Seattle Connections Museum is Awesome!

[Stormcrash]

Had a chance to finally check out the Connections Museum in Seattle today with a couple friends and it was great!  The sheer amount of things on display was impressive and everyone was incredibly friendly.  Seeing the old switches in operation first hand was incredible, even more so when they mentioned their Panel switch was the only working one left.

If you're ever in the Seattle area I highly recommend paying them a visit.

[Key2871]

I'd like to, but I'm on the other cost.
I have watched all their videos on YouTube, looks very interesting indeed.
It was very cool watching a guy give a tour of the #5 xbar.

[Stormcrash]

We had a fun moment after the #5 crossbar demo.  I think it was when our guide was finishing the MF signalling demo when another museum member came and asked if he could turn off the 5xb load simulator.  He'd turned it on to give some activity on the switch but apparently the crossbar 5 is now wired into the PBX systems on the floor below and was causing random phones to ring.  The big switches (SxS, Crossbar, Panel) are on the 3rd floor and the PBXs, outside plant, phones, switchboards and more displays on the 2nd.

[Key2871]

Oh that would have been fun, all these phones ringing, and people trying to talk about them on another floor...lol that's a major distraction. I wondered what the switch was doing, if other sets some where or other switches.
Looks very interesting indeed, did they show the video of then removing equipment from an old CO, and trucking and craining them in to place in the building? That was very interesting to watch.

[Babybearjs]

I looked up the website, they are also in Denver... I'll have to ask my sister about it... she used to work for US West back in the day and now is in health services. I wonder if she even knew there was on in Denver....

[Key2871]

Seattle was where the video was shot as far as I know. And I didn't know there was also one in Colorado.

[Stormcrash]

They didn't show any video's as part of the tour.  With the amount of equipment they have you spend pretty much the whole time looking at it all.  There's  a bit of irony for our modern digital world that the museum has a functional panel switch from the early 20th century, but they currently can't boot the #3ESS they have from the 70's because the tape cartridges containing the software have all gone bad 

[AE_Collector]

Yes for anyone into electro-mechanical phone switching, it is an amazing place to visit. I've been either 3 or 4 times now but not for awhile. Time to try to visit again soon.

Terry

[Key2871]

Wow that's actually pretty bad news it may be something that is gone for good. And all they could do is talk about it and show parts and how it would have worked. I saw them trying to boot it in one of their videos, don't know if they were able to get it going or not.
Go on YouTube and search for communications museum to see the videos.

Ken

[Stormcrash]

I think they said part of the problem is that the tape cartridge design is proprietary to Western Electric.  I believe the tour guide said 3M made the cartridge, but the version Western Electric used was different from the ones 3M sold commercially.  Really highlights the fragility of digital data.  Will the storage medium go bad, will you have the device to read the data.  Can you understand the data format?

Reminds me of the Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project that managed to rebuild the equipment and software needed to extract high resolution images of the moon that were taken by probe during the Apollo program.  So much depends on what random people stuffed into their garage and held onto for 50 years.

[Key2871]

That's the problem with magnetic data. It degrades over about ten years plus time. Unless you redo those tapes every once and a while, and even then the data is still degraded.
Well they have a monumental task on their hands, to try to restore all the programs lost.