the 60's, 70's and 80s. He would take me to work with him often, I loved to watch you WECO guys do your work! It was a beautiful work of art ! And it was always exactly the same no matter what office you were in . I have great respect and admiration for you guys. WECO kept the Bell System running good ! What a great system it was!
The internet has grown in a similar fashion, BGP allows it to grow and change with failures, rerouting as much as possible. Still mainly at the whims of T1s tho
Here's an update hopefully answering the questions about the machine... Do an amazon search for "voice recorder for stuffed animal" This will lead you to a wide variety of devices that allow you to record your own sound effects, and then play them back through an internal speaker at the push of a button...There's a huge variety of these type of devices on the web. Find some that can record multiple tracks and play them pack in sequence or at random. Hopefully find some that have good volume on the speaker. If not loud enough, they can't compete with the noise the machine makes. You could also combine the speaker outputs into a loud speaker-amplifier mounted on the back of the machine. Buy 2 or three of them (or more, depending on the desired sound complexity) to give you multiple "tracks" for different sounds and they can play individually or simultaneously when certain "payoff" events happen on the machine. The push button triggers that come with the sound effect devices can be replaced by spring-loaded microswitches. See www.amazon.com/JANDECCN-Switch-Straight-Action-V-153-1C25/dp/B09SWCJ8FF Creatively position the micro switches in the path of the pachinko balls as they fall through the back of the machine in various places. I used hot glue to secure the switches and sound enclosures in their various positions behind the machine. You are using the weight of the falling balls to trigger the microswitches thus triggering the sounds. You have to be creative in figuring out how to get the various ball-return pathways to trigger the microswiches. Hot glue and little pieces of wood or metal or wire to create "paddles" attach them to the levers of the microswitches, increasing their sensitivity and reach. I attached a microswitch to the ball launcher to play a sound whenever a ball is launched. Other switches were positioned where the various "payoffs" were located. Lots of trial and error, hookup wire, hot glue, and I also added power supplie(s) to power the sound effect devices and amplifiers from AC power. I used main power switch on a timer to power down the lights and the sounds. For the lighting, I used multi color LED christmas lights with the included pattern sequencer and inserted the lights through holes drilled through the playfield of the machine. Again more hot glue. When drilling into the playfield, be careful of the resulting plastic/wood sawdust falling into the ball pathways, which can impede the flow of the balls. I had the machine for a few years and the christmas lights eventually failed, and replacing them was too big a job so I retired the machine, but I guess it lives on through the internet.
Guys get real. There is less than ZERO chance this site is "in case" of anything. The reason for power is the obstruction lights. Somewhere, there are some radio amateurs would LOVE to have the use of those towers.
This was an amazing system. I remember driving around my area in New Hampshire taking pictures of the towers and antennas. Never had the opportunity to go inside a center. Where is this tower/building? Thanks for posting.
Nice! I had a Gates CB500 for awhile, and a Rek-O-Kut G2B. I sold off the lot for a Technics SP15. Here is my turntable with the Audio Technica ATP-12T tonearm. I have a proper 16" custom made arm I will be adding, finally. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-oVthkubpn_U.html
The Bell System started building this massive microwave radio relay network in 1951. It was truly the largest, most amazingly complex long distance telephone network in the world! And reliable! My dad worked for Pacific Telephone and later AT&T in the 60's, 70's and 80's, and he worked in radio. I got to go with him one day in1978 to Turquoise main switching microwave repeater station in the Mojave desert near Baker, CA. It was filled with TD-2 and TH terminal equipment, TH operated on the same horn-reflector antennas as the TD-2. Those round horn-reflectors were added later for AR6 digital radio. It makes me sad to see all of it shut down and abandoned after less than 40 years of dependable service. By 1992 it was all replaced by fiber optic cables. And these sites were quietly and unceremoniously shut down, and forgotten! Along with the L carrier on transcontinental coaxial cables, it was the workhorse of the Bell toll telephone network! I'm surprised that this repeater is still in tact! Those are TD-2 microwave amplifiers and this station is just a relay repeater with no switching. And there it sits, retired in place. So Sad!
Oh, I forgot to mention, there were 2 horn-reflector antennas used for the signal coming and going, one for each direction of transmission. And the SHF frequency used was between 3.7 GHZ to 4.2 GHz.
Just watched the video from the link below and then this one to find your comment here. Was wondering what was inside this Turquoise building and you're speaking about it. Would be so cool to visit and keep at least this central location as museum. Preserving this old technology that has been on the top even if only less than 50 years. It's an heritage. But unfortunately lot of them are or have been dismantled to get the precious metals and then left alone. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-QfHyy-4W5X0.html
