I love it when a plan comes together. On Monday, April 13, 2015, Chuck McCown <ch...@wbmfg.com> wrote:
> Once upon a time, Beehive had a central office switch in a semi > trailer. (All of them were in semi trailers at one time). One of these > trailers was parked on reservation land. There was a change in tribal > leadership. They wanted rent for the land the trailer was sitting on. > Nope, that was not the deal. The deal was something like $2 for a 100 year > easement. > > Well, with tribes, there is no such thing as “deals” or contracts. > Doesn’t matter if there is paper or not. The tribe will change its mind if > it wants to. > > OK, so no rent money, tribe does not pay phone bills. > No payments, no service. > OK, no service – good luck in ever taking possession of your trailer and > switch again. > > The tribe dumped dirt all around it so you could not even back up and > connect to it to drag it away. > > Public Service Commission was called, meetings were held (the switch > provided service to more than just the tribe). Art Brothers was instructed > to simply let it be and let the lawyers and judges work it out. But anyone > that knows Art knows he can never let something be. > > So, a few of his trusted employees (actually all 4 of his employees) all > had the exact same idea at the exact same time: Go rescue the switch. (I > was in college at the time, I called my wife and told her my next call > might be from a tribal jail. So “without Art’s knowledge... wink, wink). > I got dropped off on BLM land about midnight with a shove in hand. I spent > the next 5 house shoveling dirt so that a tractor could be backed under the > semi trailer. I climbed the power pole and cut the power drop to the > semi. It shook all the lines in the neighborhood causing a dog to bark. > One of the tribal members came outside and saw me hanging off the pole, > fully illuminated by a big ass street light and yelled “Hey! what in the > hell is going on over there”? I yelled back: “Power company, working on > this pole”. He told the dog to shut up and he went back inside and went to > sleep. > > I have the signal over the VHF radio and a semi tractor appeared on the > scene, backed under the trailer and hitched. It pulled the trailer forward > to a hard right, through the fence onto BLM ground and backed in parallel > to the fence about 10 feet from its former resting place. But now on US > government owned land. Tractor unhitched and took off. All was quiet. > > A few hours later, I was under the trailer splicing in a new central > office entrance cable when the tribal cop showed up. He stopped his car > and rolled down the window. He said :”Howz it goin” I replied:”Fine”. > And that was the end of that story. > > *From:* Rex-List Account > <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','xorex63l...@gmail.com');> > *Sent:* Monday, April 13, 2015 9:46 AM > *To:* af@afmug.com <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','af@afmug.com');> > *Subject:* Re: [AFMUG] APC PRM-24 > > > I did business with Brian Province at Falcon communications. Very nice guy > may he rest in peace. > > He told stories of having a DMS-10M in a semi-trailer at the Indian > reservation and they would > > shoot holes in it. I cut my teeth on a Stromberg Carlson Cross Bar and > yeah you could tell a lot > > by the sounds it would make. Old times. > > > > Rex > > > > *From:* Af [mailto:af-boun...@afmug.com > <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','af-boun...@afmug.com');>] *On Behalf Of *Robert > Haas > *Sent:* Monday, April 13, 2015 10:18 AM > *To:* af@afmug.com <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','af@afmug.com');> > *Subject:* Re: [AFMUG] APC PRM-24 > > > > Finally made it into a CO.. > > Our C15’s cages are isolated and bonded separately back to an EGB. > > > > It amazes me how accurate guys could troubleshoot those switches just by > the sound it was making. > > He tells stories of watching the switch during lightning storms and being > able to watch the arcs across the frame. There is a story of a farmer > hooking the ‘drop wire’ into his electric fence, the eskimo’s that shot > holes into the switch they delivered to Deadhorse Alaska.. > > I mentioned going to Animal Farm and Beehive Teleco and two of them > recalled the one time president? of Beehive writing a comments section for > a trade magazine that they all read. > > > > Unfortunately two of the three OG’s “Old Guys” that started BPS, Falcon > Communications, and Diversified Communications have passed recently, a lot > of early telecom history is disappearing with them. > > > > > > *From:* Af [mailto:af-boun...@afmug.com > <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','af-boun...@afmug.com');>] *On Behalf Of * > ch...@wbmfg.com <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','ch...@wbmfg.com');> > *Sent:* Friday, April 10, 2015 10:49 AM > *To:* af@afmug.com <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','af@afmug.com');> > *Subject:* Re: [AFMUG] APC PRM-24 > > > > Our C15 might be in an isolated rack inside the cage. > > That is a funny story. I started on AE Step switches. In time not only > could I hear problems, but I could tell when someone was calling the office > and answer the phone before it would ring. That would freak folks out. > > > > *From:* Robert Haas > <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','rob-li...@bpsnetworks.com');> > > *Sent:* Thursday, April 9, 2015 8:42 PM > > *To:* af@afmug.com <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','af@afmug.com');> > > *Subject:* Re: [AFMUG] APC PRM-24 > > > > I'll have to take a look at our C15 installs and see what they did. To be > honest I haven't paid too much attention to them. > > Our offices were converted to DMS10's in 97 or 98 from step switches when > the company bought the exchanges from GTE :p > > *Funny story, when our owner (who cut his teeth as an X-Y switch installer > for Stromberg Carlson) when inspecting one of the CO's prior to purchase he > heard something wrong in the switch room (A stepper motor?) mentioned it to > one of the OSP guys as he was leaving - something along the lines of > 'Sounds like you have a bad motor back there'. Said OSP guy filed a union > grievance against him for troubleshooting the problem. Surprisingly the > same OSP guy retired from the company just a few years ago after 40+ years > of being in the same CO under Contel, GTE and then BPS. > > > > On 2015-04-09 20:59, Chuck McCown wrote: > > The original digital switches were so touchy that they started doing > the isolated ground zones for static sensitive equipment. But now-a-days > we bolt them to the concrete floor and bond them all together. Same with > cable racks now. Back to the old days of non isolation in all the new > installations I have been involved with. And this is with RUS financing. > I haven’t seen a new isolated rack for some time. > > > > *From:* Robert Haas > <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','rob-li...@bpsnetworks.com');> > > *Sent:* Thursday, April 09, 2015 7:33 PM > > *To:* af@afmug.com <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','af@afmug.com');> > > *Subject:* Re: [AFMUG] APC PRM-24 > > > > All the superstructure within the buildings are isolated & bonded. A > lineup of racks may be bonded together and then bonded back to the I/MGB, > the racks themselves are isolated from the floor, walls and the cable rack. > Same for cable rack - it is all bonded together and then bonded to the > I/MGB but isolated from the walls, celling and racks etc. We've gone > through RUS inspections in the past and have not failed any of our > grounding/bonding portions. > > Since the chassis is obviously metal there is a risk that the surge could > energize the rack, which given our past experiences gives me the > heebie-jeebies. > > By isolating the chassis from the rack the only path would be to the EGB > and avoid the rack (and potentially other equipment) absorbing the surge. > At least that is my thinking anyway. I guess that is where my question lies > - am I worried about nothing? > > > > On 2015-04-09 19:14, Lewis Bergman wrote: > > If you look at the relevant docs on the subject like the Telco standard or > R56 you'll see the rack itself is part of the ground bus. This really is > forced by equipment designers. I can't think of many pieces of equipment > that chassis ground isn't equivalent to ground reference in the circuit. > You should ground the rack as if it is an integral part of the IGB. > > On Apr 9, 2015 4:56 PM, "Robert Haas" <rob-li...@bpsnetworks.com > <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','rob-li...@bpsnetworks.com');>> wrote: > > We’ve been deploying the WB suppressors using the prm24 chassis for over > a year now and have ~30 or so in the field. > > > > I’ve had an uneasy feeling since day one about mounting the PRM’s in the > rack with other equipment – to the extent of when I have the option I buy a > 1u wall mount bracket and mount the chassis on the wall next to the cable > entrance (bonding to the EGB). I’ve even isolated the chassis off the rack > using poly washers and poly screws (again bonding to the EGB or MGB in a > cabinet). > > > > My line of thinking is that I do not want to risk shedding the surge into > the rack and potentially into another piece of equipment. I do not trust > that the surge will follow the bond/ground wire to the EGB or MGB and not > go into the rack/superstructure. > > We’ve had this happen in the past where a redline AN50-E was struck and > the surge was brought inside into the superstructure and took out $20k+ of > cards in one of our DMS10s. In that case there was a polyphaser IF SS at > the cable entrance that was bonded to the ring – the polyphaser popped but > not before damage was done. The case of the IDU showed arc marks around the > ovals where the screws to the rack pass through, the screws in the rack > welded themselves along with the bond screw in the chassis (it was bonded > to the EGB using the screw in the back of the chassis). > > > > > Anyone else have the same feeling that bringing the surge into the rack is > bad juju or is thatoneguysteve sitting there looking at me shaking his head > saying that guy is f*ing nuts? > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
