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Re:AT&T Fiber in the SF Bay Area is flipping bits by jcims on Tuesday December 08, 2020 @04:09AM (#25343324)
You’re definitely on to something. This image from Wikipedia for the #1 ESS fits very well into my fuzzy memory, especially those protruding card chassis:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/1A_Frame...

I just remember thinking it looked awkward getting to the equipment under them.

I don’t know if the ‘5E’ as he called it was actually in operation yet, he ended up moving us all out of state to take a job developing and delivering training material for it...I think that’s what finally broke him lol. Hands on kinda dude.

I’ll have to hit him up later today to see if he remembers ‘remreed’ (he will). Thanks for the info!

Re:AT&T Fiber in the SF Bay Area is flipping bits by myself248 on Tuesday December 08, 2020 @04:29AM (#25343429)
Yup, the #1 used computerized control, but all the switching was still electromechanical, so it sounded like a typewriter factory, especially during busy-hour.

At night, traffic was often low enough that you could hear individual call setups and teardowns, each a cascade of relay actuations rippling from one part of the floor to another. The junctor relays in particular were oddly hefty and made a solid clack, twice per call setup if I recall correctly, once to prove the path by swinging it over it to a test point of some sort, and then again to actually connect it through. On rare occasion, you'd hear a triple-clack as the first path tested bad, an alternate was set up and tested good, and then connected through.

Moments after such a triple-clack, one of the teleprinters would spring to life, spitting out a trouble ticket indicating the failed circuit.

The #5, on the other hand, was completely electronic, time-division switching in the core. The only clicks were the individual line relays responsible for ringing and talk battery, and these were almost silent in comparison. You couldn't learn anything about the health of the machine by just standing in the middle of it and listening, and anyone in possession of a relay contact burnishing tool will tell you in no uncertain terms, that the #5 has no soul.

Re:AT&T Fiber in the SF Bay Area is flipping bits by jcims on Tuesday December 08, 2020 @04:38AM (#25343471)
YES! He worked third and we were there all night. He pointed those sounds out to us, it was so cool.