Cold war telephone exchange in an underground bunker - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: e100
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 16, 2018, 05:09:55 pm
content: Mildly interesting to see where your taxes went in the 1970s and 1980s.Mind the gaps in the floor...https://youtu.be/Gwed0aR4ECk?t=562

author: 001
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 16, 2018, 07:49:18 pm
content: Enemies everyvere now! Why it is so abadoned?

author: bd139
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 16, 2018, 08:04:04 pm
content: One of those in the UK you can visit:https://www.secretnuclearbunker.com/It's actually a really good day out. Don't expect phone reception"There are several films to watch en-route and a dressing up area where you can try on authentic military uniforms and gas masks!"Some more UK stuff (we're fucked up here):

author: tpowell1830
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 16, 2018, 08:46:23 pm
content: The scrap value of the copper wires and steel shelves is substantial, but the relays and transformers, as well as the racks could all be repurposed and reused.﻿

author: cdev
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 16, 2018, 09:13:10 pm
content: The risk of nuclear war is likely as high now as it was then.Many more would die than any of the projections by governments admit. Because the price of food would rise so high (because of its scarcity) that few could afford it.So people who might survive the radiation would likely die of starvation,Its possible they might even be eaten.The terrifying 2010 film "The Road" involves a horrible scenario like that, sans radiation. (the weather in the entire world changes enough to make food extremely scarce.)

author: cdev
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 16, 2018, 09:20:42 pm
content: "We keep trying to call people but none of them are ever home"I have a feeling that after a real nuclear war or other major disaster, people who survived would be likely to have bigger problems than planners today could or would ever be able to imagine lacking the actual experience of having been there.Its virtually guaranteed that even the best planned survival shelters that they would turn out to have never realized or forgotten important things. Few of us realize just how complex our society is or how much of it is dependent on trust that might vanish (or become essential) in such a life threatening situation.

author: German_EE
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 17, 2018, 09:47:36 am
content: As a schoolboy I remember being taught about the preparations for a nuclear war and we were asked to list what we would pack so that we could (in theory) survive an attack. My list consisted of two items, a deckchair and a pair of sunglasses.As for the video, the change to fiber and digital switching has rendered all of the equipment in that bunker obsolete. It would probably be worth hauling it to the surface for the scrap value but I'm not so sure.

author: vk6zgo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 17, 2018, 12:22:12 pm
content: Not originating in the same era, but at one of my jobs back in the 1960s, the standby power plant for the Radio Station was in an underground bunker, complete with faded WW2 camouflage.It was a pain in the bum if the power went off.You had to go to the bunker & start the thing---no fun at night!This was for the HF comms stuff, but during the War it was for the Broadcast equipment as well.(the latter now had a nice auto start system).The only time I was glad of it was when there was a "near miss" earthquake (a 6.8, 114km away), which definitely made its presence known in Perth.With the guywires on the 400 plus foot "Dual Tune Vertical Radiator" twanging like guitar strings, I extended my time in the bunker a bit longer than normal.I'm not sure what the idea was for its original WW2 purpose.If the Japanese had bombed the Station, there wouldn't have been much left for the "power plant" to power.

author: CJay
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 17, 2018, 03:05:21 pm
content: Quote from: bd139 on November 16, 2018, 08:04:04 pmThere's a few of them, one up near me, Hack Green, there are others across, up and down the country, Kelvedon and Hack are two pretty good ones, Hack hosts the Hack Green SDR radios and also the bi-annual radio/tat rally which is usually worth a visit.

author: cdev
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 17, 2018, 03:10:37 pm
content: Groupthink in action.

author: bd139
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 17, 2018, 03:45:40 pm
content: I love that film

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 17, 2018, 05:27:46 pm
content: according to the movie 'fail safe' the government will actually rescue important financial documents before they decide to dig you out from under your rubble blocked bunker

author: cdev
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 17, 2018, 08:46:27 pm
content: Have you seen the video about the making of it? Unlike the full move, its online.Its full of interesting info. Evidently, they had a B29 (not a B52) that they used as a set for some reason, and at one point they were in Greenland, getting shots to use in the movie,and they were intercepted by the real SAC. And forced to land literally in the middle of nowhere. Or something like that. (I should watch it again)Also, they guessed the layout of and the nature of the equipment on the bomber so well that the government thought they must have had some inside, confidential source.But in the end they worked together and made a 'brilliant!' movie! Dr. Strangelove is definitely up there along with two other Kubrick works (can you guess which ones?) as one of my VERY favorite films.Quote from: bd139 on November 17, 2018, 03:45:40 pm

author: jmelson
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 18, 2018, 04:01:57 am
content: Quote from: coppercone2 on November 17, 2018, 05:27:46 pmRead "Raven Rock", a recent book about COG planning (Continuation of Governance) about all the plans and sites the US government has to maintain some sort of control/coordination in case of major attack. Quite interesting reading.Jon

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 18, 2018, 04:03:13 pm
content: Quote from: jmelson on November 18, 2018, 04:01:57 amis it gonna result in major depression because it turns out no one elected or hired gives a shit about regular humans?

author: bd139
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 18, 2018, 04:14:05 pm
content: Watch the film I listed above "when the wind blows". That's exactly what will happen to the average person despite government continuation...Despite being by the guy who did "The Snowman", a cheery Christmas classic, it's got the least happy ending ever. No one comes to help to help them because they're civilians whom contingency "top level plans" don't even cover and they die slowly and painfully from radiation sickness after running out of water and drinking contaminated rainwater.And they showed that to us when we were 14 at school. Joys of being brought up in the middle of the cold war.

author: cdev
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 18, 2018, 07:49:28 pm
content: The stories told by Hiroshima and Nagasaki survivors are harrowing. If there was a nuclear war, whomever survived would also have to find food and stay alive in what would likely be a global nuclear winter that might last many years. Then the Earth would not be able to sustain life not just because of radiation, also because of endocrine disrupting chemicals which contaminated the soil from the burning of plastics in the tall buildings in cities, which contain huge amounts of it. Also their burning produces carbon nanotubes which make the immune system go haywire. Carbon nanotubes hygely complicated the health situations of the first responders who heroically responded to the terrorist attacks in New York on September 11, 2001.So, multiple possibly insurmountable problems would face survivors. Another issue would be spent fuel in nuclear power plants. If society broke down, that spent fuel would not go away, instead it would - as it would if society did not break down but simply power for colling the cores and spent fuel was lost, a chain of events would occur that would leave the earth even more contaminated than it has been from the hours long nuclear war.To grow food every bit of land would have to be laboriously scraped to remove the top few inches (the longer they waited the worse it would get) If they didn't do that human reproduction would be endangered, a substantial percentage of whomever was born would likely be deformed. Food would become insanely expensive, so much so that many of the surviving people would likely become food.We have to stop doing things that are likely to cause serious problems for future generations to make money now. Endocrine disrupters are already a serious health problem due to our widespread use of them despite knowing their dangers since the 1930s. As much as 1.5% or more of the GNP in Europe is spent in paying for the health costs. Diseases like breast and prostate cancers, as well as neurological conditions and morbid obesity are theoriezed to be caused by their widespread presence in the environment and peoples bodies.(The cost in the US is likely far higher because the US regulates them less, and has been using them longer, but its unknown because of lack of universally affordable health care.)Its not widely known but EDCs cause morbid obesity by means of obesogens in numerous widely used products, things like nonstick cookware, flame retardants, food packaging liners, dental restorations, and many other chemicals people use daily. The epidemic of morbid obesity and metabolic syndrome, diabetes, etc. may be at least in part caused by EDCs.The world doesn't have to have all these dramatic catastrophes to be endangered, simple greed and failure to protect society by acting responsibly is enough.

author: tomato
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 18, 2018, 08:26:18 pm
content: NPR had an fascinating story about Tsutomu Yamaguchi, the only known survivor of both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs. He died in 2010 at age 93.https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/223276-double-blasted

author: Red Squirrel
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 19, 2018, 12:03:31 am
content: Always interesting to see this stuff, as I work in a telco CO. At 10:12 you can see what is part of a stepper switch. We have the oddball parts like that around the office.It's not in service anymore and I'm not aware of any that are but these where very common back in the day.

author: bd139
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 19, 2018, 09:20:13 am
content: Sometimes I wish I was born about 30 years earlier, and in the US. I would have been at my prime in the middle of the rise telco, engineering and electronics progress and been able to play with stuff like this and the less integrated telecoms kit.

author: Towger
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 19, 2018, 07:42:34 pm
content: Quote from: bd139 on November 19, 2018, 09:20:13 amAnd be able to retire on a decent DB person, at 65 or earlier.

author: bd139
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 19, 2018, 07:44:09 pm
content: True.

author: Red Squirrel
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 19, 2018, 08:35:03 pm
content: Millennial here. What's this retirement thing some people speak of.Seriously though my goal is to eventually buy cheap off grid land in an unorganized township (lower taxes) and build a cabin and live mostly off grid to minimize bills. I can probably retire by 65 if I do that.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 19, 2018, 08:56:55 pm
content: I assume you are an engineer,its a sad state of affairs that you need to live like a mountain man farmer to make normal retirement age work.

author: bd139
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 19, 2018, 09:04:04 pm
content: You don’t. Software contracting is the answer

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 19, 2018, 09:16:06 pm
content: to what, not being bald?

author: Towger
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 19, 2018, 09:56:50 pm
content: Quote from: coppercone2 on November 19, 2018, 09:16:06 pmNothing wrong in supporting the Patrick Stewart look, by the time your in your 30s....A 'friend' of mine went to Turkey a couple of weeks ago, for a transplant. His wife says he did not tell her about it until the morning he left, just said he was going to Turkey. Arrived back a couple of days later. I don't understand why someone would bother, just shave the remains off. Only problem is getting sunburnt in the summer and keeping it warm in the winter.

author: Red Squirrel
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 19, 2018, 10:07:34 pm
content: Quote from: coppercone2 on November 19, 2018, 08:56:55 pmMe no, just a NOC tech. But either way, because of how fast costs of living keep going up, I just feel I'll always need a stream of income just to pay for all the bills.I guess the key is to find side work to do during retirement to help cover the bills so the retirement fund goes further. But I do like the idea of living semi off grid so probably do that anyway. Once my mortgage is paid off I'll start looking for land more seriously. Start off as a place to go camping until I can set it up so it's winterized and year round livable.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 19, 2018, 11:57:50 pm
content: Did you ever do a cost analysis to see what the utility vs tax only savings are? I thought about this before but its slim pickings IMO.I like the idea of a luxury cost reduction like installing solar to offset the cost of electric heat rather then dealing with fuel oil and over designed HVAC but I don't think I would rely on it for retirement savings because the costs of a decent livable system are pretty ludicrous when it breaks down (i.e. inverter fail). I have a feeling I would be perpetually paranoid about equipment failure if I relied on it for keeping even.I do like the idea of building a cabin though. Only problem is I would need a legit septic system because I am not shitting in the woods or a fucking out house.I think the most easy steps to take as a home owner or in general is to do your own work like yard, electrical, plumbing, etc.. being able to unclog your own crapper can end up being more profitable then solar over a 10 year period IMO, with no exposure to equipment failures unless your snake breaks. Ok bit of a stretch maybe 500% but still.. and cooking a few meals a day at least.. i heard those silicon valley people eat out 3 meals a day...

author: Red Squirrel
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2018, 02:55:47 am
content: All those things are a one time costs vs monthly, so it would be cheaper in long run. And yeah I would want a septic too, and well/water tank etc. Essentially I'd have the luxuries of a house, except I'd be the one providing all my own services rather than paying bills that go up every month.Want full redundancy on everything as well. So yeah it would not be cheap, but assuming I would sell my house to live there the money from selling the house would go towards a lot of that, and some in savings.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2018, 03:24:56 am
content: burns trees save for solar panels ? that's its own part time job but it can work.If you build a cabin and spend the weekends there while not heating your house it should theoretically accumulate money unless your pipes freeze and you get mold. 28% off your heating bill, right?

author: bd139
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2018, 08:15:11 am
content: Talking of which, I found this a couple of months back:https://ludens.cl/paradise/paradise.html

author: cdev
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2018, 08:11:54 pm
content: Wow, pretty intense to live so close to an active volcano!Quote from: bd139 on November 20, 2018, 08:15:11 am

author: Red Squirrel
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2018, 08:48:13 pm
content: That's totally my dream, except for the volcano part.Though geothermal heating probably works very well there...