[BC] Old 2500 WE Telephone...

[WFIFeng@aol.com]

In a message dated 06/05/2006 10:22:05 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
paul at amtower.com writes:

> The AM band in my house is almost useless except for the
>  strongest signals.  I've been working with them to get this resolved.  They
>  didnt want to admit it's a problem, but I have their attention now.
>  
>  Paul Smith
>  W4KNX
>  Sarasota, FL

Oh my... All this, and IBUZ too? Looks like we AM'ers won't have much time 
left if this trend continues.

Thank you for getting their attention. Interference of that nature is simply 
unacceptable. I'm also not too keen on the idea of the batteries lasting only 
a paltry 24 hours! The community "vault" idea with short copper to the users 
is a slightly better idea than the individual user boxes... while 96 hours of 
battery time is better, that's still not enough, IMHO. (Hurricanes, ice storms, 
etc... We all know how "reliable" cell service is during large-scale 
disasters, so no need to rehash that.)

This is one reason I am so reluctant to "let go" of the twisted pairs coming 
from the CO to my home or to the station. They provide the power to make the 
phones work, even if the AC Mains are down for more than a week. The 
expression, "It just works!" really does apply to the good ol' POTS we so often take for 
granted.

This reminds me of an issue that our Company is going to be discussing very 
soon: Disaster preparedness, especially hurricanes. WFIF is very vulnerable to 
tidal flooding, for example. Phone service is only a small part of that 
equation. Lacking a genset, if power is off, we're off. No fun, there.

Willie...