Talk:Panel switch

message: Always good to get more good pictures.  While were at it, "The panel system was designed to work with manual offices of up to 10,500 lines".  Any idea where that odd number came from or whether it's correct?  Jim.henderson (talk) 22:15, 13 January 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: All righty; the number arises from the way the jacks were assembled into strips in the A or B board of a manual office.  Pleasant if we could have an explanation of what was done when there were 500 more lines than phone numbers.  Probably in the automated version either up to 500 lines were for originating traffic only, or else some sort of mechancial adaptation was set up for a busy line hunt to a line having no number of its own.  Jim.henderson (talk) 14:57, 22 January 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  10050 

message: Before I say what I want to, I first want to commend all of those who have worked on this page (and the other 'phone pages,' as well), as I know most of you are real phone-tech & history lovers. I'm writing this, because, though I, myself love gadgets and stuff, I'm not single-focused on any in particular, and the brings me to a problem; a huge amount of this page (and other phone-tech pages/sections), are written 'simply,' only for someone who is themselves a phone-tech person. When I tell you I'm smart, I'm being polite, but, much of this requires a person to have a background in certain areas to understand it, and that's the problem.
See, Wikipedia, is an encyclopedia a general-knowledge tool for people - for laymen - to learn things. 
If any of you are old enough to remember the days of real encyclopedias,' (my mom's still got the complete World Book encyclopedia 1974!), that was the one which most people are familiar (the other being the 'Britannica'), many of us as kids would use the World Books for our school papers (use being the operative word), and it was written so a youngster could understand. 
The Encyclopedia Britannica, on the other hand, was written for a more mature audience - but, it was still understandable.
Folks, the work here shows you really are passionate, but, an encyclopedia is something which lets people of all levels of understanding get a chance to learn from, and as I said, I'm far from dumb, and not a kid, so, if I have difficulty trying to decipher some of this, how about a 12 year old? Most of the things I got interested in, happened when I was about that age, and if I were that age now, I'd probable find this go to source too off-putting to read, and that's a shame.
All I'm asking is if you - as a whole - could keep in mind that this is the World Book as well as the 'Britannica' of the 21st century, and in order to learn, it has to be accessible. I'm not a phone-tech expert, so, I can't help on this one, but, I think a point I just made - that it's both these encyclopedias - the simpler one, as well as the advanced one - but, combined, in one place is key to how this (and other articles) should be written - in such a way which a newbie can come and grasp the basics, but, also, someone more mature can come, as well.
I thank you for reading this.
:Thanks, . I have taken the liberty of adding a section header as is usual when starting a new topic. Alas, telephone switching is one of those obscure topics which only a small number of people understand at all, and most of us lived and breathed it for years, hence don't notice how strange is the air we breath. This results in our output being clear to our own kind, while missing our true target. Yes, I am aware of our shortcomings in this regard, especially when comparing my 1943 Britanica to my own work of a few years ago. However, it's difficult. Indeed it's so difficult that in recent years I have cut back on my telephone writing, and now work areas where I can remember what the air tasted like when it was new to me. Anyway, these years of Wikipedia writing have taught me a bit about the art, and perhaps I can find some time to apply that learning to this article, this year. Incidentally, please remember to sign talk page posts with four tildes like this:  ~~~~   Fortunately, my frequent encounters with Wiki newbies have helped me remember how the obscure topic of Wikipedia writing looks to the uninitiated. Jim.henderson (talk) 05:56, 1 April 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  Lay reader 

message: I'm trying to get a good idea of what cities had panel and when they were installed or removed from service.  I assume that during the 1920s and 1930s, most large Bell System cities (with the exception of Los Angeles) must have installed Panel, but I don't have specifics of where, when, and how long they remained in service. 
1915 – Panel switch tested in Newark Mulberry, followed by a second office, Waverly.  These were “B” incoming switches only, so customers still placed calls via the “A” operators for their exchange.
1921 – Omaha, NE installs the first Panel using both the A and B sides (serving subscribers directly).
1923 – Atlanta, GA Walnut opens as city’s first dial office, using Panel
1923 - Seattle's Rainier, Melrose, and West offices are the first dial offices, using Panel.
1929 – first dial switch installed in San Francisco: Ordway, a Panel office.
1960 - Atlanta Main (Murray 8), last panel switch in Atlanta, removed from service.
1974 - Rainier removed from Seattle, replaced with a 1ESS
1983 - Last panel removed from Newark, NJ  
neverether (talk) 20:03, 7 June 2020 (UTC)
thread_title: Panel Locations and Timeline