Before cabinets, planners on average provided 11 main cable pairs per DP.

After cabinets the plan was to provide all DP pairs to the cabinet but crucially only 5 main cable pairs per DP.

So did labelling some cabs (e.g.) 1B just allow for local expansion before the telecomms world "blew up"? In some areas around here you have PCPs 1 and 2, and then 1B and 2B. They're the cast-iron type, clearly very old now.

I can see how it's hardly a mystery for anyone, just curious.

Edited by deleted (Tue 05-May-15 21:12:03)

I've never seen pillars labelled 1B, 2B etc. They are always designated 1/1 2/1 or E1 E2 etc in my experience. That's not to say it hasn't happened. Prior to 1992 the various 'districts' were run as pretty much autonomous businesses .

Here's a couple of other smaller types

an older one - https://goo.gl/maps/89W50
a new one https://goo.gl/maps/ir55G

In reply to a post by partial:

I've never seen pillars labelled 1B, 2B etc. They are always designated 1/1 2/1 or E1 E2 etc in my experience. That's not to say it hasn't happened. Prior to 1992 the various 'districts' were run as pretty much autonomous businesses .

Oh I only meant cabinets. I've never seen pillars numbered like that.

In reply to a post by troublegum:

...
an older one - https://goo.gl/maps/89W50

That looks exactly like a lightning-surge protector close-ish to here. Which, unhelpfully, isn't on Google maps/Street View.
Here's a disused one though. Another woodlouse/beetle-collector. I'm 99% sure it never was a PCP/Pillar. It probably got replaced with Hadleigh PCP 9, or EO lines from the Hintlesham exchange (which now has 2 PCPs and an EO re-arrangement). Or, as I believe, was always simply a surge-protector.

Here is a double-door BT cabinet which never seems to have served anything, at least in the last ~30 years (yes, sadly, I've looked). It's not marked at all and it doesn't fit into the numbering scheme.

BT ghost cabinets: Interesting, for more than one reason.

Edited by deleted (Wed 06-May-15 00:13:15)

Interesting that the Google Registration Plate Blurrer has not picked up on the very clear trailer plate, yet managed to locate the partially-obscured one on the towing vehicle.

About 1979 when I enquired about Domestic Lines, POST OFFICE telephones informed me that actual Domestic Penetration for England and Wales was about 65%; for Scotland it was 55%.

It was whilst objecting to the erection of a Phone Box outside my front door, about 10 years after this estate was built and every house had been pre-wired for phones.

When I checked in the Area Phone Book (quite small at the time), I found that 84% of the houses already had phones connected, from being listed in the Phone Book, thus probably installed at least two years earlier.

Walking round the estate, knocking at unlisted doors and enquiring, it turned out that only one house might NOT have had a phone, as there was no response at the door.

So around 98% of the houses were definitely already connected, with only one uncertainty; compared to the 55% officially for Scotland.

-------------------------------

It was then proposed to erect that box at another, younger, larger estate a little further out of town (a concrete base was actually cast in situ for this one); but the residents there objected - hence no Red Phone Box in this area.

>> Here is a double-door BT cabinet which never seems to have served anything, at least in the last ~30 years (yes, sadly, I've looked). It's not marked at all and it doesn't fit into the numbering scheme.

Could be an old trunk cabinet. They used to have cabinets with an electric supply and it was used for what ISTR was called capillary earthing. This was to stop current flowing on the sheathing of long distance lead cables causing corrosion.

Hey gazzyk1ns,

BT guy was doing surveys around the area and he told me the cab was from the Late 70s. He told me that he was looking to see if the cabinet needed a second PCP, but he said it would take him a couple of days to find out. He said if I look out for him tommorow, he will tell me what he thinks needs to happen.

Cabinet 1 in Banchory appears to comprise two cabinets, the oldest of which is this, which looks fairly antique. It actually now has been spray painted with �new PCP 100m �>� or something along those lines, pointing towards this cabinet. The new fibre cabinet was then built here, next to the phone box (in fact, I�m not sure if the phone box is even there any more).

It would be interesting to know if the old cabinet is still in use - I imagine the fact it's still there suggests it is?