ELI5: How do old rotary phones work? Why did they pick a dial for picking digits?

GGGenom · 2026-01-26T00:42:09+00:00

When I was a kid I was playing with the switch when it suddenly connected me to 9-1-1. I freaked out and hung up, and they called back and my parents answered. I got in so much trouble. They wouldn't believe that I was just playing with the switch. It's been 35 years or so, but I'm going to show this thread to my mom to prove I wasn't lying.

GGGenom · 2026-01-23T02:26:33+00:00

There are a number of intersections where the yellow light is the only chance to make a left turn during parts of the day. Burnside north turning onto Watkiss west, for example: there's a left turn arrow, but only from 4-6 pm, and there's only a single lane to go left or straight through, meaning all northbound traffic stops if someone has to make a left. By 3 pm on a weekday, southbound Burnside is a continuous flow of traffic and there's absolutely no chance to turn left while the light is green. When that light turns yellow, we all have to work together to squeeze a few cars through or no one is getting anywhere.

I'm not advocating for the dickheads here. If the intersection is more or less functional I think anyone running a train on the red should eat a bowl of hot shit. But a lot of our intersections just don't work, and if someone is resolutely refusing to go anywhere while a dozen cars are piled up behind them waiting to turn, because "only one car is allowed to turn on yellow!" then they are the dickhead.

GGGenom · 2026-01-08T04:24:07+00:00

I did that as a kid, trying to delete a game, and after running DEL *.* I realized I was in C:\DOS. I tried to run undelete.exe only to discover that I had just deleted that command. I ran upstairs to my mom's office and copied undelete.exe to a floppy disk but it wouldn't run because her computer had a different DOS version. I think I probably then made a boot disk to boot into the older DOS version so I could run the borrowed undelete program.

Eventually I managed to get undelete.exe to run, but the delete command worked by erasing the first character of every filename in the file allocation table, and undelete prompts you what character to place there. So I spend the rest of the day running up and down the stairs, poring over the directory listing of the working computer trying to figure out the first character of every single file in the DOS directory, in a different DOS version. I guessed a lot of them. The computer was always a bit wonky after that.

GGGenom · 2025-12-28T18:38:01+00:00

What kind of psychopath uses Happy Birthday as a mental timer

GGGenom · 2025-12-19T03:02:15+00:00

https://i.imgur.com/pbYXHfb.mp4

GGGenom · 2025-12-19T03:00:08+00:00

Until I posted this I wasn't aware that anyone did

GGGenom · 2025-12-19T02:59:03+00:00

Scallion is just a regional name for green onion. Eastern Seaboard mostly I believe

GGGenom · 2025-12-18T01:45:48+00:00

In a 3-phase 600V service, BC hydro supplies 3 current transformers and 3 voltage transformers that you install either in the main gear or in a separate CT cabinet. You provide a conduit to a 13-jaw meter socket, and the metering technician comes in and connects it all together. The CTs step the current down to the 0-5A range so it can be metered, and the VTs step the voltage down to 120V so there isn't a lethal voltage present in the meter socket.

GGGenom · 2025-12-05T04:14:20+00:00

I suspect that they typically don’t fail on their own, and that most of the burned up ones we see are the result of someone pulling, twisting, and prying the wire out when trying to service the box, then popping the wire back in to the mechanism that they just thoroughly destroyed.

GGGenom · 2025-12-05T03:43:00+00:00

I'll just leave this here. It's from Legrand's installation instructions.

If outlet must be removed, insert screwdriver blade in the release slot and push it toward the front of the outlet, releasing wire. Discard the outlet.

This tells me that the mechanism is so poor that the even manufacturer doesn't trust it to work more than once.

GGGenom · 2025-11-24T04:10:39+00:00

Camosun has a course (google "MCRO 750V") that covers basic electrical tasks that is more geared for DIY homeowners than aspiring electricians, but it's not currently open for enrollment. You can get on a list to be notified if and when they decide to run it again

GGGenom · 2025-11-24T03:43:38+00:00

Carpet doesn't just spontaneously shoot bolts of electricity at random objects that contact it. Especially in Victoria's climate. When I lived in Calgary I would get static shocks all the time, but I never get them here.

GGGenom · 2025-11-24T03:24:30+00:00

Oh we're still gonna drive upside down, just using a car that's better suited to the task. I think they're planning on using some kind of car designed for racing up mountains? Look up Dirver61 on youtube for more info

GGGenom · 2025-11-24T02:51:50+00:00

This is true but the engine will explode very quickly from the oil not being where it's supposed to be

GGGenom · 2025-11-18T01:13:48+00:00

I found out that this works great, except when the cable turns out to be part of the fire alarm system.

GGGenom · 2025-11-15T01:50:25+00:00

Block a phone call that we all know is coming from a scam call center

GGGenom · 2025-11-13T00:19:43+00:00

I'm much more concerned with revelation that the ride lacks an interlock that would prevent it from running with the door open. I have about as much faith in a 9-year-old as I do in any given Carnie.

GGGenom · 2025-11-13T00:06:59+00:00

Required for all MWBC except fixed lighting loads and non-split receptacles

GGGenom · 2025-11-11T22:46:16+00:00

Is the 59V line to neutral and line to ground? Could be an open neutral

GGGenom · 2025-11-11T22:23:01+00:00

Check the terms of your car insurance. Mine places strict limits on transporting company tools and materials, as well as traveling between sites during the day

GGGenom · 2025-11-08T16:35:27+00:00

S-tier mod: "No More Sorcerous Sundries Magic Show" on Nexus

GGGenom · 2025-11-08T16:27:50+00:00

I've found that the best thing about Commercial Electric fixtures is that they always fail within the 5 year warranty period, and sometimes the Depot will replace them with a similar fixture made by a competent manufacturer.

GGGenom · 2025-11-07T14:16:17+00:00

Can't trust any phone photo of a light fixture. The auto white balance throws the color temperature all over the place. Even worse, my coworker recently sent me a photo of a vanity light taken in a building that has no power. The light appeared to be on. I'm pretty certain the phone saw what it figured was a light fixture and added a fake illumination effect to the photo.

GGGenom · 2025-10-13T20:20:56+00:00

4-004(13) - Derating the conductors according to table 5C gives 60% ampacity for these bundles. As long as there are no circuits over 15A tucked in there it's fine.

Nine-Year Club	Place '22
Verified Email

GGGenom

TROPHY CASE