Any Former PO/BT TO's out there ?

[PatMc]

Bit of nostalgia for you, how many Strowger "tools" can you recognise from this selection ? ?

 

Been clearing out some odds & ends when I came across this lot. Last time any of them were used must have been ?

circa 1978. 

Edited May 29, 2021 by PatMc

[Martin McIntosh]

All of them! Those were the days trying to bend a vert or rot arm to a very precise amount, or to get a relay spring to the exact tension and perfectly straight at the same time.

Most of the screws were 5 or 7 BA so not worth nicking since they fitted nothing else.

Still use my screwdrivers, instrument No`s 1, 4, 6 and 12 plus 81`s and nippers, diagonal cutting because they are such good quality that it is nearly impossible to wear them out.

Recently used the last of my roll of waxed lacing twine for wiper cord repairs. So strong and useful on things like sewing on cabane struts or binding pushrod ends.

[FlyinBrian]

screwdrivers, instrument No`s 1, 4, 6 and 12 plus 81`s and nippers, diagonal cutting.

 

Me too although I was only a lowly T1 on Subs Apps.

 

A chap in the local market sold ex government tools including those from POT for scrap prices, I used to buy some, exchange them in the stores and whayhay instant almost free tool kit. Club members were Simerly equipped too? 

[Geoff S]

I started out as a  17 year-old Y2YC in Nottingham January 1957 but left after a couple of months to go to work in the service department at Murphy Radio in Welwyn Garden City in the expectation of continuing the family radio/TV business.  Probably one of the biggest mistakes in my life as I quite enjoyed the work, especially climbing telephone poles to install domestic phones ?  I even shrugged off the awful weather.  I did work for my Dad for about 18 months but soon realised the future was bleak for a small proprietor run radio/TV business and in 1961 went to GEC in Coventry to work on ICT computers.  Where they also made telephone hand sets and exchange equipment.

 

I seem to remember 81s as being snipe nose pliers. Am I right?  I had to hand my tools back when I left.

 

Geoff

[flying pastor]

Yes, I remember them all. I have this evening been using my number 3 screwdriver and my AT1's (not 81's). I went from strowger to TXK1 and finally to a NOU after that I was glad to take early release. My user name explains what I do now even though I am in my mid 70's. Because of long distance child minding haven't managed to get any flying in this year but I am trying to keep my fleet fettled and ready for late summer/Autumn.

 

[flying pastor]

Think I got the bit about 81's wrong, they were pliers wiring no2.

Sorry,

 

Chris

[Martin McIntosh]

We too found a shop selling scrap BT tools and did a similar thing. I think that 81`s is correct because I remember a training officer, formerly LTO where I ended up for a while, laughing because in his field book a Y3YC described them as AT1`s.

For my final exch. mtce. training I was sent to the above officers place which had a reputation of being a bad boys` dumping ground. On complaining he said that he only wanted the best in his old exchange so make what you like of that. I eventually landed a dream job as an out of hours emergency engineer because I was TXE4 trained which paid 50% more and was more like going out to play rather than work. This, thankfully, is now reflected in my pension.

[Gary Manuel]

I recognise them and know what most of them are used for and yes, they do bring back good memories. I tried to join the PO as a TO in 1977 but was turned down. I joined BR as an S&T (Signalling & Telecommunications) trainee instead.  I was one of the lucky ones who attended PO Training Courses TP1 an TP2 at Didsbury, Manchester. I spent a month in BR's Doncaster Strowger telephone exchange and really enjoyed it. I was taught how to read the diagrams, fault find and maintain the Strowger equipment. It was only supposed to be 2 weeks but I asked for more and got it.

 

Eventually I had to choose between S and T and chose S. I have never regretted it, but still hold the times I spent in T with fond memories.

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

Most are familiar although I escaped the exchange after a year or so of finishing my apprenticeship after the promised Christmas TOIT list was suspended indefinitely and spent some happy years as a T1 on Subs Apps and then business systems.  Policy changes led to T1s being judged as an unnecessary indulgence and after a short period in the redeployment group I was lucky enough to get a TO post involved with the fledgling business internet connectivity side which was a revelation - like working for a start-up company although gradually over the years it drifted back into BT corporate shackles which were rapidly evolving away from the old PO/BT values and becoming very much a target and fear driven culture. At least it was pretty well rewarded with as much OT as I could handle and I ended up as a "super TO" (or D1 as it was known after Newgrid) after being a TO(A) for a couple of years. As soon as early retirement made financial sense, I grabbed it with both hands.

 

Bank cleaning tape was ideal for starting my RC car's engine which I used to drive around the exchange car park once most people had gone home - no electric starters in those days! 

 

Was that St. Albans market Brian?  The stallholder there was delighted to sell very broken tools to engineers, knowing that he'd probably be getting them back in the next batch after they'd been exchanged (again) in the stores.

 

I always understood that the term 81s originated from their early rate book designation. The alternative "Apparatus Terminating no.1" always felt like a contrived explanation to me as the Civil Service weren't known for embellishing descriptive terms - a hammer was a hammer and not an "Apparatus Shock Imparting".

 

What was the Terry clip with a handle used for Pat?  It's not ringing any bells...

 

[Alex Ferguson 2]

Those tools might have been handy but long nosed pliers were often the substitute.

 

Mentioned above - Murphy radios, Strowger equipment as in private telephone exchanges. Yes to both. I started as a radio and TV servicing apprentice and later worked for Plessey at one time, from tape recorders (dictaphones), private telephone exchanges, VHF radios. As for exchanges, simply go out and fix them. Know anything about them? No, just go and fix it.

 

I ended up working at a university on everything from designing and building DC supplies to fixing xray machines. Of a technology period to have worked in, it was probably the best. Design and build it. In a decade or so's time, buy it off the shelf.

[Martin McIntosh]

I did some of my training in TV control and although I was not involved it was fascinating to see programs being switched between the fledgling ITV areas manually. "Program not yet available due to circumstances beyond our control" probably meant that the PO engineer had gone to sleep.

The electronics on the plug in cards were very basic and had lots of OC171 transistors in them, just what I wanted at the time to build super regen 27mHz Rx`s but could not get my hands on any.

[PatMc]

23 hours ago, Martin Harris - Moderator said:

I always understood that the term 81s originated from their early rate book designation. The alternative "Apparatus Terminating no.1" always felt like a contrived explanation to me as the Civil Service weren't known for embellishing descriptive terms - a hammer was a hammer and not an "Apparatus Shock Imparting".

 

What was the Terry clip with a handle used for Pat?  It's not ringing any bells...

 

I was told AT1 designation goes right back to pre WW2 days, I think maybe the true origin has been lost somewhere over decades of re-telling.

 

The "Terry clip" tool - bear in mind that I haven't used any of the tools for around 40 years. I think it was used to measure & adjust the torque of return to normal position of a 4000 type selector shaft. You may never have come across the 4000 selectors as I believe there were only a very few new public exchanges fully equipped with them around the mid '60s. They had little or no advantages over the 2000 selector & needed really needed further development. According to the info I heard new contracts for them were ceased & those from existing contracts were used for PABX 7's & some non-standard PABX 3's & 4's. 
I worked on PABX Mtce most of my TO days.

 

PS I forgot to mention - the 4000 type wipers didn't return horizontally the way they'd come in but continued to the end of the arc before dropping to return horizontally below the first level.

Edited May 30, 2021 by PatMc

[FlyinFlynn]

I never made it past T2A because they tried to bore me to death with a bank cleaner.... I got a better offer fixing photocopiers with Xerox, a company car and an expense account, although the expense account wasn't up to much the car was a big draw. Didn't miss the 'tag rash' either. Thanks for the memories guys!