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Re: dymt reloaded

Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 12:42 pm
by Captain Ned
steelcity_ballin wrote:
You are the equivalent of the guys who gush over Vinyl sounding better than modern digital ;)

Equivalent? Hardcore vinyl enthusiast here and it does sound better than digital. The current turntable/cartridge combo comes from the college days and I've been given permission to purchase the "last" turntable.

Re: dymt reloaded

Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 12:45 pm
by just brew it!
Captain Ned wrote:
For those who are wondering about the lack of pushbuttons. In the infinite wisdom of the FCC and earlier telecoms regulatory bodies here in the US there is a simple rule. If it was ever able to access the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network), it must be able to do so in perpetuity.

Yup. From what I've read, you can even take a 100-year-old crank phone, splice a modern phone cord onto it, and plug it into a POTS line. Turning the crank should (in theory) connect you with an operator.

steelcity_ballin wrote:
You are the equivalent of the guys who gush over Vinyl sounding better than modern digital ;)

He's not the *equivalent* of one of those guys. He *is* one of those guys! :wink: Edit: Ahh, he beat me to it.

Re: dymt reloaded

Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 12:50 pm
by Captain Ned
steelcity_ballin wrote:
You are the equivalent of the guys who gush over Vinyl sounding better than modern digital ;)

And you were the one amazed that I was wearing tye-dye at last August's BBQ?

Re: dymt reloaded

Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 1:02 pm
by steelcity_ballin
Captain Ned wrote:
steelcity_ballin wrote:
You are the equivalent of the guys who gush over Vinyl sounding better than modern digital ;)

And you were the one amazed that I was wearing tye-dye at last August's BBQ?


Haha was I? I must have seen picture - I haven't been to a BBQ to date. They sound like a good time but I just can't get out there with work demanding how they do. I need a new career so badly, I just have no clue what I want to do and with student debt being what it is, I can't simply start over or go back to school. I'm ahead of the game, but just barely.

Re: dymt reloaded

Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 1:11 pm
by ludi
A Big Red Telephone? I assume you just lift the receiver and the president picks up on the other end.

Re: dymt reloaded

Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 2:18 pm
by BiffStroganoffsky
Or commissioner Gordon.

I've listened to bad vinyl and good CD/DVDs and vice-versa. It depends a lot on the master recording system and the end-user's components.

Re: dymt reloaded

Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 2:51 pm
by Captain Ned
ludi wrote:
A Big Red Telephone? I assume you just lift the receiver and the president picks up on the other end.

If that were the case I'd be in one of those offshore CIA "detention facilities".

I bought a red one off EBay simply because it was red.

Re: dymt reloaded

Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 2:57 pm
by steelcity_ballin
Captain Ned wrote:
ludi wrote:
A Big Red Telephone? I assume you just lift the receiver and the president picks up on the other end.

If that were the case I'd be in one of those offshore CIA "detention facilities".

I bought a red one off EBay simply because it was red.


Phone hipster! I bet you tried to use 10-10-321+1+the number! It's that easy!

Re: dymt reloaded

Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 3:06 pm
by Captain Ned
steelcity_ballin wrote:
Phone hipster! I bet you tried to use 10-10-321+1+the number! It's that easy!

Actually, the landline is local-only. Long distance calls here go out on the cell. I have the landline simply because when the power is out (not uncommon here in VT) I know I have a reliable means of communication. The red dial phone was just a fleeting EBay deal and yet another way to relive the past while simultaneously tweaking the digital-era daughter.

That said, the ring is pure aural beauty. It's how a telephone is supposed to sound (says the one whose cell ringtone is the Doctor Who theme music).

Re: dymt reloaded

Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 9:04 pm
by JustAnEngineer
Captain Ned wrote:
...hard-wired phone I've had in the house (the TrimLine Touch-Tone is now a backup).
Land line? :lol:

I have Ooma.

Re: dymt reloaded

Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 10:26 pm
by notfred
ludi wrote:
A Big Red Telephone? I assume you just lift the receiver and the president picks up on the other end.

Nope, that's Hoot-n-Holler, which doesn't need a dial. What Ned has is a proper pulse tone dialling phone to plug in to an FXS POTS line. The big problem with them is the REN (to drive the solenoid hammering the bell) sucks.

Re: dymt reloaded

Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 10:26 am
by just brew it!
notfred wrote:
Nope, that's Hoot-n-Holler, which doesn't need a dial. What Ned has is a proper pulse tone dialling phone to plug in to an FXS POTS line. The big problem with them is the REN (to drive the solenoid hammering the bell) sucks.

Yup. On a traditional phone line, the ringing signal is 90 volts AC because it had to be capable of providing enough power to drive a hefty electromechanical ringer through a long run of thin (24 gauge IIRC) wire. REN (ringer equivalence number) determines how many phones you can connect to the same line and still have them all ring; connect too many old phones to the line and the current draw of the ringers and resistive losses in the wiring will prevent any of them from ringing.

Edit: And of course, this means that the base station of your modern cordless phone needs to have a circuit in it that can detect the presence of 90 VAC on the line, and turn that into a transmitted "ring" packet in whatever digital protocol it is using to talk to the handsets. All in the name of staying backward compatible with phones that were built well before our parents were born!

Re: dymt reloaded

Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 11:12 am
by DancinJack

Re: dymt reloaded

Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 6:53 pm
by annabel
I'm moving to New Zealand in 11 weeks.

Yikes.

Re: dymt reloaded

Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 6:56 pm
by Captain Ned
annabel wrote:
I'm moving to New Zealand in 11 weeks.

Yikes.

Be prepared to see Hobbitses on your 1 & 2 pound coins.

Been too long since you've been here Bel. We male lot missed your touch.

EDIT: $1NZ and $2NZ coins. NZ dropped the pound for the dollar in 1967.

Re: dymt reloaded

Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 6:59 pm
by annabel
Clearly I'm moving to NZ solely to find a hobbit.

I'm always around when needed ;)

Anyway in NZ wanna buy me an ice cream? :D

Re: dymt reloaded

Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 7:16 am
by Vrock
annabel wrote:
I'm moving to New Zealand in 11 weeks.
For permanent? Wow! Post pictures of the landscapes, please!

Re: dymt reloaded

Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 7:35 am
by annabel
Vrock wrote:
For permanent? Wow! Post pictures of the landscapes, please!

I'm not sure if I'll stay forever, but certainly for the next year or two. Slightly scary. I can't wait to explore the landscapes and nature. I was in the Alps a few months ago and that was amazing and I'm ready for more :D

Re: dymt reloaded

Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 10:11 am
by notfred
just brew it! wrote:
Yup. On a traditional phone line, the ringing signal is 90 volts AC because it had to be capable of providing enough power to drive a hefty electromechanical ringer through a long run of thin (24 gauge IIRC) wire.
Leading to the dog barks before the telephone rings tales.

Bel - have fun in NZ. I've never been but it sounds awesome. I did the move from UK to Canada, initially just temporary but liked it so much I came back permanently. From the sounds of it the UK has been going down hill since I left 13 years ago.

Re: dymt reloaded

Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 10:15 am
by DancinJack
So Google Now is coming to Chrome. Pretty cool if you ask me.

https://code.google.com/p/chromium/issu ... ?id=164227

Re: dymt reloaded

Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 10:21 am
by Captain Ned
notfred wrote:
just brew it! wrote:
Yup. On a traditional phone line, the ringing signal is 90 volts AC because it had to be capable of providing enough power to drive a hefty electromechanical ringer through a long run of thin (24 gauge IIRC) wire.
Leading to the dog barks before the telephone rings tales.

I've taken a hit ot rwo of ring current and it's not pleasant.

Re: dymt reloaded

Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 10:31 am
by DancinJack
Captain Ned wrote:
I've taken a hit ot rwo of ring current and it's not pleasant.


Kaluha in the coffee this morning?

Re: dymt reloaded

Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 11:20 am
by Captain Ned
DancinJack wrote:
Captain Ned wrote:
I've taken a hit ot rwo of ring current and it's not pleasant.
Kaluha in the coffee this morning?

No, just the bad luck to be working on phone wiring when someone calls the house. It won't kill you, but it definitely gets your complete and undivided attention. Looking at the ringer assembly in my "new" phone, I understand the need to push so much current out on those 24ga wires.

Re: dymt reloaded

Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 11:46 am
by just brew it!
annabel wrote:
I'm moving to New Zealand in 11 weeks.

Yikes.

Wow, very cool. Good luck!

Re: dymt reloaded

Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 12:49 pm
by idchafee
One of the nice things about living in Chicago is ready access to Goose Island products

Re: dymt reloaded

Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 1:36 pm
by just brew it!
idchafee wrote:
One of the nice things about living in Chicago is ready access to Goose Island products

Too bad the quality seems to be somewhat variable now that they've been bought out.

I'm really looking forward to the opening of Lagunitas' Chicago facility next year.

Re: dymt reloaded

Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 10:27 pm
by Captain Ned
Just finished Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle and find myself wanting to do nothing more than grab Cryptonomicon off the shelf and reread it straight through to find all the linkages I didn't remember when reading the Baroque Cycle. Not sure when I'll ever find the time to get to Reamde.

Re: dymt reloaded

Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2012 8:16 am
by Glorious
Read Anathem first. Between it and REAMDE it becomes very clear just what Enoch Root actually is.

Re: dymt reloaded

Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2012 2:31 pm
by DancinJack
Well I've accepted an offer to be an Engineer in downtown Boston.

Boston gerbils, get at me.

Re: dymt reloaded

Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2012 2:36 pm
by Dizik
DancinJack wrote:
Well I've accepted an offer to be an Engineer in downtown Boston.

Boston gerbils, get at me.
Congrats!