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What happened here?

Started by bellsystemproperty, November 18, 2009, 07:45:28 PM

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bellsystemproperty

I was browsing on the internets at different payphones, and found this on Craigslist. This payphone has gone through some pretty serious abuse.



I can see the dial being cracked from vandals, but how does it get melted!?  :o

Phonesrfun

Maybe someone was trying to get the shielded handset cord off with a torch?

-Bill G

bellsystemproperty

I guess... I don't know what value there'd be in a G handset for most people, but some people have to because they can. I see a lot of payphones in my area that have the shielded handset, but the shielding is broken where it connects to the payphone, so someone could easily take the handset. Or maybe the payphone was in a fire but it was built so well that only the dial melted.  ;D

Phonesrfun

They actually started putting the shielded handset cords on payphones in the 60's, not to deter handset thieves, but to deter people from being able to make free calls.

On an old prepay phone, the coin would place a ground signal (ground start) on the tip side of the line.  People figured out that since the transmitter is also hooked to the tip side of the line, all they needed was a needle or a sharp pin to pierce through the vinyl handset cord and "find" the transmitter wire by touching the pin to the grounded shelf while fishing around in the handset cord with the tip of the pin.  Yes, as a teen-ager, I was even guilty of doing this.

Even though with dial tone first payphones and electronic coin totalizers, the phone company still wants to guard against vandalism and keep maintenance costs down.   So, the shielded handset cord is now there more from the vandalism aspect.
-Bill G

McHeath

From what I've learned from my experiences teaching at a continuation high school, most likely someone used their lighter to melt the dial wheel.  Probably stood there for a while and worked it over, also probably in broad daylight.  A lot of our kids would carry lighters to burn and vandalize stuff, melting the plastic cover doors on newspaper vending machines is popular as well.  They also enjoy climbing up on roofs of businesses and setting the plastic backlighted signs on fire, the shopping center near me has several of the signs partly melted from this.  Some of our local payphones, and we have a lot still, have melted handsets.  They also use the lighters to burn the hair off their arms and eyebrows, or just burn each other in a sort of chicken game, who will pull back first from the fire. 

gpo706

I concur with McHeath, lighter abuse.

That phone could be done up quite easily, PhoneCo do handsets and I'm sure a dial would be pennies to buy.
"now this should take five minutes, where's me screwdriver went now..?"

bellsystemproperty

I can understanding hurting people... but payphones? Not the payphones!  ;D

Dan/Panther

Frankly, someone should take the kids doing that crap, and beat their A**es.
D/P

The More People I meet, The More I Love, and MISS My Dog.  Dan Robinson

bellsystemproperty

Agreed... The payphone is perfectly innocent. Imagine how they'd feel if they lost their cell phone and had to call 911 only to find the payphone they destroyed not working. Karma A-holes.

JimH

Let's take all of their cell-phones and snap 'em in two....I don't think a teen could survive these days without one.
Jim H.

Dennis Markham

Teen?  I've seen kids that haven't even reached their teens with one jammed in their pocket.  That's how Mom and Dad keep in touch these days.

bellsystemproperty

You know what I want is a cell phone jammer. They are rather expensive, but they can cause around 100ft of dead zone and they run on batteries. You could sit in a car and watch as they panic. "OMG! I can't send SMS! Oh noes!!!" I'd buy one if they were much cheaper. (and only use it in really annoying situations)

http://tinyurl.com/78trzn
This is the most awesome cell phone. It is a 500 that connects via Bluetooth to a cell phone and you actually dial via the real dial, and the bells ring just like they should.