From the 1990 AT&T video course on telecommunications from 1990. This video talks about local and toll switching using analog and digital electronic switching systems.
My employment with Western electric, AT&T, started in February 1963, retired after 36 years service. My area of expertise was in number one ESS, tsps, traffic service position systems, ETS, electronic translator system, number for ESS, First all electronic switching system, toll system. And number five ESS first electronic switching systems with fiber optics. Today's date September 13th 2022. Thank you for the Post brings back great memories.
This is a description of some of the equipment in this video. 00:50 Operator Console. TSPS (Traffic Service Position System) 00:59 Master Control Center of a 1ESS switch preceding from left to right. 00:59 STTP (Supplemental Trunk Test Panel) Can have more than one. Not part of the MCC. can be located any ware in the office. 00:59 AMA tape drives {Automatic Message Accounting) had three phase AC direct drive capstan motors. 00:59 Local Mtc TTY. This Image is of Model 43 KSR TTY. the first offices cutover with a Model 38 KSR TTY. 00:59 TLTP (Trunk Line Test Panel) Telephone set on the desk was modified so that tester could talk on the phone using the head set plugged into the desk. See the small box with three switches mounted at the top of the panel. The position of the switches controlled if the office was in or out of service along with the "CUT--x" typed command. 00:59 MCC (Master Control Center). This is were the configuration of the office could be observed and manually controlled. 00:59 MCW (Memory Card Writer). This machine wrote new data to the memory cards of a module of a PS(Program Store). Tech is mounting a MCL (Memory Card Loader) to the MCW. MCL was used to remove and install the 128 cards of a PC module. 01:17 This is the MCC of an other 1ESS office. See that the LOC MTC TTY is a Model 38 KSR TTY and one more in the ground. 02:00 This is a Panel or a 1X-BAR switch. 02:03 These stepping switches were used in all kinds of offices in all kinds of equipment. 02:05 SXS (Step by Step) selector switches in a large central office. 02:06 5XB (5 Cross Bar) switches being installed in an office. 02:13 Close up of the TLTP and The MCC. 02:23 See the steal hinge at the bottom of the MCC. That was an added Gard to protect form accidental pressing of the keys. 02:34 Cross Bar Switch. 02:59 5ESS switch. 03:18 AMA tape drive close up. The door to the AMA is clear glass. This drive has a rectangular notice attached to the door in front of the BOT and EOT (beginning of tape and end of tape) photo sensors. These were added to protect the drive from alarming when someone took a flash photo. 03:59 Tech is loading 128 memory cards into mod 05 of a PS (Program Store). 04:33 LSF, LJF, TJF or TSF (Line Junctor or Trunk Ferreed switches. Next generation of swtching had Remreed switches. 05:56 LSF (Line Swirch Frame) with Remreed switches Switch mods are 13a 4 to 1 consitration 64 line mod. Second gen equipment. 25:38 CC (Central Control) There is a quick look at the top of the bay where the buss system is connected to the CC. 25:55 5ESS Line cardsin modulaes. Tech removes, looks at, and reinstalls a line card. There is no need to do this there are no options on the line card to set. That's the movie business. 36:38 5ESS MHD Memoriy Hard Drive. 36:50 5ESS Mtc Terminal GUI (Grafic User Interface) This does the same fuction of the MCC in the 1ESS and 1aESS. 39:09 4ESS MCC. Toll office.
At 1:56, is that a “B” board operator? She’s plugging in cords, but I don’t see a dial or key set. There is what looks like a display panel in front of her.
There's a lot happening around 1:54 - 2:04 1:54 - B operators connecting calls. The displays on the keyshelf are PCI (Panel Call Indicator) displays. These calls came in from a Panel office to a manual office. 2:00 - Panel office, probably a sender-link frame 2:03 - Panel sender, with rotary switches for digit registration (old style)
Number for ESS, the toll digital electronic switching system, one of the first installations of the system was in Regal Park Queens New York. That installation at the time was 200 million. The building is like a fortress no windows whatsoever, no internal heating system the system itself generated enough heat to heat the entire building. I was privilege to be part of that installation. It was a major step in digital electronic switching systems. The MCC was showed briefly it was black generally in a separate room by itself overlooking, the entire switching system. My area of expertise was in number one ESS, tsps, traffic service position systems, number for ESS, first All Digital electronic switching, and number five ESS first electronic digital fiber optic switching system. Thank you for this post brings back many many fun movements in my career of 36 years. Today's date September, 13th 2022. My employment started in February 1963.
Amazing that I went from building trunk groups on a DMS-250 over 30 years ago to implementing routing on Cisco routers for a very large corporation -- and still going strong!
When I saw the Teletype at the MCC of the 1ESS, I was like "That's a KSR 43!" Turns out I was right. I used a KSR 43, but it was in the military, and mine was hooked up to a Missile Maintenance Test Set. (The Command Post one was of course hooked up to their BCP ;o) As much as I liked the Teletype, the addition of new glass terminals and the cartoon page of the 5ESS (and later products from Bell and their successors) was pretty cool. You could type page numbers at the cartoon page to get status, take equipment out of service, unequip, etc. in addition to using the RCV commands. Another benefit of the cartoon page is that it's in COLOR, so you can determine the status from 20 paces. (oh... 2:00 is a selector rod frame of a panel, followed by what appear to be some panel sequence switches; there is nothing else that looks like it. Crossbar was invented to exterminate panel and step because of the former's reliance on sliding contacts that required a lot of expense to maintain. Imagine the toll network being on panel. It would be brutal to the equipment even with mid-century call volume!) There needs to be more training videos that feature fog machines!
When they were talking about Line Link and Trunk Link Fields, I was thinking of Line Link Frame and Trunk Link Frame, Which is the xb5 terminology for those frames.
Tune in for next week's call, when something actually happens in one of their lives! Thrill as Anna describes a particularly tasty sandwich she made for much one day.
