Return-Path: Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.7.4/NSCS-1.0S) id NAA00629; Mon, 19 Aug 1996 13:53:06 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 19 Aug 1996 13:53:06 -0400 (EDT) From: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu (TELECOM Digest Editor) Message-Id: <199608191753.NAA00629@massis.lcs.mit.edu> To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V16 #421 TELECOM Digest Mon, 19 Aug 96 13:52:00 EDT Volume 16 : Issue 421 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Northern Canada Exchange Profile (Dave Leibold) Setting Up Server - Requesting Advice (Mark A. Weiss) Re: Detritus of 708 Area Code Change (Allan Munsie) Re: Transfer Powerpoint to VHS (Greg Monti) Re: Cable Companies (Ed Ellers) Re: 1+ Dialing and How it's Billed (John R. Grout) Re: GE 916 Wireless Phone Jack System (Bill Newkirk) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Dave.Leibold@superctl.tor250.org (Dave Leibold) Date: 18 Aug 96 21:08:12 -0500 Subject: Northern Canada Exchange Profile Northern Canada NPA/NXX Profile 17 August 1996 David Leibold This is a list of NXX ("exchange" or central office codes) as used in various northern Canadian points. The Northwest Territories and Yukon points (switching to NPA 867) are listed, as well as associated northern British Columbia and Quebec points (i.e. those British Columbia points operated by NorthwesTel, those northern Quebec points operated by Bell Canada). 403/819/867 split (the territories): NPA (area code) 867 has been assigned for use throughout the Northwest Territories and Yukon. This will be in service as of 21 October 1997 and NPAs 403 and 819 will cease to operate into the territories as from 26 April 1998 and 867 (or "TOP" on the phone dial) becomes "mandatory" in the territories. Northwestel has set up a hotline to deal with the area code changes: 1 888 777.1867. A test number (867) 669.5448 will be in effect when the new 867 code is activated. 604/250 split (British Columbia): Northern British Columbia points operated by Northwestel will change area code from 604 to 250 beginning 19 October 1996. NPA 604 can still be used in parallel with 250 until 6 April 1997, at which time NPA 250 becomes "mandatory". Test numbers when 250 comes into effect will be (250) 371.0123 and (250) 371.0124. Contents: * 403 Northwest Territories (western part), Yukon * 819 Northwest Territories (eastern part) * 819 Northern Quebec (Nunavimmiitunut directory area) * 250 (from 604) Northern British Columbia * General Notes ----------------------------------------------------- -- 403 Northwest Territories (western part), Yukon -- ----------------------------------------------------- [These NorthwesTel points will be changing to the 867 NPA] 206 Trout Lake ; NWT; new as of July '96 360 Gjoa Haven ; NWT 370 Lutselk'e ; NWT; formerly Snowdrift 371 Edzo ; NWT; connected as Rae-Edzo 390 Teslin ; Yukon 392 Rae ; NWT; connected as Rae-Edzo 393 Whitehorse ; Yukon; formerly for Pine Point, see [note 2] 394 Fort Resolution ; NWT 396 Holman ; NWT 399 Tagish ; Yukon; also Marsh Lake, see [note 4] 536 Watson Lake ; Yukon 537 Pelly Crossing ; Yukon 561 Taloyoak ; NWT; formerly Spence Bay 573 Wha Ti ; NWT; formerly Lac La Martre 580 Paulatuk ; NWT 581 Wrigley ; NWT 587 Norman Wells ; NWT 588 Tulita ; NWT; formerly Fort Norman 589 Deline ; NWT; formerly Fort Franklin 598 Fort Good Hope ; NWT 602 Nahanni Butte ; NWT; new as of July '96 633 Whitehorse ; Yukon 634 Haines Junction ; Yukon 667 Whitehorse ; Yukon 668 Whitehorse ; Yukon 669 Yellowknife ; NWT 690 Sachs Harbour ; NWT 695 Fort Simpson ; NWT 699 Fort Providence ; NWT 709 Colville Lake ; NWT; see [note 3], new as of July '96 713 Snare Lake ; NWT 769 Pelly Bay ; NWT 770 Fort Liard ; NWT 821 Carcross ; Yukon; see [note 5] 841 Destruction Bay ; Yukon; also Burwash Landing, see [note 6] 851 Swift River ; Yukon 862 Beaver Creek ; Yukon 863 Carmacks ; Yukon 872 Fort Smith ; NWT 873 Yellowknife ; NWT 874 Hay River ; NWT 920 Yellowknife ; NWT 952 Fort McPherson ; NWT 953 Tsiigehtchic ; NWT; formerly Arctic Red River 966 Old Crow ; Yukon 969 Ross River ; Yukon; see [note 7] 977 Tuktoyaktuk ; NWT 978 Aklavik ; NWT 979 Inuvik ; NWT; NXX to be changed, see [note 1] 982 Kugluktuk ; NWT; formerly Coppermine 983 Cambridge Bay ; NWT; also Ikaluktutiak 984 Enterprise ; NWT 993 Dawson ; Yukon 994 Faro ; Yukon 995 Elsa ; Yukon; also Keno, see [note 8] 996 Mayo ; Yukon 997 Rae Lakes ; NWT ** Notes: [note 1] 403-979 Inuvik will need to have an NXX change as NPA 867 is established. This is because it conflicts with 819-979 Iqaluit which will become 867-979. Inuvik's new NXX is unknown at this point. [note 2] Some exchanges that had been listed for NWT have apparently been removed from service. Recent examples are: - 391 Lady Franklin NWT (test pack), now assigned to Red Deer, Alberta - 393 Pine Point NWT, now assigned to Whitehorse, Yukon - 777 Tungsten NWT, now assigned to Calgary, Alberta Some explanations for 391, 393 and 777: 391 was a code only used for calling cards associated with DEW Line personnel. These would be used for billing when placing calls with the Northwestel operator at Fort Nelson. These were replaced with 148-numbered cards in the early 1980s. 391 was retained as a "mark-sense" code for billing/ID purposes until it became obsolete circa 1990-91. 393 Pine Point has vanished. 393 has been assigned to Whitehorse since 1994 initially in service for "switched 56" services, then for Centrex and eventually for conventional lines. 777 Tungsten was decommissioned due to the 1989 shutdown of the tungsten mine in that centre. The exchange then only had two or three telephones in service and was eventually shut down two years after the mine shutdown. [note 3] The 1996 NWT directory has a page for Colville Lake. The catch is, there aren't any Colville Lake numbers to be found on it; just external numbers such as NorthwesTel contacts, RCMP, territorial services etc. 403-709 (to become 867-709) is the designated NXX for this locality. [note 4] 399 Tagish is the main rate centre. Marsh Lake is a remote Nortel DMS-100 type switch off Whitehorse exchange, established December 1989. Marsh Lake telephone numbers are in the 399-4xxx range. Tagish has all other ranges: 399-2xxx, 399-3xxx, 399-9xxx. Calls between Tagish and Marsh Lake are long distance, despite the use of the same NXX. [note 5] One pay phone and one or two business phones in Fraser, BC (approx 55 km from Carcross) are connected to the 821 Carcross exchange. Canada Customs for the Klondike Highway is based in Fraser. [note 6] Burwash Landing is connected to the 841 Destruction Bay exchange, albeit at an extra $4.19/month local service rate representing the connection distance to the central office. The two communities have local calling with each other. [note 7] 969 Ross River used to have a remote number series with Ketza River having the 969-7xxx number range. Long distance applied between Ross River and Ketza River. [note 8] Keno (or Keno Hill, or Keno City) has rural multi-party service off 995 Elsa central office. [note 9] Direct dial access is expected to two other communities in 1997: Jean Marie River and Kakisa. Assignments under NPA 403 may be needed if the introduction of these exchanges is prior to the activation of NPA 867. Umingmaqtok (Baychimo) is another place slated to have a direct dial connection. This is contingent on the installation of commercial power in that community, likely after NPA 867 comes into effect. ---------------------------------------------- -- 819 Northwest Territories (eastern part) -- ---------------------------------------------- [These NorthwesTel points will be changing to the 867 NPA] 252 Resolute Bay ; NWT 253 Little Cornwallis Island ; NWT 266 Sanikiluaq ; NWT 436 Nanisivik ; NWT 439 Arctic Bay ; NWT 462 Repulse Bay ; NWT 473 Pangnirtung ; NWT 645 Rankin Inlet ; NWT 793 Baker Lake ; NWT 857 Arviat ; NWT, formerly Eskimo Point 896 Whale Cove ; NWT 897 Cape Dorset ; NWT 898 Chesterfield Inlet ; NWT 899 Pond Inlet ; NWT 924 Clyde River ; NWT 925 Coral Harbour ; NWT 927 Broughton Island ; NWT 928 Hall Beach ; NWT 934 Igloolik ; NWT 939 Kimmirut ; NWT, formerly Lake Harbour 979 Iqaluit ; NWT, formerly Frobisher Bay 980 Grise Fiord ; NWT ** Notes: [note 10] 980 Grise Fiord was billed by Bell Canada as the world's most northerly exchange some years ago. Whether this accomplishment has been beaten is not known. ---------------------------------------------------------- -- 819 Northern Quebec (Nunavimmiitunut directory area) -- ---------------------------------------------------------- [These Bell Canada northern points are in Quebec and as such will not be changing to the 867 NPA] 254 Inukjuak 255 Salluit 331 Umiujaq 337 Kangiqsualujjuaq ; formerly Port-Nouveau-Quebec 338 Kangiqsujuaq 491 Aupaluk 492 Quaqtaq 496 Akulivik 633 Tasiujaq 922 Ivujivik 929 Poste-de-la-Baleine ; Kuujjuarapik 935 Kangirsuk 988 Puvirnituq ; was listed Povungnituk - Misspelled? Changed? ** Notes: [note 11] Interestingly enough, Bell Canada doesn't use the standard 310.BELL business office number in this region, but instead uses 811 (with the exception of 1-811 used in Kangiqsualujjuaq and Kangiqsujuaq exchanges). ---------------------------------------------- -- 250 (from 604) Northern British Columbia -- ---------------------------------------------- [These points will not be changing to the 867 NPA] 232 Toad River ; also Summit Lake (232-7xxx) 233 Fort Nelson ; new, cellular and Centrex only as of Aug. '96 234 Iskut 235 Telegraph Creek 236 Bearskin Lake 237 Bob Quinn 239 Good Hope Lake ; [note 12] 471 Fort Ware 771 Dease Lake 774 Fort Nelson 772 Wonowon ; also Upper Halfway, see [note 13] 773 Prophet River ; formerly referred to as Minaker 776 Muncho Lake ; also Mould Creek (776-7xxx) 778 Cassiar 779 Lower Post ; see [note 15] ** Notes: [note 12] 239 Good Hope Lake is local to Cassiar 778. This local connecion adds $4.98/month to local rates in Good Hope Lake. [note 13] 772 Upper Halfway (772-50xx), Wonowon (772-3xxx, 772-4xxx) 772 Wonowon is the main centre with numbers in the 772-3xxx and 772-4xxx range. Upper Halfway (772-50xx range) is a "Rural Serving Area", costing customers $41/month extra, but connected to the Wonowon switch with local calling between places. [note 14] Atlin (604-651, soon to be 250-651) is a northern BC Tel exchange, but listed in the Northern BC/Yukon directories for reference. [note 15] 779 Lower Post has locality with Watson Lake, Yukon (403-536) and an extra $2.91/month per line local service rate. ------------------- -- General Notes -- ------------------- Telephone directories for these regions are currently: - Yukon and Northern British Columbia (NorthwesTel) - Northwest Territories (NorthwesTel) - Nunavimmiitunut (Northern Quebec, Bell Canada) Phone book information was used in updating the above NXX listings. Prior to a corporate shuffle in recent times, the phone book areas were split along corporate lines: NorthwesTel areas (western NWT) had directories for Yukon/northern BC (similar to today) and a western NWT directory (their NPA 403 points). Bell Canada had one northern directory which consisted of its eastern NWT and northern Quebec points (their NPA 819 points). The Nunavimmiitunut phone book is small, but is tri-lingual (Inuktitut, French, then English). There were three introductory sections (one per language) and two sets of listings (one with the Inuktitut character set, and the other which was for French and English). NorthwesTel's Northwest Territories phone book had Inuktitut and English sections. The Yukon/Northern BC book is in English only. Phone bill forms are English and French in the Northwestel 403/604 (or soon 867 west/250) regions, and English/Inuktitut in the 819 (soon 867 east) regions. Printed details are in English in these cases. Disconnect notices are in English, French and Inuktitut. No other regional language such as Dogrib or Loucheux is used by Northwestel. Information compiled from various Northwestel, Bell Canada and other telco sources. Thanks to Geoff Capp and Ray Chow for additional info for this document. Fidonet : Dave Leibold 1:259/730@fidonet.org Internet: Dave.Leibold@superctl.tor250.org ------------------------------ From: mweiss7401@aol.com (MWeiss7401) Subject: Setting Up Server - Requesting Advice Date: 19 Aug 1996 00:08:06 -0400 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) Reply-To: mweiss7401@aol.com (MWeiss7401) Hello everyone, I'm seeking advice on setting up a server on the internet. The application is going to be field support, primarily. My job will be to build and administer the site. We plan to have e-mail support to field reps and clients, as well as ftp and www service to the reps, to provide and exchange information, software updates for the company's proprietary application, etc. Some degree of security will be needed for guarding against unauthorized access to certain file areas. My questions are as follows: What type of connection do we need to become linked to the Internet? (Some suggest 56K Frame Relay) What does it cost to get an IP address? What is the monthly cost of the data line? We're in a rural area. Does that pose a special problem to getting high speed lines brought in? Are there ongoing expenses to having an IP address registered on the Internet? Will a Pentium box with Windows NT Server provide adequate support for a small organization? How many users can a midrange PC handle concurrently? Can you list any additional issues/items I need to address with this project? Thank you for your assistance. Sincerely, Mark A. Weiss Media Consulting Services ------------------------------ From: allenm19@mail.idt.net (Allan Munsie) Subject: Re: Detritus of 708 Area Code Change Date: Sun, 18 Aug 1996 12:13:19 -0400 Organization: IDT Corporation In article , H.A. Kippenhan Jr. wrote: > We've just gotten our first notification here at Fermilab about switch > software updates that will change the SPID values on all NI-1 ISDN BRI > lines. As an example, the 5ESS that serves Geneva and the 5E Remote > Module that provides Centrex service to Fermilab will be upgraded on > Oct. 17. You may wish to enquire if any of the readers have the > complete list for the entire 708 (er, now 630) area code and would > care to post it? > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I live around here, and I don't even > have a copy of the 630/708 split which took place last week. I do not > know if Ameritech has even printed a complete copy of the list of > which prefixes go where for public use, but I suppose they must have. I work for a CAP in the Chicago area, and the talk around our office is that Ameritech has been quiet about the 630 change due to the problems that came down with the 847 change - people calling across the street and being charged long distance rates, etc. They want to make sure that the switches are handling things before the big media blitz. We'll probably see something around mid-October, near the end of the grace period. Allan Munsie ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Aug 1996 15:29:56 -0400 From: cc004056@interramp.com (Greg Monti) Subject: Re: Transfer Powerpoint to VHS On 15 Aug 96, blair@instep.bc.ca wrote: > Does anybody know how I can transfer a timed PowerPoint presentation > (version 7.0 running on Windows 95 on a PC) to VHS video? Resolution > should be 1024x768. I assume that what you want to do is to transcode the video of each PowerPoint still frame into several seconds (or minutes) of video which can be recorded and played back *readably* on a Canadian-US style VHS video tape recorder. You can't do it at that resolution. The "System M" (also sometimes called NTSC) television scanning standard used in the US and Canada (among other places) has 525 horizontal scanning lines, of which about 50 are not usable for video because they contain the vertical frame synchronizing signals. This means that 475 lines are usable, so the vertical resolution is 475 pixels. Horizontally across the screen, NTSC (being an analog encoding system) supports more than one resolution, depending on how good the equipment and transmission path are. For studio-grade professional cameras, video tape recorders and monitors, the horizontal resolution can probably approach 500 pixels per line. Once it has been broadcast over the air on a limited-bandwidth television channel, the horizontal resolution falls to about 300 or 350 pixels per line. VHS recorders are as cheap as they are because they remove even more of the video resolution, which the human eye finds acceptable. Once this video is recorded and played back on VHS, even at the highest speed, the horizontal resolution will be about 250 pixels per line. So your presentation will be blurred down to from 1024 (horiz) by 768 (vert) to 250 (horiz) by 475 (vert) pixels per frame. Yes, even though the TV screen is wider than it is tall, there are fewer pixels horiziontally than vertically. That's the black and white resolution of NTSC. The resolution of color NTSC is even worse. The human eye accepts a picture with blurry-edged color objects if the black and white outline of the object is relatively sharp. The color resolution in NTSC varies by what the color is. I think the finest color resolution is about 150 pixels per horizontal line. I'd recommend: - Restrict yourself to using only very large type, 50 points or larger, in any part of your presentation. - Limit yourself to about six lines of text per "slide" (you may have to divide complex slides into two or three simpler slides). - Make sure you have no small areas of color which are significant to the content. - Don't crowd together color characters with fine horizontal resolutions (The "Illi" in "Illinois" may come out looking like a rectangle of blurry color). - Avoid vertical stripes of any color, especially black and white (they cause flickering herringbone effects in NTSC). Look in the yellow pages to find a service house that can do the job of converting it to VHS for you. You may want to "test" their service out on your more complex slides (since they will be the most difficult to reproduce) before committing to the full job. Companies listed under "Slide Printing Services" may not be able to do the job themselves but could refer you to companies that can. Good luck! Greg Monti Jersey City, New Jersey, USA gmonti@interramp.com ------------------------------ From: Ed Ellers Subject: Re: Cable Companies Date: Sun, 18 Aug 1996 15:34:21 -0400 Organization: Mikrotec Internet Services, Inc. (MISNet) Christopher Wolf wrote: > On a (only) slightly related note, is it legal for a cable company to > tell subscribers in it's area that they cannot get one of those small > dishes to pick up satellite broadcasts? Says they interfere with > their satellite dish's pickup. The cable company that supplies to my > apartment complex (in Texas) made them sign a form stating they will > not allow anyone to use the satellite dishes -- that we have to buy > from them to get cable. This seems fishy to me. Anyone have some > facts? What often happens in these deals is that the cable company, when it is not required by its franchise to provide service to an apartment complex (or a new subdivision), demands such a clause in order to make the service available. The developer of course has to knuckle under, or else he'll be stuck with an apartment building (or subdivision) that 60% or more of Americans would not be willing to live in -- why move to Evergreen Manor and settle for a few off-air signals when you can live in Brookwood Estates and get cable? This is why, in the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the FCC was ordered to strike down such non-governmental restrictions on small satellite dishes, conventional TV antennas and MMDS antennas. They've done so for private homes, but the Commission is still wrestling with exactly how far to go with regard to apartments and condos. FWIW, DirecTV, USSB and (AFAIK) Echostar's The DISH Network are moving to make their service available in apartment complexes using a 2-3' master dish feeding every unit; Sony already has a system that will feed the signals, and those of a normal TV antenna or cable system, into each apartment through a single cable, using a small diplexer box connected to the DSS receiver. ------------------------------ From: grout@polestar.csrd.uiuc.edu (John R. Grout) Subject: Re: 1+ Dialing and How it's Billed Date: 19 Aug 1996 11:07:58 -0700 Organization: Center for Supercomputing R and D, UIUC In article psyber@usa.pipeline.com (John Cropper) writes: > On Aug 16, 1996 00:08:37 in article , > 'cc004056@interramp.com (Greg Monti)' wrote: >> John, you are implying here that the '1' dialed at the beginning of a >> long distance call chooses the *company* that carries the call. No. >> The company carrying the call is chosen by regulatory boundaries, by >> default carriers, and by 10XXX or 101XXXX codes. > Actually, in my case, Yes. If I dial intra-NPA to AC, as in your > example, using 345-xxxx, the charge appears on the LEC portion of my > bill. If I dial using 1-609-345-xxxx, it appears on the LD carrier > portion of my bill (or at least it has been appearing there.) > Of course, BA was also charging me for local calls to my neighbor > before they realized that my (new) local exchange was part of the same > Trenton calling area. > So is my experience a fluke, or is it policy to refer ALL 1+ calls to > my LD provider? It sounds like a clumsy way to provide choice of intra-LATA carriers ... but plausible enough. By comparison, the situation is much cleaner here in Illinois. At the best of the state PUC, this spring, Ameritech gave its customers the opportunity to choose an IXC as one's presubscribed intra-LATA carrier or to retain Ameritech (they had to reissue the notification a few months later after IXC complaints that the first notification was too slanted against choosing an IXC instead of retaining Ameritech). So, here in Illinois, if you don't dial a "10xxx" prefix, it shouldn't make any difference how you dial an intra-LATA toll call ... it should go to your presubscribed intra-LATA carrier. I can imagine things being much murkier in states where the concept of "local" calls is fuzzier. For example, from New York City, you can call anywhere in the NYC LATA except the few exchanges in Connecticut as a "local" call ... so what would presubscription to a carrier for intra-LATA "toll" calls _mean_ within NYNEX territory in New York state? What if you wanted to keep NYNEX for the closer rate bands, but use an IXC for the really far out ones? John R. Grout Center for Supercomputing R & D j-grout@uiuc.edu Coordinated Science Laboratory University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ------------------------------ From: Bill Newkirk Subject: Re: GE 916 Wireless Phone Jack System Date: Mon, 19 Aug 1996 09:55:59 -0400 Organization: Rockwell Avionics/Collins John R Levine wrote: > My one attempt to make one of those GE carrier things work was a > complete failure. I couldn't get it to work at all. In retrospect, I > think that the problem was that the house had a 220V feed and the two > places I was trying to use it were fed from opposite sides of the 220. > This is a problem you'll probably have in your apartment complex, too. > I'd bite the bullet and pull some real phone wire. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You know, the same thing is true for me > where 'wireless intercoms' are concerned. I have yet to find one that > works correctly with my electrical wiring here. They always have a small > hum in the background or never seem to transmit at all. PAT] You have to bridge the two sides of the transformer with a small value high voltage capacitor to let the RF across. The transformer's inductive reactance (2*pi*frequency*inductance) is very high at rf and acts to block the signal. I don't remember the values we used to use back when i was involved with a carrier current radio station in college. seemed like it was a 1000V cap (or maybe 1500 V) and on the order of 1 uF or so, maybe smaller. ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: Post Office Box 4621 Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 847-329-0571 Fax: 847-329-0572 ** Article submission address: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Our archives are located at mirror.lcs.mit.edu. 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A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V16 #421 ******************************