[486] in Humor
HUMOR: Grounding problems
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (lebzy@umich.edu)
Fri Oct 7 17:48:09 1994
Date: Fri, 7 Oct 94 17:45:50 -0400
From: lebzy@umich.edu
To: humor@MIT.EDU
In-Reply-To: Your message <9410071619.ZM12645@lms10> of Fri, 07 Oct
1994 16:19:09 -0400 (EDT)
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>From spage Mon Oct 3 08:53:17 1994
From: S Page <spage>
Date: Mon, 3 Oct 1994 08:52:56 -0700
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This annecdote excerpted from Syn-Aud-Con Newsletter, Vol4, No 3, April
1977.
AN UNUSUAL TELEPHONE SERVICE CALL
This story was related by Pat Routledge of Winnepeg, ONT about an
unusual
telephone service call he handled while living in England.
It is common practice in England to signal a telephone subscriber by
signaling with 90 volts across one side of the two wire circuit and
ground
(earth in England). When the subscriber answers the phone, it switches
to
the two wire circuit for the conversation. This method allows two
parties
on the same line to be signalled without disturbing each other.
This particular subscriber, an elderly lady with several pets called to
say that her telephone failed to ring when her friends called and that
on
the few occasions when it did manage to ring her dog always barked
first.
Torn between curiosity to see this psychic dog and a realization that
standard service techniques might not suffice in this case, Pat
proceeded
to the scene. Climbing a nearby telephone pole and hooking in his test
set, he dialed the subscriber's house. The phone didn't ring. He tried
again. The dog barked loudly, followed by a ringing telephone. Climbing
down from the pole, Pat found:
a. Dog was tied to the telephone system's ground post via an iron
chain and collar
b. Dog was receiving 90 volts of signalling current
c. After several jolts, the dog was urinating on ground and
barking
d. Wet ground now conducted and phone rang.
Which goes to prove that some grounding problems can be passed on.
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--- End of forwarded mail from wierzc@fi (Casimir Wierzynski)
