stanley@phoenix.com (John Stanley) (12/17/90)
I have just had the amazing experience of seeing the birth of a COCOT. From a hole in the ground, to a slender metal pole, to the cozy blue box with magic inside. At first glance, it looks just like a NY Tel payphone. Nowhere does it say NY Tel. The top insert has all the normal info, with the additional "For emergencies, dial 911". Syracuse does not have 911 service implemented, even though we pay a surcharge for it. I didn't try it to see if the phone was programmed. The insert where the phone number goes is blank. The lower insert, where the info on who provides what LD service is supposed to be, is a generic panel with fill in the blanks. Directory assistance. Emergency. Operator. Repair. The only two blanks filled in are the Emergency number (211, different than the upper insert says), and Operator. There is nothing for repair, nothing that says the LD carrier. Nothing that says who the owner of the phone is. Aha! I will dial the operator and see who the AOS is. I pick up the handset, and hear, in addition to dialtone, McGruff the Crimefighting Dog talking about neighborhood watch and taking a bite out of crime. How unique -- PSA's on COCOT's. I dial 0. Country music comes on. So does the operator. She shouts at me. I shout back. The country music plays on. "What number are you at" she shouts. "Don't know". "What city are you in?" "Syracuse." "What state is that?" How convenient in an emergency, dial the operator. I find out she works for Oasis. She asks me the number I was calling. I wasn't, just her. Why she thinks I would try to complete a call with Kenny Rogers playing loud enough that I have to shout is beyond me. She wrote a trouble ticket. How they will find the phone, I don't know. There are a lot of them in Syracuse. I think I know who owns the phone. I am going to call him tomorrow.
segal@uunet.uu.net (Gary Segal) (12/19/90)
stanley@phoenix.com (John Stanley) writes: > Aha! I will dial the operator and see who the AOS is. I pick up the >handset, and hear, in addition to dialtone, McGruff the Crimefighting >Dog talking about neighborhood watch and taking a bite out of crime. >How unique -- PSA's on COCOT's. I dial 0. Country music comes on. So >does the operator. Is this a case of YASC (Yet Another Slimey COCOT :), or could there actually be another type of problem? A former friend of mine in Bloomingdale Illinios had the unfortunate problem being served by a CO that is close to the transmit tower for a FM radio station. Somehow the radio program found it's way into the local loops. Don't ask me how; I haven't been able to figure it out either. All I know is that when I called, I would hear the radio station very faintly in the background (My guess would be about 8-10dB below talk level.) Apparantly Illinios Bell claimed that this was a problem for the FCC, but the bureaucrats had been taking years to sort out the problem. I haven't called the line recently, but I doubt if it has been fixed. But did Mr. Stanley experience a case of COCOTery gone bonkers, or did the phone get bitten by it's proximity to someone's transmitter? I'd love to blame the COCOT too, but don't forget that there could be something else wrong outside of the phone. Gary Segal ...!uunet!motcid!segal +1-708-632-2348 Motorola INC., 1501 W. Shure Drive, Arlington Heights IL, 60004 The opinions expressed above are those of the author, and do not consititue the opinions of Motorola INC. [Moderator's Note: Sometime take a drive out near Wheaton, IL where two powerhouse radio stations (WGN - 720 AM and WBBM - 780 AM) have their transmitters within about a quarter-mile of each other. The area is *so saturated* with RF that no matter where you tune the radio dial all you hear is those two for a half mile in any direction. All the telephones in the area have special filters on them provided by IBT. The hetrodyne from those two beating each other constantly is something to hear! And the harmonics are incredible. I've picked up WBBM at 2x (1560 kilocycles), 3x (2340 kilocycles) and even 4x (3120 kilocycles) just as plain as at 780. No one lives very close; they'd go crazy if they did. Probably the COCOT is getting the same thing. Either that or the serving CO has some Muzak circuits which need a little cleaning up. A grocery near me several years ago had some problem with their Muzak circuits once. For a couple days it was bleeding all over the CO. PAT]
kaufman@Neon.Stanford.EDU (Marc T. Kaufman) (12/20/90)
In article <15512@accuvax.nwu.edu> motcid!segal@uunet.uu.net (Gary Segal) writes: >stanley@phoenix.com (John Stanley) writes: ->How unique -- PSA's on COCOT's. I dial 0. Country music comes on. So ->does the operator. -A former friend of mine in -Bloomingdale Illinios had the unfortunate problem being served by a CO -that is close to the transmit tower for a FM radio station. Somehow -the radio program found it's way into the local loops... -Apparantly Illinios Bell claimed that this was a problem for the FCC, -but the bureaucrats had been taking years to sort out the problem. Radio amateurs are particularly sensitive to the charge of interference, so we try to keep up with the regs. To my knowledge, if a device which was not designed to be a radio receiver is receiving and demodulating radio signals, then it is NOT the responsibility of the radio station to fix it. It is the responsibility of the manufacturer or user (in this case, the phone company) to use "good engineering practice" to insure that their lines do not receive radio. Marc Kaufman (kaufman@Neon.stanford.edu)
stanley@phoenix.com (John Stanley) (12/21/90)
motcid!segal@uunet.uu.net (Gary Segal) writes: > stanley@phoenix.com (John Stanley) writes: > But did Mr. Stanley experience a case of COCOTery gone bonkers, or did > the phone get bitten by it's proximity to someone's transmitter? I'd > love to blame the COCOT too, but don't forget that there could be > something else wrong outside of the phone. I live about 100' from this phone. The only transmitters in this area are mine (not a country music broadcast, and not on at the time anyway) and a paging service. The closest broadcast stations are several miles away. I guess it is probably a crossed wire in the telco service, or something in the phone acting as a receiver. The point was that there was no way outside calling the operator to report the problem, and she had no idea where I was calling from.