Building A 1960's Electromechanical Telephone Exchange For People To Use

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

Massive thanks to everyone involved! check out @hackmodular (link in description) as he does a lot of interesting DIY electronic projects! First Drum Machine Sample Pack Out Now! :- kzbin.info/www/bejne/i4iZd3mJf8p7oa8

[@hackmodular]

Fun week =) still see wires when I close my eyes!

[@gringostarr69]

I'm a network planner here in Finland (execpt fiber optics), but seen those during all these years "kinda of in use" cat1/2 in many old buildings. NIce project!

[@sam64evo]

awesome loving the content I was told years ago you could dial a number on the telephone box and it will play samples of the latest chart music it would be fantastic if you’re able to do that with your own music

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

yep it was called dial a disk, check my video on the announcer 9a in the playlist it was that machine :)@@sam64evo

[@sam64evo]

@@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTERto be honest i’ve watched all your videos just can’t remember everything haha but my bain went ahh yeah that thing i remember now when read your comment think a lot of people like that

[@CableWrestler]

Proud to see my old man (Cliff) putting the frame together. Thank you for giving him the opportunity to work on the old gear again, Sam. He was in his element! ❤️

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

hey scott! nice one! yes was great to have cliff over to help. been very grateful for all of the help he has offered. Im glad he is getting something out of it! its grand what they bashed out last week!

[@CableWrestler]

You've all done an amazing job there. I bet there were quite a few head scratching moments though 😅

[@Jonathan_Doe_]

I bet he’s glad that something he probably spent a fair few hours of his life working on, behind the scenes, is being set up for display. People rarely give a second thought to the feats of engineering/electronics involved in the infrastructure of their everyday lives.

[@alexvdvelde]

Amazing young man. You have so much knowledge you're brilliant

[@glynholden3660]

Sam, was a BT Strowger engineer for 25 years on Exchange Construction. I'm pretty much in awe of how much you've achieved here. You've picked up so much knowledge and skill in so little time! Many congratulations. I very much look forward to seeing the restoration work you do, along with your synth stuff. Many thanks 😊

[@thecarbonprop]

I remember as a kid periodically getting to see inside of the local phone exchange through their windows. They’d once in a while open the blinds on the very tall windows. The racks were well over 20ft high. All mechanical before the switch to electronic. It was fascinating. I’m glad to see you’re keeping a slice of that history for kids to see. ❤

[@Steve-s4b]

As a telecomm employee, it's good to see someone keeping these old girls choochin'.

[@flint9591]

That was superb ! My Grandfather was a rotary relay adjuster for Automatic Electric Co back in the 50's-60's. Many of my childhood toys were relays and telephone parts.

[@sparkyprojects]

That looks much better Takes me back to the 70's, crossbar racks were delivered into the building by crane, we had to stand them up with a winch, and roll them into position, the heaviest (fully loaded) weighed an imperial ton, which is about 1000KG 5000 line exchange in Abingdon

[@nat7278]

21:50 sounds somehow unlocked some early memories. I know that sound! The joy

[@theenglishbassist]

Just incredible. Next year I'll make my way down to the museum. The work you do is genuinely inspiring.

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

thanks!

[@flamencoprof]

In the 1970s I used to work here in New Zealand on the BPO step-by-step exchanges like this. Fantastic to see it again. I can only admire anyone who can get to grips with this tech so quickly. It was great to see those experienced guys chipping in with their skills. By the time I left the industry you needed software skills more than than wiring skills.

[@TheHippie27]

5 years ago I was on acid and went down a youtube rabbit hole of AT&T archive footage and documentaries showing how these wires and connectors and switchers were the arteries of this new global information conglomerate, and getting to see you getting your hands dirty, figuring all this out, has been so inspiring. Every time I walk under some power lines or phone cables, it reminds me of the level of interconnectedness our society has achieved, and these videos bring me even closer to understanding the vast complexity of the technology that has brought us all together here. I, for one, absolutely love this telephone tangent, and always want to see more!

[@BangerFleet]

We need a Tim Hunkin collab. The Secret Life of Machines from the 90’s is probably the reason I’m watching this now.

[@midinotes]

This video is just off the scales. Incredible work Sam and all involved to bring this amazing technology back to life. Amazing that you've put all of this together and love the spirit of ex-engineers getting involved and the contribution from Germany.... just unbelievable. I hope your channel gets many more subscribers as you deserve the success that your incredible efforts and energy deliver to us humble viewers. Well done and thank you for what you do. 😊❤

[@wernervannuffel2608]

Just amazing. As an applied communication scientist - with a big love for the history of communication systems - I like that this kind of knowledge (know how and savoir faire) will be (for upcoming generations) "archieved" in a living-and-working museum Installation Art-way. Magnificent job!

[@ChrisIsEditing]

The amount of effort and time put into all these crazy projects will never cease to amaze me

[@ToninFightsEntropy]

"For people to use" was what made me decide to watch this instead of sleeping.

[@ToninFightsEntropy]

A small village simulation.. Sam, you're a small village, mate.

[@alreadynuked]

I'll need to bring my sons to the museum when you reopen. Literally in the next town.

[@peters7949]

From 1971-78 I worked for GEC Telecoms installing Strowger, Crossbar & TXE2 exchanges for the Post Office (as BT was called then). The noise level of a Strowger exchange in operation was immense. I spent many weeks adjusting the moving contacts on the Two Motion selectors to ensure they made connected with all stationary ones: 600 per unit. (3 banks of 10 ‘wafers’ each having 10 pairs of contacts). Ringing current was particularly nasty, +50V to -70V pulses if my memory serves me well, I touched the terminal with my temples on one occasion: very painful& I aware I saw blue lights. Wiring the terminal blocks on the bench was a luxury we did not have. You wired & soldered in place, often scraping the back of your hand on the adjacent block (tag rash as it was known). I see the Museum is in Ramsgate, I actually worked on the Ramsgate Telephone Exchange.

[@StrangelyIronic]

I work on and create clockwork stuff along with electromechanical things daily. Sam's obsession with electromechanical stuff, regardless of what it is, is something I share to say the least. The museum needs an electromechanical teletype to send messages around the building to a few teletypes run through the exchange. Maybe one could get a pickup that translates a specific message into a midi track.

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

got some teletypes! wiring em in asap! :D

[@jackking5567]

The teamwork is awesome. Well done everyone.

[@davidyates748]

As a former "exchange rat" I hugely enjoy the analogue exchange content on your channel Sam.

[@andyknott8148]

You can usually tell a proper Exch. Construction guy by the fact he takes his ring off (when connecting the Bus Bars).

[@StormadoMan]

I used to route calls through old switches via Asterisk and the Collectors Network. Very nice to see you keeping this equipment in service 👍

[@omegaflameZ]

Interesting the differences that crop up, 6:21 you can see the color code used for the 20 pair cable (I was used to 25 pair so that alone is a bit different) it looks like the major colors go White-Black-Red-Yellow (and presumably violet), in Canada that's WRBYV (was taught Winchester Rifles Bring You Victory as a mnemonic), or at least that's what my company used to use...

[@markandsuriyonphanasonkath8768]

BRILLIANT! What I was involved in 42 years ago - Telecom Australia. Great work, thank you for your work and terrific video 🙂 Retired in Asia now, it is clear that most people have lost touch with reality and the efforts that everyone did to give them "dial tone"! Once again, thank you!

[@wideyxyz2271]

Brilliant Sam. Big shout out to all the chaps helping out. The German private exchange is a nice bit of kit and obviously built to last ( my mum and dad were 5 and 6 years old respectively when it was built). Looking forward to more on this project!

[@LFOVCF]

We tend to think of technology as being a recent thing, but this technology was invented by electro mechanical geniuses, a hundred years ago. It's simply amazing! Well done Sam and the gang (including our German friends, for donating that incredible exchange). Absolutely Fascinating!

[@UpLateGeek]

I love seeing this kind of old electromechanical gear given a new life long after it's become "obsolete". Especially when it's being used to teach people about how things were done before the era of computers and microcontrollers. It's almost as if nothing is truly obsolete if you can just find the right use for it! And it's awesome that you managed to find some professionals to help you get it set up properly, because there's no better way to learn how to do a job than to watch an expert in action. Looks like they definitely helped get a lot done in a relatively little amount of time.

[@tamarmolerick3814]

Excellent. Great to see the older guys passing on knowledge.

[@boriskourt]

So much happened it in this video. Wild! Love the 1929 hardware.

[@TheDistur]

That is cool you got the guys that worked on that stuff in the day to help out. Carry a bit of their expertise forward.

[@RichardHartness]

My gosh, old German egineering never ceases to amaze me. That device is functional AND beautiful.

[@grabasandwich]

I'm a little paranoid to post a comment after a recent community violation (of which youtube doesn't say which comment caused it!?) but here goes nothing. I envy your dedication and enthusiasm to accomplishing this feat. I was a contractor for our local telco for 15 years and developed an interest in the history and evolution of the phone system. I hadd even started talking to a retiree who ran their private museum hoping to get an actual tour and hear stories, but he got cancer and passed on. Then the company was bought out by a national telco and they sold off the museum. Part of it was his personal collection, which his family was tasked with selling. I helped a tiny bit by sharing the list on the Classic Rotary Phones Forum, but it was sad to see how these giant corporations don't care. Well, oddly, they have their own museum in another part of Canada, but I guess they figured the history of our provicial telecom didn't matter. Anyway, I don't want to ramble on. Thanks for making these kinds of videos. It's not very often you see younger generations go to this length to recreate setups with obsolete equipment. Most of it was junked without a second thought.

[@jamess1787]

I spoke to a rural lady (living in a small village of less than 500 people): she told me that she still had a party-line until the mid-2000's. Blew my mind. 🇨🇦

[@dav651why]

Nice work. Gladdens the heart of an old BT engineer. Thanks.

[@VintageTech1]

Sam and everyone, you are all amazing. These videos give me ideas to create and learn something new.

[@cleekersneaker]

It never occurred to me that when I heard a busy signal on my line back in the 20th century that it was the same performance of the bleep-bloop that every one else in town was hearing too. Like a radio show instead of a podcast.

[@decree72]

i learned at Deutsche Telekom 1990-93 and we had very few office centrals which were still equipped with Hebdrehwähler (strowger switch) sure they got slowly sorted out, but i was real happy to experience these used for the old IWV Impulswahlverfahren Pulse dialing, cleaned and maintained them for some time. A room full of them was always music to my ears.

[@Colin_Ames]

11:11. “Bloody Nora”. I always wondered who Nora was! Outstanding video, as always.

[@inazumadenki5588]

I did my school work experience in an old step-by-step exchange. It's wonderful to see such talented and enthusiastic people keeping the technology alive. Many thanks!

[@Z-Ack]

I worked at an mdf that had 20 foot tall racks and those ladders with wheels on em attached to rails like old libraries had.. the cross connect racks were intimidating but thees always a system. Had a total of 18 rows of racks.. i threw out loads of the switchgear to replace it al with fiber optic network switches and big cisco interfaces.. i remember pulling in 8 of these 1200 pair copper cables.. terminating all that crap took us a full month. Was spaghetti piles everywhere..

[@Junkboy888]

Love the shots at the end from the ceiling and the fish eye view.

[@johndoe1909]

its nice to see so.eone rescuing all these old things!

[@TRIPPLEJAY00]

It's so awesome. Old crap is the best, most reliable, well built, and better than modern rubbish. We have little windows in our pockets.

[@K3NnY_G]

Honestly, any job I've had a chance to come back to I thought I'd never get to do again I really enjoyed, I'd like to think those dudes enjoyed a chance to do work they'd put so much into learning, and doing; one last time. Honestly there'd be few other opportunities to do anything with this equipment now days except remove it.

[@walterpark8824]

Blown away, again! Mum, no computer, but 25 million colored, twisted wires that think.

[@AngelicDirt]

Have I been binging both channels for a week solid? Yes. Had I started, out of nowhere, working on making video games and music again, and using the videos as BG? Yes. Did I drop EVERYTHING to watch a video on THE telephone exchange? HECK YEAH. >:D

[@davepainter2070]

Thanks for both the video and for making this a working exchange. Brings back so many memories. I worked on strowger during the 80s and had to retrain (on cobol) as System X made most of us engineers redundant. Excellent content again.

[@firenado4295]

you are lucky that you got some of the modern multi core cabling as the original stuff doesn't have the corresponding colours on the white wires you have to rely on them being twisted. starting to look good, looks like my father's exchanges all you need now is another row of racks on the opposite side and it would complete the experience. Also about those announcers, you will need to douse the bearings of the motors with penetrating oil and re lubricate them as the old oil turns into a rock. Another thing is the tape guide screw closest to the pinch wheel might need to be screwed in or out if it eats the tapes. As you can tell I found these things out the hard way lol. anyway good work and looking forward to an update.

[@antronargaiv3283]

Color code is the same as in the US. Interesting. Bell Operators Give Better Service

[@firenado4295]

@@antronargaiv3283 Thats pretty cool, some of it is still used today in Ethernet cables. Although it is out of order its still there but I have a feeling it is technically in order but to stop crosstalk or something like that I am unsure.

[@antronargaiv3283]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/25-pair_color_code

[@redsquirrelftw]

As someone that works in a telecom NOC, with DMS, it's awesome to see this actually being wired and working. Glad to see some of this older switching stuff being preserved.

[@beautifulsmall]

the installation of the cabinets , nice work. not easy, the wiring its a rabbit hole

[@miahsbrokengarage]

Amazing work. I wish I could visit your museum.

[@jameshodgson1609]

Cracking video lovely to one of these built up. We used to the angle iron from dismantled exchanges for projects and the cable tray at the top as a short ladder ! The angle iron section was variable strength. One story was that the angle sections were rolled from old tram rails . They certainly were very hard to cut in places !

[@GayaKessler]

The telephone exchange part of the museum was my favourite. It's amazing what kind of technology was used to automate things before computers would take over. Amazing work, Sam!

[@VliegerNL]

This is amazingly cool Sam, and at some point your exchange will be the only functional one anywhere! Between the organ and the exchange and everything else, that’s a serious museum!

[@darkwinter6028]

Well, that’ll ring some bells…

[@andrerussouw2124]

This takes me back to nineteen none of your business when I started my telecom career. Regards Andre from SA

[@KarldorisLambley]

i was born in 74. my grandad was a GPO/BT engineer. i remember going to little exchanges with him when i was around 8. i recall the strowgers clicking, and the big carboys of acid and rubber gloves for filling the cells up.

[@CableWrestler]

What about the smell? Absolutely unforgettable. I can't wait to see if this smells like an exchange when I visit again.

[@vzwopx]

This is by far my favorite series on this channel and even on all of KZbin

[@padders1068]

Sam and everyone else involved, fantastic work! Thanks for all that you all do and for sharing! 🙂😎🤓❤

[@gwesco]

I was a bit confused by your 20 pair cable. In the US, most of our multi-conductor cable was in multiples of 25 pairs, IE: 25 - 50 - 75 - 100 pair etc. I was a telco tech for over 30 years but I got into it just at the transition from mechanical to electronic/digital in the mid 1970's.

[@merlin5476]

Hats off to you mate, THAT is 1 monumental job you done there. Well done 👍

[@davidb9682]

Awesome..............takes me back to late 70s in Bristol. A ops B, ops CD.

[@bobwatkins1760]

I don't know how the English did their phone exchanges but I personally built a telephone exchange in Lake Huntington NY back in the dark ages (1977) using switchers bought from Canal street in NY city. I had to make a phone setup for 12 stations (buildings) in a small summer type camp area where we had a religious retreat and didn't want to spend the money to have the phone company build one for us. I had rotary momentary contact switchers that when you dialed the number to the building you wanted, it set off a cheap buzzer I put in the phones that would cut off as soon as you answered it, and when the person making that call was done the rotary switch would go back to zero and no longer supply the power to buzz that phone.I built it in the middle of the winter but it was functioning well when I left, however I've never been back there since. It was all DC current (the needed voltage to activate the audio in the phone handsets) and the only way to know the number you dialed was busy was that you didn't hear (either in the caller phone earpiece) or the receiving phone buzzer. yes you'd hear the cheap buzzer make noise in the handsets earpiece.

[@igotes]

Impressive. I remember seeing one of these mechanical exchanges at the Science Museum as a kid, I was fascinated by it.

[@RuthlessMojo]

I admire what you’re doing Sam. You’re preserving history. In this digital age we rely so much on digital technology but what would happen if we had to regress to analog again? It’s people like you who are keeping our bygone technologies alive. If an emp went off over England I know who I would be contacting.

[@EntropicEcho]

Chances are 50/50 Sam was the one who concocted the EMP in the first place out of spare radio parts and bubble gum.

[@trulyinfamous]

Imagine being able to send a midi signal though some kind of audio data format and have a synth play it back for you over the phone. The you would have to limit the length to something like 30 seconds or 1 minute but it would be a fun idea. This museum is definitely going to be one of my top destinations when I ever take a vacation to the UK.

[@james2hackett870]

Now you need to make up a 48v battery ups for standby ... We used wire wrap technique instead of soldering , their is entire manuals on that standard

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

Gunna connect solar power to the exchange to keep it ticking . This setup is a mixture of solder tags and wire wrap. The 1950's racks are rags the 1960 ones are wire wrap

[@gohumberto]

I was working on that stuff in 1988 in South Manchester, then I was part of the Construction crew, wiring up System X, so we could rip out the Strowger. To think how many of those selectors and Relay Sets we threw in Skips. Now I'd really like a Group Selector, just for old times sake.

[@andreasu.3546]

Was about to make a very similar comment. I was an apprentice at Deutsche Telekom in Germany in the mid 90s, helped with setting up EWSD and S12 ISDN systems and rip out a lot of the old electromechanical stuff. Should have talked to the old guys more and learned about their tech. Also to think that the electromechanical exchanges had been around for 70 years mostly unchanged while the "new" stuff we put in some 25 years ago is already gone and replaced by voice over IP.

[@m0rjc]

I used to work in a theatre which used an internal mechanical exchange for its internal phones. It was at the end of the soundproof lighting booth at the back of the auditorium. We knew when we were going to get clearance to start the show because we could hear the front of house staff dialing the stage manager.

[@mcalvert39]

That lil cars putting some graft in. Love it!

[@jurjenbos228]

This channel is required viewing for all perfectionists: see how much you could have achieved!

[@antoinebunel]

Massive respect for doing something literally nobody else understands haha ! But fascinating, and a HUGE motivation to be determined and pursue our passions !!

[@blobscott]

Amazing! One of the ringing machines sounded like it needs oil. Don't ruin them bearings! I bet it has oilers in it. Most old motors do - especially commercial grade. Probably plain bearing scintered bronze expecting the ole regular oil routine.

[@davidgekler]

Hey Sam, there exists on line, videos of engineers that wired keyboards up to play the Telephone Relays as an instrument! Do it baby!

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

i did :D check in the playlist!

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

where is the video of engineers doing it? im curious!

[@TastyBusiness]

That is rate nice, I look forward to seeing more of this exchange. Well done!

[@MatthewNorthMusic]

BOG, Brown Slate. Happy days of wiring PSN 20 / Pin 20 and multiples of at work!

[@CoffeeOnRails]

A small part of me wishes the PBX I administer at work was like this rather than just a control panel on a computer. So much cooler.

[@claw-machinesNL]

Amazing, nice to see you save this. I work in older high voltage stations, some dating back to 1950-60 loads of relays and old tech in there aswel. Really cool and whenever they change them I’m trying to save some stuff aswel hahah.

[@Uncle_Houndy]

Sam, has anyone ever told you that you look like a nerdy electronic tinkerer version of Vyvyan from The Young Ones ?? Vibing hard on your modern industrial punk aesthetic and your boundless curiosity for all electronic/mechanical things both retro and obscure. I have no fucking clue how you do what you do but I absolutely adore witnessing it. Mad respect from Melbourne, Australia lad 💪😎

[@SchnelleKat]

This dude will no doubt survive in the Purge and or total meltdown of the future. Jesus. Mad Genius!!!

[@Alan_UK]

You all worked very hard combined with great knowledge and skills. Excellent team work.

[@tiagdvideo]

The word "epic" isn't epic enough for this!

[@SeattleFocusBlue]

So cool and rewarding to see the new setup and that it's working!!!! love this.

[@der.Schtefan]

Ahhh. While doing my engineering degree, for telco, computer science, and internet engineering, my 62 year old professor required us to manually wire up line finders and STROWGER SWITCHES. I have nightmares to this day when I hear them connecting calls on vintage youtube channels. PS: that was 1998.

[@Alan_UK]

When I started programming in 1968 at a bank in London using the latest 3rd generation IBM 360s, the bank thought that us trainees should learn some theory at college in the evenings. On the first evening the college showed us their computer. It was a machine made by Standard Telephones & Cables (STC), probably a Stantec Zebra computer from 1957. When operator intervention was needed the computer rang telephone bell and the operator responded by using a telephone dial! We youngsters were not impressed. I don't think STC attempted to make any more computers.

[@hanomagallrad9597]

it's going to be professional because i have no clue what they are doing. hope they do things like that for a long time. love the video.

[@tcpnetworks]

I'd love to come over and have a look at your museum. It's a perfect place.

[@lascheque]

Another step for the museum to become one giant world domination machine.

[@nutsnproud6932]

Well done everybody. I live in France and am keen to visit.

[@Europhile]

Brings back memories.

[@gringostarr69]

Definately like. Haven't watched your videos in a long time. As an engineer I love your work mate. Cheers from Finland!

[@KeritechElectronics]

Whoa, nice project! Now you need one or two Seattle girls to talk the visitors' and viewers' ears off on the switching equipment, haha!

[@Danni-5]

Could you do a video with what each of the different ring sounds mean please. Thanks for the great content. Dan

[@michaelbrian219]

Reminds me of the years I spent working for the GPO and BT. Installing Strowger racks in numerous telephone exchanges.

[@jaypdx4u]

The coolest thing ever!

[@Crackalacking_Z]

What a stellar effort, you mad lads are total legends!

[@OriginalWillowbark]

LOVE IT! You could do with a set of exchange ladders travelling :D

[@DaveEtchells]

YT dropped you out of my feed, so I haven’t seen what you’ve been up to for months. Holy sh*t, you’ve got a whole effin’ telephone exchange in there now! 😮🤯 Fabulous work, your museum is officially on my bucket list!

[@FelixPando]

I loved ❤❤❤❤❤

[@franciscrossman]

13:04 Black is Battery and Red is earth! I would never have guessed that. I'd think the opposite!