zellich@stl-07sima.army.mil (Rich Zellich) (03/29/91)
Donald E. Kimberlin asks: > *how* did Bell accomplish 8- party ringing if they used only one > frequency? In my area, at least, it was simple. They used coded rings, and rang _every_ phone on the party line, instead of trying to ring only the _right_ one. If I remember right, when our number was "IMPerial 5201", we were three short rings (this may have only been a four-party line, too, so they could have used frequency-selective ringing if they had wanted to). To tie the above reference to a previous thread, the IMPerial 5201 number was later changed to HObart 7-5201 and then, much later, to 467-5201 - in other words, in the 45 years my father has lived there, his number has _never_ changed! (IMP = HO7 = 467) Cheers, Rich