TELECOM Digest     Thu, 19 Jan 95 07:03:00 CST    Volume 15 : Issue 46

Inside This Issue:                          Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: Privately Owned Cables on Public Utility Poles (Greg Straughn)
    Re: What is a T1 Line? (Wally Ritchie)
    Re: Ancient Party Lines (Scott Falke)
    Re: New Area Codes Working From Toronto (Dave Leibold)
    Re: ISDN Over Wireless (John Lundgren)
    Re: Cattle Call (John Rice)
    International Freephone Numbers and European Phone Dials (J. 
Oppenheimer)
    Re: Looking For a CHILL Compiler (Per Bothner)
    Mobile Comms Questionnaire (Simon J. Wallace)
    NEC 2000IVS Wanted: Highend (Out-of-Band) Voice Mail Integration 
(Neubert)
    Missed Listing - and Lawyers, Not Lawnmowers (Carl Moore)
    A Call From Guess Where (David Farber via Stanton McCandlish)
    Always Busy 800 Number? (mre2b@virginia.edu)
    ISDN in Florida (Evon Bent)
    Voice File Formats (fonaudio@ix.netcom.com)
    Using U.S. Modem in Israel (Jeremie Kass)
    Can Caller ID Information Be Faked? (Chris Telesca)
    Telephone Vs. Cable TV as Data Carriers (y1n0@unb.ca)
    Looking for 900-MHz Cordless Hands Free Headset (Martin Soques)
    Areas Covered by Phone Book? (Benjamin P. Carter)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the 
moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. 

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax 
or phone at:
                    9457-D Niles Center Road
                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: 708-329-0571
                        Fax: 708-329-0572
  ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

**********************************************************************
***
*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the              
*
* International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland    
* 
* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)   
* 
* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as 
represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 
*
**********************************************************************
***

Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such
as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your 
help 
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars 
per
year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. 
Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: gregs@best.com (g straughn)
Subject: Re: Privately Owned Cables on Public Utility Poles
Date: Wed, 18 Jan 1995 20:55:01 -0800
Organization: BEST Internet (415) 964-2378


In article <telecom15.35.9@eecs.nwu.edu>, mfletch@ix.netcom.com (Mark
Fletcher) wrote:

> I have been told that we can apply to the local municipality for a
> utility franchise, and then place our own cables on existing poles. 
At
> our current cost of $18,000.00 annually for special circuits, this
> possibility is very attractive to us.

> If anyone has information about the process, or could point me to 
any
> pertinant legal documents on the subject, I would be very greatful.

I believe in California you can rent "attachments" to utility poles
for something like $1.00 per pole per month -- perhaps your state
utilities have a similar product requirement.


Good luck,

Greg Straughn

------------------------------

From: writchie@gate.net
Subject: Re: What is a T1 Line?
Date: 19 Jan 1995 05:46:16 GMT
Reply-To: writchie@gate.net


In <telecom15.42.10@eecs.nwu.edu>, balcroan@netcom.com (Butch lcroan/
 .nameBalcroan Lilli) writes:

[pseudo technical babble deleted]

> ... but there is more to consider here. The " MU LAW " is not a 
linear
> scale it is more of a log function with more steps closer to the 
lower
> levels where the ear is more senstive. I really can't believe 2 DB;
> come on Jeff, 3 db is half power *and also the least amount the ear 
can 
> detect*. 

1. The impact on SQR (Signal to Quantitzation Noise Power Ratio) of 
bit
robbing is:

 10 log (6/(6+3r)) 

where r is the number of robbed bits. This ranges from -1.76db for a
single robbed bit to -6.02db if all 6 bits are robbed in the progress
of the digital signal between the two end terminals.

2. The primary effect of uLaw is to extend the dynamic range of the
channel. The SQR ratio for uLaw is not all that different from other
forms of PCM, particularly for typical high speed modem modulations
which have more or less uniform signal power. SQR's for PCM depend on
the type of PCM and the properties of the signals. For Modem signals
SQR's are on the order of 36db. However, THE EFFECT OF BIT ROBBING ON
THE SQR IS INDEPENDANT OF THE SQR ITSELF.

3. Robbing (eliminating) the low order bit has the effect of doubling
the average voltage quantization error which is the same as
quadrupling the quantization noise power. Robbing the LSB of any PCM
scheme will result in a 6db decrease in the SQR. If you only rob one
bit in six, you quandruple the noise power only 1/6th of the time
resulting in the equation above.

4. Jitter in digital transimission signals has nothing to do with the
Signal to Noise Ratio of the PCM stream unless a frame slip results.
Jitter at the codec would be of concern but in all equipment of
reasonable design the frequency components of such jitter are very low
and of no consequence to high speed modems (or speech).

5. The impact of bit robbing is not of alarming concern compared to
the other types of noise and errors involved with high speed modems.
By far, the worst transmission impairment involves continuous frame
slips on digital facilities due to unsynchronized clocks. While these
impairments cause only a minor (almost unnoticable) impact on voice,
they are disastrous to high speed modems because they cause a phase
shift that virtually guarantees an error and a loss of the absolute
carrier phase required to demodulate the signal. The effects persist
for many symbols until the transmitting carrier's phase can be
reacquired.


Wally Ritchie   Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 18 Jan 95 21:40:07 -0800
From: scott@csustan.csustan.edu (Scott Falke)
Subject: Re: Ancient Party Lines
Organization: CSU Stanislaus


In article <telecom15.25.2@eecs.nwu.edu> scott@csustan.csustan.edu
(Scott Falke) writes:

> In re your story about party-line entertainment:
> X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 15, Issue 11, Message 2 of 14

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The way you describe it was one way
> of doing the ringing; there were various methods.  What happened on
> your system if you wanted to call someone on your party line?  

For 8-party, one dialed 119xy, where x was your line position (1-8)
and y was the called party (1-8).  The ring generator would alternate
between the two.  When the ring quit, you picked up the handset, cause
they had too.  If the ring didn't quit, you picked up the handset
anyway.  They weren't home.  If you shared the same relative polarity
with the called party (the gas tubes and tip/ting to gnd) you'd hear
one long (i.e., yours) and two shorts (theirs) in repetition.  THAT
was real cool.  Hey, a farming town, you know ...


Scott Falke    Turlock CA

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 19 Jan 1995 00:40:00 -0500
From: dleibold@gvc.com (Dave Leibold)
Subject: Re: New Area Codes Working From Toronto


Carl Moore <cmoore@ARL.MIL> wrote:

> So you were able to get a Seattle number from 360 directory 
assistance.
> Maybe 360-555-1212 is at least temporarily being routed identically 
to
> 206-555-1212.

Makes sense, considering 206 directory assistance centre would be set
up for the areas under 360 ... just a matter of keeping the area codes
straight.

Bell Canada is able to route phone calls to various operators across a
region for directory assistance purposes. In theory, an operator in
Thunder Bay (807) could wind up fielding information inquiries for
numbers in other Bell Canada area codes.

------------------------------

From: jlundgre@kn.PacBell.COM (John Lundgren)
Subject: Re: ISDN Over Wireless
Date: 18 Jan 1995 17:47:16 GMT
Organization: Pacific Bell Knowledge Network


Hersh Jeff (hershj@bah.com) wrote:

> John Lundgren (jlundgre@kn.PacBell.COM) wrote:

>> Find out if the phone company has a newer 5ESS switch.

> To be fair to other companies, it should be noted that Northern
> Telecom, Siemens, and other switch vendors also offer ISDN switches
> that can act as central offices.

Here in Pac Bell land, the only one that I've ever heard installed in
the last few years have been 5ESS.  I didn't know what other switches
had the ISDN capability.  Sorry if I gave the impression that the 5ESS
was the only one that could do it, I didn't mean to.


John Lundgren - Elec Tech - Info Tech Svcs
Rancho Santiago Community College District
17th St. at Bristol \ Santa Ana, CA 92706 
jlundgre@pop.rancho.cc.ca.us\jlundgre@kn.pacbell.com

------------------------------

From: rice@ttd.teradyne.com (John Rice)
Subject: Re: Cattle Call
Date: 18 Jan 95 22:33:49 CST
Organization: Teradyne Inc., Telecommunications Division


In article <telecom15.41.14@eecs.nwu.edu>, RANDY@MPA15AB.mv-
oc.Unisys.COM 
writes:

> A local magazine (I think it was "Twin Cities Business") quoted an
> item from an investment newsletter saying that some dairy farmers 
now
> use pagers to call their cows.

> One person here who's family raises cattle asked whether it wouldn't
> be cheaper to keep a feeding a dog that herds the cattle instead of
> paying monthly charges and air time. 

I can't feed my dog for $18/month, which is what I can get pager 
service 
(tone only) for, around here. One page a day is well under most limits
for maximum pages/month.


John Rice        K9IJ  
rice@ttd.teradyne.com  


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: A couple of questions for whoever knows
the answers ... is it hard to train a cow to respond to your call? Is
there some sort of protective covering for the pager to keep it out
of the rain and water, etc?  A cow sees no problem with standing out
in the field in the rain all day, or laying down on a muddy field to
rest. In the heat of the summer a herd of cows in a pasture with a
pond or lake will simply wander out into the pond and stand in water
up to their neck to stay cool and keep the flies away. How does the
pager withstand all this abuse?    PAT]

------------------------------

From: Judith Oppenheimer <producer@pipeline.com>
Date: Wed, 18 Jan 1995 21:35:35 -0500
Subject: International Freephone Numbers and European Phone Dials 


European phone dials are being standardized and will include letters
that correlate with the U.S. version.

This took the ITU two years to decide, and is suppose to take effect
next year.


Judith
J. Oppenheimer, Producer@Pipeline.com

------------------------------

From: Per Bothner <bothner@cygnus.com>
Date: Wed, 18 Jan 95 20:21:51 -0800
Subject: Re: Looking For a CHILL Compiler


> I am looking desperately for a CHILL precompiler or compiler running
> under any UNIX, LINUX, OS/2 or DOS.

A pre-release of the GNU Chill compiler is available by anonymous ftp
at ftp.cygnus.com, directory pub, file chill-1.4.tar.gz.

This is a dialect of Chill that Cygnus did for one customer.  It is
not complete Z200 (any version), but we have tried to follow the 1988
standard, with support for some features of the 1984 standard.  The
GNU debugger (gdb) already has (some) support for Chill.

GNU Chill is structured similarly as GNU C and C++ (gcc and g++): I.e.
a "back-end" that is language-independent, and a language-specific
"front-end."  Cygnus (that is me) and the Free Software Foundation are
working on cleaning up and merging in Chill-specific parts of the
back-end.  One that is done, GNU Chill will be officially released by
the FSF in conjunction with future gcc releases.

If you want GNU Chill to implement some feature that it doesn't yet,
you should contact me.  Cygnus can do the work for a fee, or you can
do it yourself (since it is free software).  If your changes are clean
and generally useful, I will merge them in (but you should talk with
me before doing anything substantial).

[Cygnus provides commercial support or negotiated (paid-for) 
enhancements 
to some GNU and other "free" software ("sourceware" as our marketing
department calls it), including GNU Chill, C, and C++.]


Per Bothner    Cygnus Support     bothner@cygnus.com

------------------------------

From: Simon J Wallace <sjw@ee.edinburgh.ac.uk>
Subject: Mobile Comms Questionnaire
Organization: Edinburgh University
Date: Wed, 18 Jan 1995 11:32:58 GMT


Hello there.

I wonder if you could help me with a questionnaire I am doing for my
Masters Degree.  I would appreciate some opinions on DATA 
communications 
over mobile phones. It should only take a couple of minutes.

Could you please post the replies to me at sjw@ee.ed.ac.uk. I shall
post my findings as soon as I have collated them.  Thanks in advance.


Simon #:-)

1) Do you have a Digital (D), Analog (A) or Dual Mode (DM) phone ?

2) Do you at present use your mobile phone to transmit data ?

3) Do you at any time in the future plan to use a mobile phone to 
transmit
data ?
4) If so what factors would influence your decision
     i) ease of use
     ii) cost of equipment
     iii) cost of calls
     iv) reliability
     v) Other please state :

5) What be your MAIN use of mobile data comms?


Thanks again,

Simon   #8-)

------------------------------

From: dougneub@ix.netcom.com (Douglas Neubert)
Subject: NEC 2000IVS Wanted: Highend (Out-of-Band) Voice Mail 
Integration
Date: 18 Jan 1995 12:47:54 GMT
Organization: Netcom


If anyone has a line on a highend (like the one they demo the switch
with at the shows) voice mail integration package for the NEC 2000IVS.
Will you please E-mail me. I am currently using Reparte DOS ver. 6.5;
their newest release (3 weeks old as of 01/18/95) setup up for the
1400 but the timing is way off and many calls get dropped if I am on


my phone and you call me (on my extension) from the outside world. NEC
boys have been o/s three day trying to fix/patch this up but are
having no success. We installed an attendant card in the switch in the
card last night so today we will see if this will be the fix. Please
if any one has any suggestions good or bad let me know. 


Thanks,

Doug Neubert   Telsource Corp.   Cleveland 

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 18 Jan 95 17:43:02 EST
From: Carl Moore <cmoore@ARL.MIL>
Subject: Missed Listing - And Lawyers, Not Lawnmowers


My latest Bell Atlantic phone bill in Maryland has a little insert
which says:

FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE ... (here, the reader turns the insert over)

 ... Keep these listings we missed in your new Bell Atlantic telephone
book.

Our goal is to give you an error-free phone book.  We'll keep trying!

                        --------------

That reminds me, some law office many years ago wound up in the
Wilmington (Del.) yellow pages all right ... under lawnmowers.

------------------------------

From: mech@eff.org (Stanton McCandlish)
Subject: A Call From Guess Where
Date: 18 Jan 1995 17:39:40 -0600
Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway


[Passed along FYI for a little tittilation for the readers.   PAT]

   Date: Wed, 18 Jan 1995 11:48:37 -0500
   From: farber@central.cis.upenn.edu (David Farber)
   Subject: a call from guess where

I got a call from DC from someone in the inside I know well who said:

1. The LD carriers have hired Howard Maker to lobby for them on the
"The planned Communications Act Re-write of the New(t) Congress";

2. That there are meetings Thursday and Friday on the hill between
staffers and industrial representatives -- not hearings;

3. The staffers have been told to make sure no plans, notes, etc. get 
to
the public;

4. This is on the fast track.

The person said that the "ravings" were aimed right and would remove
many of the restrictions and controls on the carriers.

As I said before -- stanger things have happened. Sounds like they may
be happening again.

And so much for a more open government!


Dave

                     ----------------
--
<A HREF="http://www.eff.org/~mech/">          Stanton McCandlish
</A><HR><A HREF="mailto:mech@eff.org">        mech@eff.org
</A><P><A HREF="http://www.eff.org/">         Electronic Frontier 
Foundation
</A><P><A HREF="http://www.eff.org/1.html">   Online Services Mgr.   
</A>


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Do keep us posted. It sounds like some
changes may be in store for us again.   PAT]

------------------------------

From: Matt <mre2b@virginia.edu>
Subject: Always Busy 800 Number?
Organization: University of Virginia
Date: Thu, 19 Jan 1995 01:07:30 GMT


What's an 800 number that is always busy? (and don't say Gateway 2000
Tech Support). Something that is guaranteed always busy.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: (Suspicious, squinting eyes) Why do you 
want 
to know?  PAT]

------------------------------

From: xu@gate.net (Evon Bent)
Subject: ISDN in Florida
Date: Wed, 18 Jan 1995 14:19:41 GMT
Organization: Cybergate Inc.


Hey there,

 I was wondering if anyone has heard anything about Southern
Bell implementing ISDN in Florida? I've been considering it to get a
link to the net and a business line as well. I was also wondering if
anyone could give me an idea of the rates I might get charged. If no
one knows or isn't sure how about a number I might call to get this
info?  Barring that I was wondering if anyone was currently using ISDN
in Florida and what their experiences with it were.


TIA,

Evon   (xu@gate.net)

------------------------------

From: fonaudio@ix.netcom.com (TELEPHONETICS)
Subject: Voice File Formats
Date: 18 Jan 1995 19:56:11 GMT
Organization: Netcom


Can anyone give me information on the following formats for sound 
files:

VBase, Dialogic, Rhetorex and New Voice


Thanks.

------------------------------

From: kass@tacout.army.mil (Jeremie Kass)
Subject: Using U.S. Modem in Israel
Date: Wed, 18 Jan 95 16:00:09 EST


I am interested in using the modem I use in the U.S. while I am in
Israel.  Is there any technical and/or legal problem in doing this?
Also, what kind of telephone jacks are used there?  This will be
connected to a residential line, so will it be the same RJ-11 jack as
here?


Thanks,

Jeremie Kass * IS/IT Consultant * JPK Computer Consulting
           Huntington Woods, Michigan, U.S.A. 
Internet : kass@tacout.army.mil * jkass@detroit.freenet.org
           jkass@cati.csufresno.edu  * jkass@jpkcomp.detroit.mi.us
           jk914s2187@sycom.mi.org

------------------------------

From: sascjt@unx.sas.com (Chris Telesca)
Subject: Can Caller ID Information Be Faked? 
Date: Wed, 18 Jan 1995 21:25:15 GMT
Organization: SAS Institute Inc.


I recently got Caller-ID and *69 Call Return service beause a friend
and I have been getting prank and other strange phone calls over the
last few months.  Generally it works great, but several times I've
seen a few numbers displayed numerous times and used *69 to call the
number back, only to find that the people I've called back say they
never called me at all (sometimes these are elderly people, BTW).

So I was wondering if it possible to somehow fool Caller ID/Call 
Return 
features into displaying and/or calling back the wrong/incorrect 
number?  
Any ideas, thoughts, experiences?


Thanks!

Chris Telesca          Associate Photographer          (919)677-8001 
x7489
SAS Institute Inc. / SAS Campus Dr. / Cary, NC  27513 / 
sascjt@unx.sas.com


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It cannot be spoofed where the 
transmission
coming from the central office is concerned. What we have discussed 
here
in the past is the possibility of the caller sending bogus information 
to
the Caller-ID box *after* the phone is answered, but in the first 
second
or so before the called party is likely to have examined the data very
carefully. You answer, and the caller shoves some other stuff to your
box at the instant the connection is made. 

Two things you might want to do: Look at the incoming information very
carefully *before* answering; then as you answer the phone watch to 
see
if it changes almost immediatly to something else. In that case, flip
back through the entries -- if your display unit holds several 
entries,
you probably can page forward or backward through them to check the
time of the call, etc -- and look at the one received *just before* 
the
one presently in the display window .. or maybe the second one before
the present one. See if one of those matches what you recall seeing on
the display before you answered. 

A second thing is try keeping a record of these calls by the number on
display and the number before it in the memory, etc. See if there is 
any
pattern or repetition. They may be feeding you false data, but if so
you should (by backing up one or two entries) see the same old number
on several occassions. Or, maybe they are not sending false data and
in fact the number you see displayed is where the call came from. The
person(s) who answer may deny making the calls, but if you see the 
same
entries time and again then its almost assured *someone* in that 
household
is making the calls, even if it isn't Grandma or Grandpa when they 
take
your return call. 

Another possibility is the caller is putting his phone on forwarding 
to
some unsuspecting person, then calling you from some other line via 
the
forwarding link. He sets up call forwarding, dials your number and 
even
while it is ringing tears down the forwarding link. In many places 
your
Caller-ID box is going to show the number of the party who forwarded 
the
call to you, even if they are unwitting accomplices to the whole 
thing.
If you are using call return as provided by telco, then any spoofing 
of
your individual Caller-ID box should be only coincidental since 
regardless
of whatever data he funnelled over to you, the central office is not
likely decieved. Use *69 rather than any local 'repeat dial' or 'dial
number shown in window of ID unit' to return the call. 

If he is using illicit call forwarding to get through to you then you
might try calling the number actually on your display, provided it is
not bogus -- see above -- and *nicely* asking the people there if 
*they*
happen to have Caller-ID also. If they do, maybe they would be so kind
to look at their unit and tell you who the last caller was shown to
them. If it is not someone they know, then chances are likely that is
your person.    PAT]

------------------------------

From: y1n0@unb.ca
Subject: Telephone Vs. Cable TV as Data Carriers
Date: Wed, 18 Jan 1995 18:11:09 GMT
Organization: UNB CSD


 I am currently collecting information, in order to make a
comparison between Telephone Companies vs. the cable TV companies as
Data Carriers.  I would appreciate it if anyone who knew of material
pertaining to this subject and where the material would is availble,
ie. a FTP site which may contain reports on similar subjects, could
either post or e-mail their findings.  It would be a great help!


Thanks for you time!

Jeff    Y1N0@spitfire.unb.ca 

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 18 Jan 95 16:13:27 CST
From: Martin.Soques@amd.com (Martin Soques)
Subject: Looking For 900-MHz Cordless Handsfree Headset


Greetings!  Subject line says all; I'm looking for a 900-MHz digital
phone with a cordless headset rather than a cordless handset.  That
way, I don't have to crink my neck to hold a handset to have both
hands free.  A friend told me that he purchased one from a Sony
Industrial catalog in his previous job.  Any pointers to such a beast
would be appreciated.


Martin P. Soques   martin.soques@amd.com    Austin, Texas

------------------------------

From: bpc@netcom.com (Benjamin P. Carter)
Subject: Areas Covered by Phone Book?
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 
guest)
Date: Thu, 19 Jan 1995 06:27:00 GMT


A typical phone book with both white and yellow pages has a
map with a large white area surrounding a smaller yellow area.
What is this map trying to tell me?

Are all the listed numbers in the white area supposed to be in white
pages of the phone book?  They don't seem to be.
 
Is the phone book sent to all subscribers in the yellow area?  If not,
what does the yellow area stand for?  It clearly has little or nothing
to do with the locations of businesses that advertise in the yellow
pages.

The yellow areas of different phone books (ie, directories) fit
together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.  The GTE phone books where I
live (near LA) show the parts of the puzzle covering their turf, but
the PacBell phone books don't.  Also, GTE has "neighborhood"
directories that invade PacBell's turf.  A "neighborhood" directory is
typically much thinner than a real directory.  Why?  What is going on?
I have a pile of phone books, and I seldom know which one to turn to
for a particular purpose. 


Ben Carter    internet address: bpc@netcom.com

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #46
*****************************

                                                                                                                   
