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Old 28th Aug 2018, 3:20 pm   #21
Brigham
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Co. Durham, UK.
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Default Re: Exchange 'changeovers'

As far as I am aware, the internal exchange at Beamish Open Air Museum, Co. Durham, is still a Strowger type.
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Old 28th Aug 2018, 8:34 pm   #22
Pellseinydd
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Default Re: Exchange 'changeovers'

Quote:
Originally Posted by Brigham View Post
As far as I am aware, the internal exchange at Beamish Open Air Museum, Co. Durham, is still a Strowger type.
Correct ! It is a UAX13 - a C rack and two A racks, fitted late 1980s/early 1990's. Sadly not on display to the public as it is in the roof of the tram depot above the workshop. Not suitable for public access .

They've also got a UAX14 A rack plus a Group selector rack and a relay set rack which I took there in 2016 to be used to build a typical exchange to serve the 1950's town for which they have had a rather large lottery grant.

There are quite a few other Strowger exchanges preserved I've got a UAX5 dating from 1929 that was in use until 1950 and miraculously survived until I found it. Also got several UAX12's - photo of Kingshouse just as it was finishing in service in 1992 - the penultimate UAX12 - the last one 'Cabrach- finished in 1993 an I recob=vered most of that, BT press office got the story of the closure wrong thinking it was the 'last electro-mechanical exchange' and I ended up with my picture in the 'Sun' peering through the C rack on page 5 - not 3 I must add ! Also got a UAX13 plus an Island Automatic eXchange No 5 (IAX5). I was at the change-over of them all including the IAX5 on the UK's most remote inhabited island - way out in the Atlantic to the west of the Shetland Islands - population only 30! There are a number of other UAX racks in private hands.

Avoncroft Museum at Bromsgrove has a working UAX13 (the last Strowger exchange from the London Region) plus a working MNDX. There are other museums with UAX racks such as the Museum of Internal Fire in West Wales

A number are connected to CNet so can be dialled into by those who are connected.

Ian J
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Old 27th Sep 2018, 6:46 pm   #23
GlenTyan
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Default Re: Exchange 'changeovers'

Having come across this thread it reminded me of my days in Line Test Support which also covered the changeover period from Strowger to Digital. I didn't attend all the changeover events in our district though I did the big TXE4's where I could or shortly afterwards to make sure all the Line Test kit was available to the front end staff as changeovers brought many subscriber enquiries and pressure on the Repair Service Controls (RSC's). On the run up to changeovers I'd often drop in on the construction staff to make sure the relevant test port jumpers were in place but even so occasionally it took some head scratching between myself and the System X or System Y support staff to resolve issues.

I see Crawford mentioned above and I recall going there a day or so after for a reason I can't remember now.

I also note a comment above about per second billing, something that is taken very seriously as I recall setting up radio clocks which took into account the propagation delay from the atomic clock at Rugby to our computer site which polled exchanges for billing data.

G.
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