Payphones.

[KA5PIU]

Hello.

Anyone remember them?
I saw one in the downtown San Antonio area, picked up the handset, dead.
Walked by intercity bus station, not a pay phone in sight, but there is this charging station, a row of 110 and 12 volt outlets across a table.
Free WiFi the signs say.
Met my contact and we got into a taxi, 12 volt outlets everywhere.
Ride to meet another and I am left, later decided that I should take the bus, Mac with web access at this lightly furnished apartment suite, no food here so I find a place nearby.
This is a 50's motif place, see a payphone, decor only, does not work.
Jump on my bus, free WiFi, hit the web and make my schedule.
Back to the very intercity bus station I started with.
Get on designated bus and show the driver my netbook, the driver scans my display for the barcode, looks at my ID, and I am golden.
3 hours later I switch buses and am in Mexico.
I see payphones, hundreds of payphones, or at least a few. ;)
Pick up my package, read instructions.
Take coupon to a store and hand it to the cashier.
I go to store, pick out the fone I want, hand cashier the coupon and difference.
Charge fone at designated waiting place along with talkie.
Pick up second package, go to conference, leave.
Go back to designated waiting area, yet to turn on fone, walk 3 blocks, go to other payphone, leave handwritten note with payphone number.
Finally hear that I am to return to San Antonio, turn in coupon.
Have no coupon, buy extra SIM card kit, return to San Antonio.
Meet in San Antonio, give guy who was at apartment SIM card kit, leave.
Next day, frantic effort to find me, needs box. ;)
I say fine, give me new fone.
The bosses, not knowing what is going on, and not aware that all I gave him was a SIM card kit, have another meet me here in the US and get me a Walmart prepaid, we haggle a little on what I want.
He gets box, I get another fone.
Payphone, the portable edition. :mrgreen:
True story of what I do with my weekends. :clap:

[NQ6U]

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c79/bebop5/36d05b8d.png

[KG4CGC]

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c79/bebop5/36d05b8d.pnghttp://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c79/bebop5/36d05b8d.png
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c79/bebop5/36d05b8d.pnghttp://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c79/bebop5/36d05b8d.png

[WV6Z]

WART/IBTSS

[NA4BH]

Hello.

Anyone remember them?
I saw one in the downtown San Antonio area, picked up the handset, dead.
Walked by intercity bus station, not a pay phone in sight, but there is this charging station, a row of 110 and 12 volt outlets across a table.
Free WiFi the signs say.
Met my contact and we got into a taxi, 12 volt outlets everywhere.
Ride to meet another and I am left, later decided that I should take the bus, Mac with web access at this lightly furnished apartment suite, no food here so I find a place nearby.
This is a 50's motif place, see a payphone, decor only, does not work.
Jump on my bus, free WiFi, hit the web and make my schedule.
Back to the very intercity bus station I started with.
Get on designated bus and show the driver my netbook, the driver scans my display for the barcode, looks at my ID, and I am golden.
3 hours later I switch buses and am in Mexico.
I see payphones, hundreds of payphones, or at least a few. ;)
Pick up my package, read instructions.
Take coupon to a store and hand it to the cashier.
I go to store, pick out the fone I want, hand cashier the coupon and difference.
Charge fone at designated waiting place along with talkie.
Pick up second package, go to conference, leave.
Go back to designated waiting area, yet to turn on fone, walk 3 blocks, go to other payphone, leave handwritten note with payphone number.
Finally hear that I am to return to San Antonio, turn in coupon.
Have no coupon, buy extra SIM card kit, return to San Antonio.
Meet in San Antonio, give guy who was at apartment SIM card kit, leave.
Next day, frantic effort to find me, needs box. ;)
I say fine, give me new fone.
The bosses, not knowing what is going on, and not aware that all I gave him was a SIM card kit, have another meet me here in the US and get me a Walmart prepaid, we haggle a little on what I want.
He gets box, I get another fone.
Payphone, the portable edition. :mrgreen:
True story of what I do with my weekends. :clap:

I saw that on a movie the other night. Coincidence, I'm sure.

[KG4CGC]

I saw that on a movie the other night. Coincidence, I'm sure.
True story.

[n2ize]

Hello.

Anyone remember them?
I saw one in the downtown San Antonio area, picked up the handset, dead.
Walked by intercity bus station, not a pay phone in sight, but there is this charging station, a row of 110 and 12 volt outlets across a table.
Free WiFi the signs say.
Met my contact and we got into a taxi, 12 volt outlets everywhere.
Ride to meet another and I am left, later decided that I should take the bus, Mac with web access at this lightly furnished apartment suite, no food here so I find a place nearby.
This is a 50's motif place, see a payphone, decor only, does not work.
Jump on my bus, free WiFi, hit the web and make my schedule.
Back to the very intercity bus station I started with.
Get on designated bus and show the driver my netbook, the driver scans my display for the barcode, looks at my ID, and I am golden.
3 hours later I switch buses and am in Mexico.
I see payphones, hundreds of payphones, or at least a few. ;)
Pick up my package, read instructions.
Take coupon to a store and hand it to the cashier.
I go to store, pick out the fone I want, hand cashier the coupon and difference.
Charge fone at designated waiting place along with talkie.
Pick up second package, go to conference, leave.
Go back to designated waiting area, yet to turn on fone, walk 3 blocks, go to other payphone, leave handwritten note with payphone number.
Finally hear that I am to return to San Antonio, turn in coupon.
Have no coupon, buy extra SIM card kit, return to San Antonio.
Meet in San Antonio, give guy who was at apartment SIM card kit, leave.
Next day, frantic effort to find me, needs box. ;)
I say fine, give me new fone.
The bosses, not knowing what is going on, and not aware that all I gave him was a SIM card kit, have another meet me here in the US and get me a Walmart prepaid, we haggle a little on what I want.
He gets box, I get another fone.
Payphone, the portable edition. :mrgreen:
True story of what I do with my weekends. :clap:


Go up to New York and you'll find plenty of pay-phones. Matter of fact, just before I left NY for 4-Land I saw a guy having a lengthy conversation on a payphone. Yes, pay phones are alive...not as popular or necessary as they once were, but they still exist. Now... find me a working wooden phone booth with the switch for the light and the fan.

P.S.. How did you make out with your transport to Saudi Arabia ?

[KG4CGC]

In 20 years, the cost of a payphone call has gone up 1000%.

[NA4BH]

A government study shows that people that use payphones are winners.

[VE7DCW]

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c79/bebop5/36d05b8d.pnghttp://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c79/bebop5/36d05b8d.png
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c79/bebop5/36d05b8d.pnghttp://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c79/bebop5/36d05b8d.png

O.k. ...... i'll play too ..... my official WART

I just got plain dizzy reading Rudy's payphone diatribe....... you never have to worry about visiting weird and wonderful places,Rudy's threads and postings are all over the place ........next :nuts:

[KG4CGC]

A government study shows that people that use payphones are winners.
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c79/bebop5/0b929d4b.jpg

[NA4BH]

O.k. ...... i'll play too ..... my official WART

I just got plain dizzy reading Rudy's payphone diatribe....... you never have to worry about visiting weird and wonderful places,Rudy's threads and postings are all over the place ........next :nuts:

It's like a party in every bowl.

[NA4BH]

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c79/bebop5/0b929d4b.jpg

There's your proof. Payphones = Winners

[NQ6U]

Hello.

Welcome to Rudy World!
The normal rules of reality do not apply here.
You should be able to speak Arabic or Spanish, but you don't have to demonstrate that you can.
Helicopters are black and come with APUs and obsolete Motorola radios, standard equipment.
The Motorola radios have all been converted to use TV horizontal deflection transistors in their final RF stage.
Have fun!

[KG4CGC]

It's like a party in every bowl.
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c79/bebop5/drinks/7d76493e.jpg

[KC9ECI]

See them all the time. I live a few blocks from http://www.phonecoinc.com/

If that place ever catches fire I've instructed my family to evacuate at least 30 miles upwind. 4 stories and every inch is packed floor to ceiling. I used to fear getting lost in there doing fire inspections.

[KA5PIU]

Go up to New York and you'll find plenty of pay-phones. Matter of fact, just before I left NY for 4-Land I saw a guy having a lengthy conversation on a payphone. Yes, pay phones are alive...not as popular or necessary as they once were, but they still exist. Now... find me a working wooden phone booth with the switch for the light and the fan.

P.S.. How did you make out with your transport to Saudi Arabia ?

Hello.

Wooden pay phone booth, complete with the light as well as a fan that comes on when you close the door.
1, Union Stockyards, livestock exchange building, 2 in the basement, 3 on the second floor, 2 on the third floor.
2, Manor hotel, now apartments, 5 downstairs, 2 on the first floor.
Several of the old hotels still have the phone booths, but no phone, or in the case of the stockyards, house phones.

[W7XF]

WART

[W1GUH]

The ubiquitous pay phone. Where you can pay money and risk a disease in an attempt to achieve dial tone. But why would anyone want to pay money and risk germs doing something that they can do at home for free, and with no risk of contracting an illness? And probably with a higher dial tone success rate?

Some say it's the challange. Dial tone can be difficult to achieve with a pay phone -- and there are those who willingly go for the challenge. It may take them a while, and trying (and paying) this with several pay phones, but they say that once you DO achieve that dial tone it can be soooo satisfying!!!

[WØTKX]

http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/ksm/lowres/ksmn1503l.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3W6w-6Vctk


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3W6w-6Vctk

[rot]

Now I got my
WART with Tex Avery endorsement.
SpecialEventThread,NC
rot

[KA5PIU]

Hello.

The pay telephone.
Primary advantage was that for a few cents one could make a call, not a recurring monthly fee.
One had an untraceable number on tap at all times, and at hundreds of locations throughout the city.
So, what killed the payphone? deregulation.
Prior to deregulation, the local phone company maintained pay service.
Once deregulation hit, all of the juicy locations went first, but with bubba trying to maximize profits with inferior equipment.
After a while it got to where the public would seek out a "real" payphone.
Bubba was not happy, and a common thing was to take bolt cutters to the handset cable, to disable the good phones.
After a while, and with lack of proper servicing, payphones developed the reputation they have now.
Couple that with the newer technology, beepers being replaced by cellphones, and you have it.
Now, the beeper (pager) is back.
The old scheme of splitting up an area by area code and first 2 digits of an exchange no longer work.
So now, of course, it is done by zip codes.
90210 is one, 10162 is the most packed.
And kids run in packs.
Put them together and you have a definable area, a "Turf".
Drive around, ask the cops, see if you can identify the turfs in your area.
At one time the markers were payphones, can you guess what they are now?

[X-Rated]

Now I got my
WART with Tex Avery endorsement.
SpecialEventThread,NC
rot

I need to go through these posts and earn my WARQ. Worked All ROT's Quips. Yours are the best and I wish there were more.

Thank you Terry.

[KC2UGV]

Rudy, paygo cell phones killed the payphone.

[NA4BH]

Just like............. Video killed the radio star. Another victimless crime.

[n2ize]

Hello.

The pay telephone.
Primary advantage was that for a few cents one could make a call, not a recurring monthly fee.
One had an untraceable number on tap at all times, and at hundreds of locations throughout the city.
So, what killed the payphone? deregulation.
Prior to deregulation, the local phone company maintained pay service.
Once deregulation hit, all of the juicy locations went first, but with bubba trying to maximize profits with inferior equipment.
After a while it got to where the public would seek out a "real" payphone.
Bubba was not happy, and a common thing was to take bolt cutters to the handset cable, to disable the good phones.
After a while, and with lack of proper servicing, payphones developed the reputation they have now.
Couple that with the newer technology, beepers being replaced by cellphones, and you have it.
Now, the beeper (pager) is back.
The old scheme of splitting up an area by area code and first 2 digits of an exchange no longer work.
So now, of course, it is done by zip codes.
90210 is one, 10162 is the most packed.
And kids run in packs.
Put them together and you have a definable area, a "Turf".
Drive around, ask the cops, see if you can identify the turfs in your area.
At one time the markers were payphones, can you guess what they are now?

The beeper never went away. It is still used.

[n2ize]

Rudy, paygo cell phones killed the payphone.

The thing is they didn't. I still see lots of payphones in operation down here. They work and are routinely maintained. Not as many people use them but, evey now and then I'll see someone making a call on one.

[KC2UGV]

The thing is they didn't. I still see lots of payphones in operation down here. They work and are routinely maintained. Not as many people use them but, evey now and then I'll see someone making a call on one.

That's because everyone in NYC has an iPhone, which everyone knows is hardly reliable for calls :lol:

[rot]

I need to go through these posts and earn my WARQ. Worked All ROT's Quips. Yours are the best and I wish there were more.

Thank you Terry.

Thanks Jerry! Good to see ya back man.
Onward through the fog.
rot
Now back to your current postings in progress...

[KA5PIU]

Hello.

In San Antonio I was hunting for a functional payphone, nothing.
There are a few gas stations who have them but even that is just a select few.
And, beepers, by went away, try finding one at a nearby retail location.
At one time you could go into a 7/11 and buy a "beep-pak", a little box complete with battery that you could activate from the payphone out front.
Radio Shack sold pagers like they sell cellphones now.
In the mall the carts would sell pagers, and anything else you might want.
Walmart will sell you several flavors of phone, but no pager.

[n2ize]

That's because everyone in NYC has an iPhone, which everyone knows is hardly reliable for calls :lol:

I wouldn't be surprised. I still US a Verizon/LG flip phone I got years ago. Very reliable and does what I need. I don't need all the bells and whistles. Matter of fact I am one of the few people round here who often travels electronics free. It gives me the opportunity to observe and appreciate the world around me.

[WØTKX]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Qazaaq0msA


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Qazaaq0msA

[KA5PIU]

Hello.

Yes, the PA system!
Remember the larger stores with the coded chimes? ding,,,,ding ding ding!
Now, at a local burger joint they take your number, and text you when your order is ready!
But the thing that I really remember, what stood out.
One guy gets out of the pen, for dealing.
He moves into the downtown apartment building I live at, and sets up shop.
He has his clients meet him at the door, like a guy winding down from a high is going to wait. ;)
Anyhow, he is on the 5th floor, payphone has big mamma on it for an hour, so it never rings, and clients lining up outside.
The place had the thing where you call the apartment by pushing a button and it would ring by default the payphone or your phone if you had one.
Finally the police come and arrest 2 guys, go to the 5th floor and arrest big mama for warrants, go into the apartment in question and bust him for possession and parole violation, go back down and make some more arrests, and have cops wait the rest of the day.
That guy should have got a phone or dumped his girlfriend, big mama.
After he was busted he came back to find out that 3 people on the floor had phones. ;)

[n2ize]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Qazaaq0msA


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Qazaaq0msA

Top this...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAqFGop9gs8

[X-Rated]

Pee Wee's big adventure was one of the best films of all time.

[W7XF]

Pee Wee's big adventure was one of the best films of all time.

Till he got popped for playing with his wee wee xD :lol:

[KA5PIU]

Till he got popped for playing with his wee wee xD :lol:

Hello.

He was in an X-RATED Adult theatre when he was busted.
I look at that and have to say, why?
In the same era, in San Francisco there were bath houses where this went on en masse.
2 consulting adults, in the appropriate place? knock yourselves out.
I am on the same level with some drugs now, the cure is worse than the illness.

[KA5PIU]

I wouldn't be surprised. I still US a Verizon/LG flip phone I got years ago. Very reliable and does what I need. I don't need all the bells and whistles. Matter of fact I am one of the few people round here who often travels electronics free. It gives me the opportunity to observe and appreciate the world around me.

Hello.

Dual band phone, got one. ;)
We still have IMTS in Texas and I have 2 Motorola pulsars in the truck, one VHF half duplex as well as the UHF unit.
Long since the original IMTS we have authentication by way of a PIN.
The IMTS system will stay but will need to narrow band, again.