dogs and electricity

[felix]

Recent posts about dogs emitting RF reminded me of something that happened
to me almost 40 years ago. I was a newly hired telephone installer. It was
my first real job, and I thought I was a lot smarter than I really was.

I was given a trouble report, which stated that the woman's dog barked
excitedly whenever the phone rang. I immediately concluded that since dogs
can hear much higher frequencies than people, the dog was just reacting to
ultrasonic frequencies that came from the ringing bell.

I arrived at the house, and immediately changed the phone, thinking that her
old phone had some odd problem with the small brass bells inside. I dialed
the "ring back" number, and as soon as the phone rang, the dog barked, and
ran back and forth yelping outside the window.

After almost an hour of investigating, I found the problem. The installer
who originally installed the phone had ran the ground wire outside and
grounded it to a metal clothes line pole. The pole was set in concrete (not
a good conductor) and since the dog was attached with a metal chain to the
metal clothes lines, so it could move back and forth across the yard without
escaping, the ringing voltage (about 90 ac, as I recall) went from the
phone, to the pole, to the clothes line wires, and down the chain to the
hapless dog.

As I think back on it, the poor dog was (a la Pavlov) probably conditioned
to fear telephone ringing...

 

[Paul Hovnanian P.E.]

felix wrote:

[snip]

After almost an hour of investigating, I found the problem. The installer
who originally installed the phone had ran the ground wire outside and
grounded it to a metal clothes line pole. The pole was set in concrete (not
a good conductor) and since the dog was attached with a metal chain to the
metal clothes lines, so it could move back and forth across the yard without
escaping, the ringing voltage (about 90 ac, as I recall) went from the
phone, to the pole, to the clothes line wires, and down the chain to the
hapless dog.

The owner probably dosen't need the bell. Just listen for the dog and
answer the phone.

--
Paul Hovnanian mailtoaul@Hovnanian.com
------------------------------------------------------------------
Optimist: "The glass is half-full."
Pessimist: "The glass is half-empty."
Engineer: "The glass is twice as big as it needs to be."

 

[Richard H.]

felix wrote:

I was given a trouble report, which stated that the woman's dog barked
excitedly whenever the phone rang.

Apparently a popular problem...
http://www.top20fun.com/funny_jokes/5515.html

 

[Ross Herbert]

On Tue, 19 Jul 2005 14:22:38 -0700, "felix" <felix8470@comcast.net>
wrote:

Recent posts about dogs emitting RF reminded me of something that happened
to me almost 40 years ago. I was a newly hired telephone installer. It was
my first real job, and I thought I was a lot smarter than I really was.

I was given a trouble report, which stated that the woman's dog barked
excitedly whenever the phone rang. I immediately concluded that since dogs
can hear much higher frequencies than people, the dog was just reacting to
ultrasonic frequencies that came from the ringing bell.

I arrived at the house, and immediately changed the phone, thinking that her
old phone had some odd problem with the small brass bells inside. I dialed
the "ring back" number, and as soon as the phone rang, the dog barked, and
ran back and forth yelping outside the window.

After almost an hour of investigating, I found the problem. The installer
who originally installed the phone had ran the ground wire outside and
grounded it to a metal clothes line pole. The pole was set in concrete (not
a good conductor) and since the dog was attached with a metal chain to the
metal clothes lines, so it could move back and forth across the yard without
escaping, the ringing voltage (about 90 ac, as I recall) went from the
phone, to the pole, to the clothes line wires, and down the chain to the
hapless dog.

As I think back on it, the poor dog was (a la Pavlov) probably conditioned
to fear telephone ringing...

This is a common story told by the old techies from the 1950 - 60's in
Australia. Magneto telephone lines to remote outback cattle stations
hundreds of kilometers from nowhere were often provided by single wire
earth return PPE (part private erected) lines. The station owner would
often be responsible for 50km or more of his own line and in order to
save costs it was not unusual for part of the line to use the top
strand of a wooden post fenceline, right up the house where a flexible
lead-in would take it to the house connection point, usually
consisting of 2x3A fuses and carbon block lightning arresters in a
special connector. The techies would relate that when on service calls
to these places they often heard the house dog bark whenever an
incoming call came in. Upon investigating the cause they discovered
that the dog had been chained to the top strand of the fenceline.
Often, several customers shared the line as a party line so the poor
dog would get every customer's ring whether it was for that customer
or not. This is a true story.

 

[Spehro Pefhany]

On Tue, 19 Jul 2005 20:38:22 -0700, the renowned "Paul Hovnanian P.E."
<Paul@Hovnanian.com> wrote:

felix wrote:

[snip]

After almost an hour of investigating, I found the problem. The installer
who originally installed the phone had ran the ground wire outside and
grounded it to a metal clothes line pole. The pole was set in concrete (not
a good conductor) and since the dog was attached with a metal chain to the
metal clothes lines, so it could move back and forth across the yard without
escaping, the ringing voltage (about 90 ac, as I recall) went from the
phone, to the pole, to the clothes line wires, and down the chain to the
hapless dog.

The owner probably dosen't need the bell. Just listen for the dog and
answer the phone.

Kind of like the bird plant siren in _The Flintstones_. Speaking of
dogs, here is another sign that the Apocalypse is fast approaching:

http://www.speff.com/sauces.jpg



Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
--
"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward"
speff@interlog.com Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com

 

[Jim Thompson]

On Wed, 20 Jul 2005 12:09:05 -0400, Spehro Pefhany
<speffSNIP@interlogDOTyou.knowwhat> wrote:

On Tue, 19 Jul 2005 20:38:22 -0700, the renowned "Paul Hovnanian P.E."
Paul@Hovnanian.com> wrote:

felix wrote:

[snip]

After almost an hour of investigating, I found the problem. The installer
who originally installed the phone had ran the ground wire outside and
grounded it to a metal clothes line pole. The pole was set in concrete (not
a good conductor) and since the dog was attached with a metal chain to the
metal clothes lines, so it could move back and forth across the yard without
escaping, the ringing voltage (about 90 ac, as I recall) went from the
phone, to the pole, to the clothes line wires, and down the chain to the
hapless dog.

The owner probably dosen't need the bell. Just listen for the dog and
answer the phone.

Kind of like the bird plant siren in _The Flintstones_. Speaking of
dogs, here is another sign that the Apocalypse is fast approaching:

http://www.speff.com/sauces.jpg



Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany

My male Dachshund was getting rather porky, so I had to do away with
such frivolities. I now have him on Iams Weight Control ;-)

...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona Voice480)460-2350 | |
| E-mail Address at Website Fax480)460-2142 | Brass Rat |
| http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.

 

[Richard Henry]

"Spehro Pefhany" <speffSNIP@interlogDOTyou.knowwhat> wrote in message
news:ujtsd1l6p66oadqb7hoavtaljksadabt87@4ax.com...

On Tue, 19 Jul 2005 20:38:22 -0700, the renowned "Paul Hovnanian P.E."
Paul@Hovnanian.com> wrote:

felix wrote:

[snip]

After almost an hour of investigating, I found the problem. The
installer
who originally installed the phone had ran the ground wire outside and
grounded it to a metal clothes line pole. The pole was set in concrete
(not
a good conductor) and since the dog was attached with a metal chain to
the
metal clothes lines, so it could move back and forth across the yard
without
escaping, the ringing voltage (about 90 ac, as I recall) went from the
phone, to the pole, to the clothes line wires, and down the chain to
the
hapless dog.

The owner probably dosen't need the bell. Just listen for the dog and
answer the phone.

Kind of like the bird plant siren in _The Flintstones_. Speaking of
dogs, here is another sign that the Apocalypse is fast approaching:

http://www.speff.com/sauces.jpg

Actually, the apocalypse has already passed. If you can read this, you
weren't selected.

Meanwhile:

http://www.ideagrove.com/blog/

 

[Paul Hovnanian P.E.]

Spehro Pefhany wrote:

[snip]

Kind of like the bird plant siren in _The Flintstones_. Speaking of
dogs, here is another sign that the Apocalypse is fast approaching:

http://www.speff.com/sauces.jpg

The IAMS people don't do very good research on what dogs like. If they
did, they'd have a flavor of "neighbor's dog's butt", "cat", or "old
shoe".

--
Paul Hovnanian mailtoaul@Hovnanian.com
------------------------------------------------------------------
If your only tool is a hammer then every problem looks like a thumb.

 

[Joerg]

Hello Jim,

My male Dachshund was getting rather porky, so I had to do away with
such frivolities. I now have him on Iams Weight Control ;-)

If that turns out not to work well enough try "w/d". Usually only
available at the vet but it sure did help our big one. He went from
127lbs to around 90lbs which he should be.

Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com

 

[John Larkin]

On Wed, 20 Jul 2005 12:09:05 -0400, Spehro Pefhany
<speffSNIP@interlogDOTyou.knowwhat> wrote:

On Tue, 19 Jul 2005 20:38:22 -0700, the renowned "Paul Hovnanian P.E."
Paul@Hovnanian.com> wrote:

felix wrote:

[snip]

After almost an hour of investigating, I found the problem. The installer
who originally installed the phone had ran the ground wire outside and
grounded it to a metal clothes line pole. The pole was set in concrete (not
a good conductor) and since the dog was attached with a metal chain to the
metal clothes lines, so it could move back and forth across the yard without
escaping, the ringing voltage (about 90 ac, as I recall) went from the
phone, to the pole, to the clothes line wires, and down the chain to the
hapless dog.

The owner probably dosen't need the bell. Just listen for the dog and
answer the phone.

Kind of like the bird plant siren in _The Flintstones_. Speaking of
dogs, here is another sign that the Apocalypse is fast approaching:

http://www.speff.com/sauces.jpg



Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany

The trend around here is for pet stores to sell gourmet petfood, and
to offer samples to the (human) customers to try. You wouldn't want to
feed your cat anything that you don't like yourself, now would you?

John

 

[Meindert Sprang]

"Paul Hovnanian P.E." <Paul@Hovnanian.com> wrote in message
news:42DE8D6A.C429A6FE@Hovnanian.com...

The IAMS people don't do very good research on what dogs like. If they
did, they'd have a flavor of "neighbor's dog's butt", "cat", or "old
shoe".

Well, in case of my dog, it should be "cat's droppings".....

Meindert

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

Richard Henry wrote:

Actually, the apocalypse has already passed. If you can read this, you
weren't selected.

You have "The Apocalypse" confused with "The Rapture".

--
Link to my "Computers for disabled Veterans" project website deleted
after threats were telephoned to my church.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida