Volume I Part 32 (1/2)
_Lamp-Signal Type._ There has been a tendency on the part of some manufacturing companies to advocate, instead of drop signals, incandescent lamp signals for the cord circuits, and sometimes for the line circuits on magneto boards. In most cases this may be looked upon as a ”frill.” Where line lamps instead of drops have been used on magneto switchboards, it has been the practice to employ, instead of a drop, a locking relay a.s.sociated with each lamp, which was so arranged that when the relay was energized by the magneto current from the subscriber's station, it would pull up and lock, thus closing the lamp circuit.
The local circuit, or locking circuit, which included the lamp was carried through a pair of contacts in the corresponding jacks so arranged that when the plug was inserted in answer to the call, this locking lamp circuit would be open, thereby extinguis.h.i.+ng the lamp and also unlocking the relay. There seems to be absolutely no good reason why lamp signals should be subst.i.tuted for mechanical drops in magneto switchboards. There is no need for the economy in s.p.a.ce which the lamp signal affords, and the complications brought in by the locking relays, and the requirements for maintaining a local battery suitable for energizing the lamps are not warranted for ordinary cases.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 291. Cord Circuit with Double Lamp Signals]
In Fig. 291 is shown a cord circuit, adaptable to magneto switchboards, provided with double lamp signals instead of clearing-out drops. Two high-wound locking relays are bridged across the line, the cord strands being divided by 1-microfarad condensers.
When the high-wound coil of either relay is energized by the magneto current from the subscriber's station, the relay pulls up and closes a locking circuit including a battery and a coil _2_, the contact _3_ of the locking relay, and also the contact _4_ of a restoring key. This circuit may be traced from the ground through battery, coil _2_, contact _3_ controlled by the relay, and contact _4_ controlled by the restoring key, and back to ground. In multiple with the locking coil _2_ is the lamp, which is illuminated, therefore, whenever the locking circuit is closed. Pressure on the restoring key breaks the locking circuit of either of the lamps, thereby putting out the lamp and at the same time restoring the locking relay to its normal position.
_Lamps vs. Drops in Cord Circuits._ So much has been said and written about the advantages of incandescent lamps as signals in switchboards and about the merits of the common-battery method of supplying current to the subscribers, that there has been a tendency for people in charge of the operation of small exchanges to subst.i.tute the lamp for the drop in a magneto switchboard in order to give the general appearance of common-battery operations. There has also been a tendency to employ the common-battery system of operation in many places where magneto service should have been used, a mistake which has now been realized and corrected. In places where the simple magneto switchboard is the thing to use, the simpler it is the better, and the employment of locking relays and lamp signals and the complications which they carry with them, is not warranted.
Switchboard a.s.sembly. The a.s.sembly of all the parts of a simple magneto switchboard into a complete whole deserves final consideration. The structure in which the various parts are mounted, referred to as the cabinet, is usually of wood.
_Functions of Cabinet._ The purpose of the cabinet is not only to form a support for the various pieces of apparatus but also to protect them from dust and mechanical injury, and to hold those parts that must be manipulated by the operator in such relation that they may be most convenient for use, and thus best adapted for carrying out their various functions. Other points to be provided for in the design of the cabinet and the arrangement of the various parts within are: that all the apparatus that is in any way liable to get out of order may be readily accessible for inspection and repairs; and that provision shall be made whereby the wiring of these various pieces of apparatus may be done in a systematic and simple way so as to minimize the danger of crossed, grounded, or open circuits, and so as to provide for ready repair in case any of these injuries do occur.
_Wall-Type Switchboards._ The simplest form of switchboard is that for serving small communities in rural districts. Ordinarily the telephone industry in such a community begins by a group of farmers along a certain road building a line connecting the houses of several of them and installing their own instruments. This line is liable to be extended to some store at the village or settlement, thus affording communication between these farmers and the center of their community.
Later on those residing on other roads do the same thing and connect their lines to the same store or central point. Then it is that some form of switchboard is established, and perhaps the storekeeper's daughter or wife is paid a small fee for attendance.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 292. Wall Switchboard with Telephone]
A switchboard well-adapted for this cla.s.s of service where the number of lines is small, is shown in Fig. 292. In this the operator's talking apparatus and her calling apparatus are embodied in an ordinary magneto wall telephone. The switchboard proper is mounted alongside of this, and the two line binding posts of the telephone are connected by a pair of wires to terminals of the operator's plug, which plug is shown hanging from the left-hand portion of the switchboard. The various lines centering at this point terminate in the combined drops and jacks on the switchboard, of which there are 20 shown in this ill.u.s.tration. Beside the operator's plug there are a number of pairs of plugs shown hanging from the switchboard cabinet.
These are connected straight through in pairs, there being no clearing-out drops or keys a.s.sociated with them in the arrangement.
Each line shown is provided with an extra jack, the purpose of which will be presently understood.
The method of operation is as follows: When a subscriber on a certain line desires to get connection through the switchboard he turns his generator and throws the drop. The operator in order to communicate with him inserts the plug in which her telephone terminates into the jack, and removes her receiver from its hook. Having learned that it is for a certain subscriber on another line, she withdraws her plug from the jack of the calling line and inserts it into the jack of the called line, then, hanging up her receiver, she turns the generator crank in accordance with the proper code to call that subscriber. When that subscriber responds she connects the two lines by inserting the two plugs of a pair into their respective jacks, and the subscribers are thus placed in communication. The extra jack a.s.sociated with each line is merely an open jack having its terminals connected respectively with the two sides of the line. Whenever an operator desires to listen in on two connected lines she does so by inserting the operator's plug into one of these extra jacks of the connected lines, and she may thus find out whether the subscribers are through talking or whether either one of them desires another connection. The drops in such switchboards are commonly high wound and left permanently bridged across the line so as to serve as clearing-out drops. The usual night-alarm attachment is provided, the buzzer being shown at the upper right-hand portion of the cabinet.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 293. Combined Telephone and Switchboard]
Another type of switchboard commonly employed for this kind of service is shown in Fig. 293, in which the telephone and the switchboard cabinet are combined. The operation of this board is practically the same as that of Fig. 292, although it has manually-restored drops instead of self-restoring drops; the difference between these two types, however, is not material for this cla.s.s of service. For such work the operator has ample time to attend to the restoring of the drop and the only possible advantage in the combined drop-and-jack for this cla.s.s of work is that it prevents the operator from forgetting to restore the drops. However, she is not likely to do this with the night-alarm circuit in operation, since the buzzer or bell would continue to ring as long as the drop was down.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 294. Upright Magneto Switchboard]
[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 295. Upright Magneto Switchboard--Rear View]
_Upright Type Switchboard._ By far the most common type of magneto switchboard is the so-called upright type, wherein the drops and jacks are mounted on the face of upright panels rising from a horizontal shelf, which shelf contains the plugs, the keys, and any other apparatus which the operator must manipulate. Front and rear views of such a switchboard, as manufactured by the Kellogg Company, are shown in Figs. 294 and 295. This particular board is provided with fifty combined drops and jacks and, therefore, equipped for fifty subscribers' lines. The drops and jacks are mounted in strips of five, and arranged in two panels. The clearing-out drops, of which there are ten, are arranged at the bottom of the two panels in a single row and may be seen immediately above the switchboard plugs. There are ten pairs of cords and plugs with their a.s.sociated ringing and listening keys, the plugs being mounted on the rear portion of the shelf, while the ringing and listening keys are mounted on the hinged portion of the shelf in front of the plugs.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 296. Details of Drop, Jack, Plug, and Key Arrangement]
[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 297. Cross-Section of Upright Switchboard]
A better idea of the arrangement of drops, jacks, plugs, and keys may be had from an ill.u.s.tration of a Dean magneto switchboard shown in Fig. 296. The clearing-out drops and the arrangement of the plugs and keys are clearly shown. The portion of the switchboard on which the plugs are mounted is always immovable, the plugs being provided with seats through which holes are bored of sufficient size to permit the switchboard cord to pa.s.s beneath the shelf. When one of these plugs is raised, the cord is pulled up through this hole thus allowing the plug to be placed in any of the jacks.
The key arrangement shown in this particular cut is instructive. It will be noticed that the right-hand five pairs of plugs are provided with ordinary ringing and listening keys, while the left-hand five are provided with party-line ringing keys and listening keys. The listening key in each case is the one in the rear and is alike for all of the cord pairs. The right-hand five ringing keys are so arranged that pressing the lever to the rear will ring on the answering cord, while pressing it toward the front will cause ringing current to flow on the calling plug. In the left-hand five pairs of cords shown in this cut, the pressure of any one of the keys causes a ringing current of a certain frequency to flow on the calling cord, this frequency depending upon which one of the keys is pressed.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 298. Cord Weight]
An excellent idea of the grouping of the various pieces of apparatus in a complete simple magneto switchboard may be had from Fig. 297.