TELECOM@Usc-Eclb (09/03/82)
TELECOM AM Digest Friday, 3 September 1982 Volume 2 : Issue 113 Today's Topics: Reprogramming ESS Touch-Tone Line Bryant Pond - Address Correction Requested DTMF Signalling and Encoding Documentation Pointer DTMF Encoders & Decoders - Experience Calling Cards Revisited ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 1 September 1982 20:55 mst From: Lippard at M (James J. Lippard) Subject: Touch-tone line Sender: Lippard.Scouting at M Reply-To: Lippard%PCO-Multics at MIT-MULTICS In my phone bill last month was included a notice which stated that touch-tone phones were now available for my area, as well as call forwarding, call waiting, and the other special features. It said that my area was now on new equipment, so calls to other people on the same equipment would result in the ring as soon as the last number was dialed. I sent in the card requesting a touch-tone phone, and about a week later I get a call from Colorado (I'm in Arizona). It turns out they want to charge me for shipping from Colorado, plus they want to charge me $27.50 for "reprogramming the line" for touch-tone. I said forget it, and just plan to go down to the local Phone Center Store to take care of it. Has anyone else had a similar experience? What is this "reprogramming the line" business? Jim ------------------------------ Date: 2-Sep-82 15:33:33 PDT (Thursday) From: Jheinrich at PARC-MAXC cc: Jheinrich at PARC-MAXC Anybody know if the address for Bryant's Pond in this digest For more info, contact: DON'T YANK THE CRANK BOX 56 BRYANT POND, MAINE 04216 or call, Alice Johnson at: Bryant Pond 137 is correct? An earlier Digest gave it as Box 67, as I recall. Joe JHeinrich.pa@PARC-MAXC ------------------------------ Date: 2 Sep 1982 at 1403-PDT From: worthington at SRI-TSC To: AWalker at Rutgers There is a fairly extensive rundown on the options available for DTMF signaling and decoding for just the application you describe in Ciarcia's Circuit Cellar feature in the December, 1981 issue of BYTE entitled "Build a Touch Tone Decoder for Remote Control"... Dave ------------------------------ Date: 2 Sep 1982 21:27:12-PDT From: D.jlapsley at Berkeley Subject: Touch-tone chips The two Touch-tone chips that I have had experience with are the MM5395 touch-tone generator (by National Semiconductor), and the MM53125 (also made by National Semiconductor). Both of these chips are CMOS and require an external 3 .58... MHz crystal. They both use 3x4 or 4x4 matrix keyboards to decide on which tone to generate. The only real difference between the two is that the MM53125 generates the 1633 Hz tone for the fourth column of touch-tones. On the subject of receiving touch-tone signals, there is an excellent article on doing this (as well as generating touch-tones, and there are circuits given which do both) in the December 1981 Byte magazine. Phil ------------------------------ Date: 3 Sep 1982 0043-EDT From: Hobbit <AWalker at RUTGERS> Subject: Calling cards revisited It seems that the customer-entry system has just been implemented [cut over, rather] here in New Brunswick. When I was near the Morristown office I tried to find out when they were going to install it there also. I went through a number of loops and backtraces that the readership may find entertaining. I talked to a regular operator, and no, they had not received any training about the system yet, nor had the supervisor received any instructional material for it. One super gave me a mumble that it wasn't due till next year, but I'd better try the business office, they'd know better. I tried them. They gave me a similar mumble. It was at this point that I introduced my real complaint: that the dials did not work when connected on an existing call thru TSPS [which has been true around here for years, but with the increasing popularity of MCI and friends, one would expect that more people would find this out and complain about it.] It took me about 3 tries to make these people understand what I was driving at. I did the standard thing and asked for a supervisor. Finally from there I was directed to repair [they probably thought I was trying to report *one* broken pay phone]. I gave up on the B.O. and tried business repair, and finally from them I got the number of the ''coin headquarters'' for the state. I talked to a friendly supervisor there who gave me the following information: A local company in Morristown had requested that polarity guards be installed on the pay stations in their plant. This work was done. She didn't know about the rest of the area. The Mechanized Calling Card System [MCCS [Oh, so **that**'s what you call it!]] was not due to be cut over until May '83. To find this out, she had to go off the line for about 5 minutes while she called elsewhere, to someone who had the implementation schedule for the whole state. Therefore I found out that there is indeed a statewide master plan for MCCS cutovers, and Morristown's problem is just that it's at the end of the line. She didn't know why. She couldn't find out about projected installation of polarity guards, either. So there sits the Morristown office: While the rest of the state is turning digital all around it, it sits there with two of its exchanges happily clacking away on some of the oldest #5 crossbar equipment around, and making its operators bear the full burden of calling card calls. Oy, vey. _H* ------- ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest ********************** -------