Unusual PCP?

Whilst this PCP was having its fibre twin installed, I noticed that it was unlike PCPs I'd seen in the past - no crimps sticking out everywhere, and plastic... things, which look like the copper-in section of the actual fibre cabinets. Is this normal? The PCP has been there since the 60s or 70s, obviously with a fibreglass re-shell at some point.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v217/gazzyk1ns/pcp...

I realise that the vertical on the right as we look at it is the new one for the fibre cab connections, and I know they look like that usually (they finished it the next day, this is when they were starting) - but I've never seen an old PCP with the plastic "shelves" or whatever you want to call them. I realise that it's nothing special, and that it must simply be a PCP with different cosmetics to what I've seen before - here is my PCP, for example:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v217/gazzyk1ns/Cab...

So, the point is that I'm used to them (specifically the POTS bit) looking like that, and the one I'm referring to looks very different - can any BT people tell me why the plastic shelf-things are in the one I'm talking about? Thanks.

Edited by deleted (Sun 13-Jan-13 00:27:09)

The first cab pictured is a Bix cab, just different terminations. 25 pairs per strip, with an IDC type termination. The green strips will be E-sides, the blue, D-sides. Nothing funky, just different. Not many of that style round this way.

The one you picture as 'your cab' is SCC, (strips cross connection). E on the left of the strip, D on the right, terminated with crimps.

We have quite a few of those Bix cabs round my way but they are reshelling a few of them when they put in the FTTC cab.

It's the terminations within that make it a Bix cab. The reshelling will be just to provide additional space for the new FTTC tails.

How the hell does a BT engineer identify the correct line in all that mess?

I thougt a Bix cab was where Fig Newtons were kept.

If the pair isn't clearly identifiable, the engineer puts an oscillator on the line. The tone on the line can then be hunted for without having to connect to a particular pair. He or she should then update the records.

Cheers for the explanation Zarjaz.

They are numbered .......

Except for the burnt out cabinet somebody posted a picture of recently, how the heck do you rewire that?