HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
Date: 15 Oct 92 01:30:06 EDT
From: Toby Nixon <tnixon@hayes.com>
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: How Should I Get My House Wired For Future Phone Needs?
Organization: Hayes Microcomputer Products, Norcross, GA
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 780, Message 3 of 6

My wife and I are considering building a new house (well, having it
built for us) for ourselves and our five kids.  Before we know it,
those kids are going to be teens, with heavy telecom demands.

Although we currently have just two standard POTS circuits, I want to
look ahead and get the house wired up-front to handle our needs far
into the future (maybe a mini-PBX, maybe ISDN, an intercom, whatever).

What I'm think of is having three or four-pair twisted pair cable run
from each room separately (not daisy-chained the way they normally do
it) to a punch-down block in some central location, so we can hook
things together anyway we want.  Is that a good idea?  Do you have any
other advice for us?  Thanks in advance.


Toby Nixon, Principal Engineer      | Voice   +1-404-840-9200  Telex 401243420
Hayes Microcomputer Products, Inc.  | Fax     +1-404-447-0178  CIS   70271,404
P.O. Box 105203                     | BBS     +1-404-446-6336  AT&T    !tnixon
Atlanta, Georgia  30348             | UUCP uunet!hayes!tnixon  Fido   1:114/15
USA                                 | Internet                tnixon@hayes.com
Date: Thu,  8 Oct 92 11:01:56 CDT
From: tjrob@ihlpl.att.com (Thomas J Roberts)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Cellular Interception in Private Talk
Organization: AT&T
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 768, Message 7 of 12

 From article <telecom12.760.3@eecs.nwu.edu>, by  louie@sayshell.
umd.edu (Louis A. Mamakos):

>> [Moderator's Note:
>> [...] Conversations cannot easily be followed between cells.   PAT]

> Why assert that conversations cannot easily be followed between cells?
> It is not as if the mechanism for handoffs is secret; it is done in
> band and someone with sufficient motivation should easily be able to
> decode and interpret this information. [...]

But you forgot the reason calls are handed off between cells in the
first place: the different cells cover a different geographical area.
In general, you need to move your scanner (or its antenna) in order to
follow the intercepted caller (who is moving between cells).  This is
NOT easy. Even if you are mobile, how do you determine where to go?

Sometimes (often?) you could probably still hear your target in an
adjacent cell. But after the target is more than one cell away, I
doubt you could still monitor effectively. After all, that is why
cells were invented in the first place: to re-use the same frequency
bands in multiple areas (somebody else in your cell may be using the
same frequency as your target -- the system is designed so that you
will hear the nearby caller, not the distant target).


Tom Roberts	att!ihlpl!tjrob	  TJROB@IHLPL.ATT.COM
Date: 14 Oct 92 15:36:47 GMT
From: a_rubin@dsg4.dse.beckman.com (Arthur Rubin)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Question For Michigan Residents
Reply-To: a_rubin@dsg4.dse.beckman.com (Arthur Rubin)
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 782, Message 3 of 12

In <telecom12.772.2@eecs.nwu.edu> damon@sunburn.stanford.edu (Damon A.
Koronakos) writes:

> A friend of mine in Kalamazoo recently got an IBM-compatible machine.
> I would like to be able to exchange electronic mail with him if
> possible.

> Does anyone have any suggestions about how I might establish net
> access for him?  Is there something like netcom.com in the Bay Area in
> the Kalamazoo area (a cheap service which provides net access)?  I
> don't know if Prodigy/Compuserve-type services provide email access to
> the net, how much extra (if any) this costs, etc.

> Any suggestions much appreciated!!

This seems to be an FA(sked)Q here, but not FA(nswered).  I the best
answer is to check the NIXPUB (comp.bbs.misc or alt.bbs), NETPUB
and/or PDIAL (alt.internet.access.wanted,alt.bbs.lists, news.answers)
lists for info.

CompuServe, MCI Mail, (but not Prodigy) provide network E-mail.  See
the Inter-Network Mail Guild posted occasionally on comp.mail.misc.  I
don't recall exactly Compuserve's or MCI Mail's prices, but MCI Mail
charges 75 cents for sending an E-mail message of 500-5000 characters
(according to my last bill), and has a free 800 number.  There is also
an annual mailbox fee ($25?) and a graphics registration fee for
generation of paper mail ($25 per signature or letterhead).  I believe
MCI Mail is the least expensive of the services I subscribe to for
E-mail only access.


Arthur L. Rubin: a_rubin@dsg4.dse.beckman.com (work) Beckman Instruments/Brea
216-5888@mcimail.com 70707.453@compuserve.com arthur@pnet01.cts.com (personal)
My opinions are my own, and do not represent those of my employer.
My interaction with our news system is unstable; please mail anything 
important.
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 92 02:12:06 EDT
From: kiser@tecnet1.jcte.jcs.mil
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Cellular Phones With Scramblers Attached
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 774, Message 12 of 14

Answer to question: YES. In the mall here someone (Schlage, I think)
sells a scrambler that attaches to the cell phone handset. I don't
know what technology it uses.

Side note: I drive a ... well ... interesting looking car. It's a
black Volvo 780 (the two-door Volvo sports sedan that you've probably
never seen before) with five antennas on the trunk and back windows,
and a big metal star on the license plate. To say the least, it slows
down traffic on the interstate (the X-band transmitter doesn't hurt
that any ;^).  Anyway ... one day I was driving through town and
happened to notice a very stereotypical dark-suit/dark-Chrysler/Dodge
type car parked along side the road and a the suit-wearer talking into
the adjacent pay phone.  He looked at my car and followed me with his
eyes the entire time I was in sight. Since I thought this a little
suspicious/interesting, I rounded the block for another pass. Same
response as before, but I noticed that attached to the payphone's
handset was what appeared to be a cross between an overgrown
calculator and one of those handheld inventory scanners that grocery
stores use, replete with keypad. Anybody know what this thing was?
Some top-secret scrambler/descrambler, or was this just some
well-dressed grocery store clerk downloading the latest produce
inventory?  Hmmmm ...


(for) Rob Bailey    reply to: 74007.303@compuserve.com
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1992 15:24:36 GMT
From: johng@comm.mot.com (John Gilbert)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Cellular Phones With Scramblers Attached
Organization: Motorola, Inc. Land Mobile Products Sector
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 774, Message 11 of 14

In article <telecom12.768.6@eecs.nwu.edu> mcharry@mitre.org (John
McHarry(J23)) writes:

> They do indeed.  There are STU-III cellular phones available.  I
> believe the commercial versions use DES encryption.  Manufacturers
> include Motorola, I believe AT&T, and maybe others.  I have no idea
> what restrictions there are on their sale, however.
 
All STU-III phones are comsec controlled items and are only available
from the manufacturers after obtaining NSA approval.  Motorola does
make several models of wireline phones that use the same encryption
types available in the land mobile products.  These phones look like
the STU-III phone, but are available to commercial users. Several
flavors of encryption are available depending on who you are and where
the equipment will be used. Last I heard the "STU-III Dynasec"
cellular phones were not available off-the-shelf, but were made for a
specific government contract.


John Gilbert   johng@ecs.comm.mot.com
Date: Sun, 11 Oct 92 16:44:41 EDT
From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) <cmoore@BRL.MIL>
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Smart Equipment?
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 773, Message 15 of 15

It has been discussed here that Bellcore recommends that 1 +NPA + 7D
be useable for all calls, not necessarily meaning that 7D for local
calls should be dropped.  The equipment would have to be smart enough
to recognize those prefixes which are local.

A public reference to smart equipment was made on a Philadelphia TV
station when the "no 1" announcement was made (i.e., change from 1 +
7D to 7D for long distance within 215).  It was said then that the
equipment was smart enough to spot the exchange and know what kind of
call it was.

That announcement about 215 area did not mention the quirk I found
later for Adamstown and Denver, which are out on the fringe of 215.
Date: 6 Oct 92 20:49:23 GMT
From: andrew@frip.wv.tek.com (Andrew Klossner)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Programming Motorola Cell Phones More Than Three Times
Reply-To: andrew@frip.wv.tek.com
Organization: Tektronix Color Printers, Wilsonville, Oregon
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 766, Message 7 of 16

In file cellular.program-motorola in the Telecom archives, we read:

> "Your cellular telephone can be programmed up to three times.
>  After that, it must be reset at a Motorola-authorized service
> facility ... If this message does not appear, it may be ... The
> maximum number of times that your cellular phone can be
> reprogrammed from the keypad may have been reached. Contact the
> personnel where you obtained your cellular telephone if
> reprogramming is required."

What magic do the "personnel where you obtained the phone" do to allow
reprogramming after three changes?  And more generally, what purpose
is served by allowing only three changes between service calls?


Andrew Klossner  (andrew@frip.wv.tek.com)


[Moderator's Note: Their 'magic' consists of jumping two pins (I think
Local to Ground, but don't hold me to it) then reinserting the battery
and doing a couple key sequences which flushes the register that holds
this count. I can't find my Motorola manuals right now or I would give
you more data. I'm sure someone will send you the specifics.  Why is
the cell phone locked out after three number changes? Mainly to
prevent idle hands from becoming the Devil's workshop ... and to make
it hard on cell phone phreaks who try to find cellular phone numbers
used for adminstrative purposes by the carrier which often as not have
no ESN validation done on them when a call is placed. Consider the
Radio Shack dealer in your town with his collection of cell phones on
display and for sale: even with (obviously) a different ESN in each
unit, he can let you make calls from the single cellular phone number
assigned to his store for demos from any phone. How? The carrier does
not check the ESN on those numbers either. If you find out that
number, go home and program your phone accordingly, you can make all
your calls on the demo and/or cell company administrative line(s)
also.  Of course it is illegal, and you'd be embarassed if they called
your mother and ask if she recalled who she spoke with at a certain
time on a certain date ... discretion advised!  PAT]
From: hes@ncsu.edu (Henry E. Schaffer)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Answering Machine CPC?
Date: 12 Oct 92 21:07:36 GMT
Organization: North Carolina State University
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 778, Message 3 of 9

A telephone answering machine which used to hang up quickly when the
calling party disconnected (even during the OutGoing Message) started
stopped hanging up.  Someone said "It's the CPC." and found that a
hidden switch had CPC-Off, changed it to CPC-On and the answering
machine resumed hanging up quickly.

What does "CPC" mean?  What does it detect (battery reversal?)  Why
would an answering machine allow this to be switched off?  Is "CPC" a
common answering machine capability/feature?


henry schaffer  n c state univ  hes@ncsu.edu


[Moderator's Note: CPC means 'called (calling?) party control'. It has
to do with getting the line released immediatly when one party or the
other disconnects. Yes, it detects changes in the voltage. The reason
it is switchable on/off is because if a line is also equipped with
call waiting, then the voltage drop from a call waiting signal would
also trick the answering machine in to disconnecting. If the line got
call-waited while the answering machine was doing its duty, then the
machine would hang up on the party currently talking to it. Thus the
switchable condition; take your pick: fast disconnect when the voltage
change is detected, ie no dial tone and 'please hang up now' messages
on the tape while the machine is continuing to its timeout point or
the other choice of not having call waiting on the line with the
answering machine or risking losing a call now and then when a second
one arrived in the midst of the first one.  You can't have it both
ways and the switch lets you the user decide.   PAT]
Date: Sun, 11 Oct 1992 03:51:17 GMT
From: yyang@access.digex.com (yyang)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Questions About Token Ring Bridge
Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 772, Message 5 of 11

I have some problems bridging two IBM token rings together.

We have two token ring network running at two different buildings.  We
try to use fiber optic cable to bridge them together.  The problem is
the cable come out of the LAM on both side is T1 type.  Is there a
device that converts it into fiber optic?

We have AS/400 and PCs on both rings.  What kind of hardware and
software do we need to do the bridge?

I'm not very familiar with bridge and router.  Are there any books and
technical references that discuss in details about bridge hardware
products as well as software protocals?
From: sbrack@jupiter.cse.UTOLEDO.edu (Steven S. Brack)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Local Battery
Date: 12 Oct 92 13:42:21 GMT
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 776, Message 3 of 14

In <telecom12.759.13@eecs.nwu.edu> mandarin@cix.compulink.co.uk ()
writes:

> Gabe Wiener (gmw1@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu) writes:

>> In a local-battery phone, how was the battery charged?

> The battery was for the microphone circuit.  It was when the
> *other* party couldn't hear you, that you changed the battery.

If the battery provided DC between the phone and the local exchange,
then:
	a) Why was it that the batteries were located at the phone,
	   rather than at the exchange?  (Probably an obvious, but
	   unseen by me, answer)

	b) How could it power the microphone circuit without also
	   powering the talk path, which is bidirectional?


Steven S. Brack           sbrack@jupiter.cse.utoledo.edu
2021 Roanwood Drive       STU0061@uoft01.utoledo.edu
Toledo, OH  43613-1605    brack@uoftcse.cse.utoledo.edu 
+1 419 GR4 1010     MY OWN  OPINIONS    sbrack@maine.cse.utoledo.edu 


[Moderator's Note: The very old (early twentieth century) rural
service phones with the magneto crank on the side had large 1.5 volt
dry cell batteries in them also. The magneto crank supplied the
current needed to signal the operator or other parties on the line but
the actual talking was done over the 'telephone cells' as they were
called.  You can still buy them in some hardware stores where
batteries are sold; in fact I use them in my Western Union clocks.  PAT]
Date: Sat, 10 Oct 1992 15:08:00 GMT
From: news@hercules.SDSU.EDU (McCurdy M.)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Seek Commercial Telnet Access Site in New York
Organization: San Diego State University - Dept. of Redundancy Dept.
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 769, Message 7 of 9

Looking for suggestions/recommendations for a commercial Telnet access
site in New York. So far, we have information on Panix and PSI. Any
help appreciated ... thanks.


Mike McCurdy			Disclaimer:
VAX Systems Management		     
San Diego State University	"Everything I say may be wrong."
mccurdy@bestsd.sdsu.edu
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 92 2:27:56 EDT
From: ccoprfm@prism.gatech.edu (Monte Freeman)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Stolen Cell Phone
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 779, Message 5 of 7

Pat,

Over this past weekend, someone broke into my car. The two items they
removed (they wanted the whole car, but the alarm system prevented
them from getting that. ) were my OKI 700 cellular phone and a Yaesu
FT-727 dual band hand-held ham radio.

I realize that I'll probably never see the HT again; but I was
wondering what you and/or the rest of the readers think my chances of
getting the phone back are? I called Pactel and told them what had
happened. They turned off service to the phone immediately.

I've heard that there is a database of stolen phone ESNs that the
different service providers keep. What I'm not sure about is if this
database is local to each area, or if it's a nationwide thing ...

If I report a phone stolen here in Atlanta, are the cellular service
providers in Chicago or L.A. likely to know about it?

If the phone does show up "active" on a cell somewhere, is it possible
(or more importantly is it done) to try and track it down?

One more thing. I think that the OKI 700 is no longer made ... :(
Anyone got any recommendations on replacements that I can give to the
insurance company?


Thanks,

Monte Freeman  --  Operations Department / Information Technology
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia, 30332
Internet: ccoprfm@prism.gatech.edu     Bitnet:   ccoprfm@gitvm1.bitnet


[Moderator's Note: I think the chances of recovering the phone are
almost zilch. Yes, there is a nationwide negative listing that all the
carriers see.  Most likely when the thief discovered the phone would
not work any longer he sold it to some cell phone phreak for ten
dollars ... :(   that person will try and modify the ESN or possibly
use the phone for scrap parts, etc.  Sorry about your bad luck.   PAT]
Date: Tue, 06 Oct 92 22:01:22 CST
From: Jack.Winslade@ivgate.omahug.org (Jack Winslade)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Loudness
Reply-To: jack.winslade%drbbs@ivgate.omahug.org
Organization: DRBBS Technical BBS, Omaha
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 765, Message 7 of 12

> One thing that really bothers me is that now that everything is
> digital, volume levels on many calls seem a lot lower than they used
> to be, regardless of carrier used (and I've noticed this in several
> cities, using several different types of phones including
 
Back in the early 70's, Omaha's last panel office was converted to a
#1 ESS <tm>.  My boss at the time was on that office and lived close
to the CO.  His wife had a slight hearing problem, and they remarked
to me that when the CO equipment was changed, they noticed a definite
drop in loudness.  (I believe this was due to the fact that the newer
switch compensated for the short loop, where the stone-age switch did
not.)  I did some tests, and confirmed that short loop signals on two
#1 crossbar offices in the same building were significantly louder
than those on the ESS offices.  (There were four NNX's served from
that CO.  Two were panel and two were #1 Xbar.  The panel was junked
and replaced with ESS, but the Xbar remained, for a while.)
 
He tried to get TPC to switch him to a 556 or 558 line (#1 Xbar) but
nobody at TPC would listen to him, and kept insisting that there was
no loudness difference between the old and new offices.
 
I finally corrected the problem by installing an amplified handset on
one of their sets.

 
Good day       JSW
Ybbat (DRBBS) 8.9 v. 3.14 r.1    (1:285/666.0)
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 92 14:50 GMT
From: Sandy Kyrish <0003209613@mcimail.com>
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Retail Videoconferencing
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 775, Message 10 of 12

Indeed there is a thriving business in public videoconferencing rooms.
By far and away the most successful is U.S. Sprint's "The Meeting
Channel", with hundreds of rooms across the US and the world.  You can
rent rooms by the hour at quite reasonable costs.

Also, videoconferencing itself is a fairly healthy business, though
not of course "blanketing the world" as it was always excessively
hyped to do.  There are more than 2500 rooms in more than 500
institutions in about 32 countries, and these numbers are about a year
old so I'm sure they're conservative.  Total revenues for all
teleconferencing are about $1 billion per year these days.  The
industry recently adopted a CCITT standard for coder/decoders and has
seen dramatic price reductions in these devices, from $150K to $75K to
$30K and now much lower than that.  The availability of switched 56
and switched 384 opens up plenty of options too, and declining
transmission prices for these offerings helps a lot.  Multipoint
control units allow true "conference calls" among many sites.  Anyone
interested in the field should contact the International
Teleconferencing Association in Washington DC at 202-833-2549.

The main points about videoconferencing, IMHO, are (1) it will never
live up to its ridiculous billing and it shouldn't have to; (2) any
improvement in digital transmission offerings will benefit
videoconferencing; (3) one should NOT strictly limit one's evaluation
of videoconferencing to travel reduction.  There are many soft dollar
benefits that can be directly converted to hard dollar savings (see
Meyer and Boone's book "The Information Edge" for a very enlightening
look at this subject).  Travel reduction is nice and all but it is
just like saying you should cost-justify your fax machine only in
terms of the postage you don't spend.  When videoconferencing is
proposed simply as a "travel displacement appliance", it is not only
potentially dangerous (what if the project you justified it for goes
away), but it is hardly the kind of thing that gets upper management
very turned on.  As Mary Boone (of above) likes to say, "if you go to
a CEO and ask him/her what the biggest challenges facing the company
are, he/she is not going to say travel costs."  Things like shortening
the decision making cycle and bringing a product to market faster are
much more beneficial to focus on.


All opinions are mine, don't reflect the ITCA or Dean Meyer
and Associates, and are welcome to be questioned at: 

320-9613@mcimail.com    Sandy Kyrish