More on reception

[TC Chris]

Another flare affecting us:

"ANOTHER X-CLASS SOLAR FLARE (UPDATED): Departing sunspot AR3234 produced another X2-class aolar flare on March 3rd (1752 UTC). NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the extreme ultraviolet flash:

Radiation from the flare ionized the top of Earth's atmosphere, causing a shortwave radio blackout over the Americas. Aviators and ham radio operators may have noticed loss of signal and other unusual propagation effects at frequencies below 30 MHz for as much as an hour. "

You can read about such things at the Spaceweather site:

https://www.spaceweather.com/

Click on the "Over the Americas" link to see how our half of the globe was especially affected.

Chris Campbell

[hermitcrab]

I am waiting on the day when a sun flare takes out the power grid ... and turns cell phones into paperweights... then man will regret putting everything on the internet TV, Phone, radio... all communications gone in one fell swoop...that is why we still have a real landline ...

[William]

I agree, Elton, and in theory that makes sense but me thinks even landlines are now run through satellites. I still have a landline too.

Bill

[Conelrad]

A good reason to have a POTS landline is the 911 network. Your real address is tied to it, and if you need help but can't speak, they know just where you are instantly.

Not so with a cellphone. It takes a goodly amount of time to triangulate your last location. Time you may not have...

[William]

Ok, I'll bit, what's a POTS landline?

Bill

[Dr. Radio]

POTS= Plain old telephone service.

Copper conductors providing the service from the closest central office to your home.


Even I have a landline! (It's funny once you realize I was a kid in the '80/90s)

Here's one of my phones:

[Dr. Radio]

The big question is......are we going to experience another Carrington Event??!!!

In these modern times, we would all be hosed.

https://www.space.com/the-carrington-event

[back-2-mono]

I have a land-line too and a fax machine connected to it.

[Motorola minion]

My land line comes via the cable modem, since we ported the number from telco, which was charging too much for outgoing "long distance" calls, remember that? Lots of spam calls on it but the wife says it stays, afraid to change a number we had for 26 years now.

It still rings the attic WE trimline phone and even lights the dial without a 4-wire connection and little gray wall wart in the basement, like BT installed back in the day.

The modem is a Motorola MT7711 that I highly recommend if your local telco does like ours did and cable company rents you the modem that THEY can't even help you reset.

[Firedome]

I'm another one that refuses to ditch the "land-line"... over my dead body! It's so much easier to hear.
Dave I need to get you to show my how to hook our our Trimline and Princesses so the dial light works &c.

[TC Chris]

I'm another one that refuses to ditch the "land-line"... over my dead body! It's so much easier to hear.

My office went to a VOIP phone system. The old landline had wonderful intelligibility. The new digital system gave no audibility--just vague mush. The supplier insisted that could not be true; it was digital!! Perfect!! They sent me a new handset. No better. Finally the boss bought a headset with a boom mike. Much better.

I do, of course, have old ears, and even worse old male ears. "Speak up, young man, I can't hear you!" But still, the landline was audible, and the VOIP was not.

Chris Campbell

[Dr. Radio]

I'm another one that refuses to ditch the "land-line"... over my dead body! It's so much easier to hear.
Dave I need to get you to show my how to hook our our Trimline and Princesses so the dial light works &c.

I can help you as well on the phone wiring. I don't participate much, but I was a charter member of the Classic Phones bulletin board and that's how I got my start in electronics, playing with phones at an early age.

[Motorola minion]

We played with telephones after a set of office-grade phones (not returned to Bell) that were dumped on us for "experimentation" by a friend of my parents.

It was hilarious to take the card-dial phone and "patch it in" using alligator clips out at the pole junction box with triangular gray cover, where the line transitioned underground before entering the house. Our telco was such that you could dial your own phone number, hang up, then it would ring. We called it telephony, with emphasis on the last syllable, becuase we pranked a few neighbors that had accessible junction boxes.

We connected the card-dial and pushbutton multi-line phones as intercoms using a battery, then graduated to connecting them to the POTS line. That line was extended to a pool and a tree-house for the ultimate in summer convenience, not missing a call from friends who wanted to come over, etc. Only trouble was, the card-dial phones were pulse dial and they could call out. The PB phones would only ring and handset woudl function, but no "dialing" . "touch tone" was a gimmick to our Telco LOL

This was 1975 and we were warned that Ma-Bell could measure "ring current" at the central office, yet no lichen-green/white vans came back the long drive to confiscate the rogue equipment, so I guess we got away with it.