CARW: Bell's Nuclear-War Telephone Network

Fun fact about that air raid siren you were standing in front of, it’s made by Chrysler and sports a Chrysler V-8 331-CID Hemi Engine And the siren has a Decibel Output of 138dB at 100 feet, it’s definitely one of the most distinct sounding sirens so when you hear it go off you know exactly what siren it is by the tone of the wail!

i already loved this channel but the production quality has really gone up recently and I’m here for it!

"I am so proud I only got shocked twice"🤣 Got to love Sarah she has a way with words. Seriously this is one of the best technical channels on YouTube

1. Wow this was exactly the amount of information I wanted when I clicked the video 2. You’re on the top of my list for if I ever visit Seattle yet somehow I wasn’t subscribed to your channel‽

Bonus points for doing the "There are four lights" routine from Star Trek TNG. (Though it must be considered obligatory when actually talking about four lights!) 😁

There was a "Bells & Lights" box in the office of my elementary school, just outside the principal's office — where I often sat waiting to "discuss my attitude problem". I was fascinated by every part of it down to the Private Line sticker on the connector block.

The Defense Switch Network, the successor to AUTOVON, is still very much alive and well today! We even still have the same 4 priority levels (Priority, Immediate, Flash, Flash Override) that you can use on DSN calls.

I've been around telecom my whole life - my dad worked for Michigan Bell for 30 years - and I've always been a Civil Defense buff. This video is a double whammy for me!

Went to High School in the mid 1960s in Kenai , Alaska where there were White Alice antennas locted 25 miles north of town. I had a mobile CB radio in my VW bug and found that finding the sweet spot in front of the White Alice antenna allowed my to converse with other CB operators in Japan when " Skip Signal conditions were present.

Sarah is such a great presenter. You guys are making kick ass videos one after another. The museum is totally on my bucket list thanks to your videos.

Many places in “tornado alley” still maintain similar systems to this day. Here in Indianapolis they go off every Friday around 11 a.m. Instead of nuclear missiles, they warn people of dangerous weather like, as the name of the region may suggest, tornados.

Using the power supply for a piece of VoIP equipment to power up your vintage frame seems appropriate.

I wish I didn't have to cross an entire ocean to come visit this museum, it looks amazing. One day.....

I could spend day's at your museum and never run out of exciting things to learn about. I hope I can visit someday ❤

I went to school at Arizona State University in the late '80's. Every Saturday at noon, the air raid siren on the hill to the north of campus went off during its weekly test. Us dorm dorks referred to it as the "hangover check." This siren had a rotating horn assembly to extend the reach of audibility. As the siren went through the test, you could hear the sound volume (the actual volume, not warbling) change as the rotation came up to speed, became steady, then slowed back down to a stop. On particularly bad Saturdays, it would come to rest with the business end pointing straight at campus, so you got to listen to the siren at full volume until the siren itself finally spun back down. Great video. Thanks for the fantastic history lesson.

Slightly on a tangent, but the title reminded me of when I worked on the BT DDSN contract back in the mid 80s. The core network was based on 5ESS-PRX switches (CCITT signalling) as developed for the Saudi Arabia TEP4 contract. These switches were lacking Centrex features so when Mercury Communications bought DMS100 switches to offer Centrex to the financial businesses in the City of London, BT panicked!! They asked us to provide a switch (located in Baynard House) with Centrex. The only one available was a Bell standard switch used for 'nuclear attack hardening testing' by AT&T USA. This was shipped to the UK and attached to the BT network via 24 to 30 channel PCM converters. In the end it never went live and was used for test/training purposes #goodolddays

I also recall that there were "repeater" alarms placed in individual private homes, smallish furniture-like consoles that would ring shrilly in the event of an attack. They would be set off by the same signals you describe. Not sure how long that project lasted or how extensive it was.

your work is laudable, I was a wireman in the 70s doing summer jobs, then in the late 80s I won a heavily fought over government cable TV franchise for an area called Brighton in South England, with a US company called Cross Country Cable and we sold the franchise for broadband phones and TV to Nynex who then sold it to Cable and Wireless and eventually to Virgin..that was the beginning of the internet but predated it. Thanks for keeping the incredible museum going.....

Thanks for adding actual captions for the Deaf

I'm just think how that little maneuver @13:17 could have been enhanced with a properly timed slide whistle. Another fantastic educational video. Thanks and keep it up!