thomas%mvac23.uucp@udel.edu (Thomas Lapp) (12/12/89)
In several of the messages in the last week or so, it has been
mentioned that the Pittsburgh International Operator was used for
making high-seas calls.
Whilst tuning across the bands on my short-wave receiver, I once came
upon a transmission which seemed to be a high-seas conversation. Can
anyone tell me more about how ship-to-shore (is this the same as
high-seas?) telephony works? From the conversation I heard, it
sounded as though I was hearing only one of the parties, and an
operator? radio- person? who would tell someone, "O.k. your party is
on the other end", or "Your party is still there -- you may talk" (the
connection apparently was a poor one, since there was a lot of
repetition of sentences).
I guess I can assume that high-seas conversations are via radio
("What's that long wire we're dragging captain?" "Oh, that's our
telephone line! Goes all the way back to shore... ;-), but can you
supply any more details?
Thanks,
- tom
internet : mvac23!thomas@udel.edu or thomas%mvac23@udel.edu
uucp : {ucbvax,mcvax,psuvax1,uunet}!udel!mvac23!thomas
Europe Bitnet: THOMAS1@GRATHUN1
Location: Newark, DE, USA
Quote : Virtual Address eXtension. Is that like a 9-digit zip code?kent@uunet.uu.net (Kent Hauser) (12/20/89)
In article <2084@accuvax.nwu.edu>, thomas%mvac23.uucp@udel.edu (Thomas Lapp) writes: > In several of the messages in the last week or so, it has been > mentioned that the Pittsburgh International Operator was used for > making high-seas calls. There is also satellite communications to ships at sea. Three country codes exist for ships: 871 = Atlantic, 872 = Pacific, & 873 = Indian ocean. Calls are placed just like a normal int'l call: e.g. (in the US) 011 871 1234567 # All ship numbers are seven digits (octal representation of a 21-bit ID number). When a ship moves from one ocean to another, it's number doesn't change, only it's `country code'. In the US, the ground stations for INMARSAT (as the system is known), are located just outside of Danbury, Conn. & Ventura, Calf. Other countries also have ground stations. The American stations are directly connected to the ISCs for AT&T, Teleglobe, & MCI. (Who says there is only one country code in North America?) Further technical info can be obtained out of the CCITT docs. I believe that Q.170 is gen'l info. Also one of the previous versions of the CCITT docs (I think it was the yellow books) had a supplement to the No. 5 signalling spec (Fascicle VI.2) showing some additional info. On an non-technical note -- a real problem for the system is that when someone calls the operator (AT&T Employee) & asks for a ship, they are normally connected with the high-seas operator (AT&T Run), not the INMARSAT system (non-AT&T). Kent Hauser UUCP: {uunet, sun!sundc}!tfd!kent Twenty-First Designs INET: kent@tfd.uu.net