betterave
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Found this cool paperweight at a thrift shop.
As soon as I saw the Northern Telecom logo, I knew it was coming home with me. This used to be a major employer in my neighborhood. Their central exchange building dominates the skyline still, although its been thoroughly gentrified.
Side view. My question is: what kind of cable is this? The cable itself is about 10cm / 4 inches across.
Straight on side view.
Bottom feels like wood or melamine.
Derpy puppy tax (not mine, I dog sit sometimes) and messy living room (all mine). Most viral edit: thank you for all your informative and/or silly comments, much appreciate
tuffsmurf22
My dad worked for Norther Telecom for 35 years. Damn shame what happened to it and absolutely criminal how they reneged on paying out pensions while simultaneously giving million dollar bonuses to the execs tasked with tearing it apart.
usernametakenisthestoryofmylife
It's the forbidden sushi.
GlenL
That's the internet, Jen
76000BatteryLlamas
It's tower cable, like used at old cable headends. The coax go up the tower to sat feedhorns, the single copper is for rotation / lighting
TheS4ndm4n
TV + phone cable. Probably a main bus line between hubs.
Lassannn
That last one is a dog.
betterave
That explains so much.
CheeseborgarSoop
Slice of a heavy telecommunications line.
amp99
Shark chew toy.
zeusfdelta
I thought Surf Shark ™ was supposed to protect the Internet
TheChunguskaEvent
looks like a cross section of submarine cable
charondaboatman
This.
fformulaa
Is that the submarines cable that is used to make more submarines?
hackller
so! you have cable!!!
betterave
I do now.
Meatheadfromtheunknown
Tohru's tail meat.
richardstinks
I'm on the fence about it being submarine due to size. Data cables, possibly underground, but they don't seem hefty enough for the sea. Ya got some shielded coax, and the rainbow assortment in the middle looks like split pairs, and it's 14? So 7 pairs. I think.
You should look into asking Look Mum No Computer. He's a yootoober that does antique telecom and has revamped a whole mechanical system of such for his London museum, This Museum is Not Obsolete. He'd be a good source if you're UK.
betterave
Thank you ! I’m in Canada, but I’ll look them up.
trinxter
Now we know you have an original Van Gogh in your messy living room!
betterave
It’s actually a handmade copy (oil or acrylic, I can’t tell) of his last, unfinished painting. I found it, frame and all, lying in the rain on a lawn. I dried it as flat as I could, and it’s had place of honour ever since.
gablestout
Sounds like something someone with an original Van Gogh in their messy living room would say!
Vanamonde
Cross section of a long distance phone/internet cable. Probably for undersea use.
Freak0zoid
Before the sharks get to it.
playswithphotons
All that coax precedes the digital age, and is missing the armoring of a subsea cable.
chansuke
Coax is still very much used in the digital age. I'm looking at the coax cable plugged into my modem right now.
4vie
That there is a piece of an internet artery! :D
betterave
Or just phone/Tv and data packs ? I can’t tell.
4vie
Couldn't tell you, sorry.
jreno2360
Oh, that's a paper weight. You put it on top of loose papers like on a desk so they don't blow away.
betterave
Yup
BendadickCumabatch
This is likely an interexchange FDM cable (frequency division mulitplex), where the coax are waveguidds capable of carrying hundreds or a thousand analog calls in broadband, and the smaller cables, for out-of-band signaling for setting up connections. A page for tech, near bottom: https://www.ringbell.co.uk/ukwmo/Page256.htm
SkeetLord69
Looks like a paperweight made out of cross section of antique telecommunication cable. Illuminate it under a blacklight and I'll wager the clear resin will glow. It appears to have some age to it. A very cool thing indeed.
betterave
That company name is from 1976, but I have no idea about the cable itself.
chinesemario
shark chew toy
Spiffytown
This is the kind of thing junkies would set on fire to burn the plastic and scrap the copper. Had to label lots of spools of fiber with ‘THIS CONTAINS NO COPPER’
playswithphotons
That's mostly coax for the analog carrier systems before T carriers, I believe. Made for underground duct plant.
GeorgeCostabaplaps
The cable name would elude me, but from the looks of it, it's coaxial communication and control wiring for the coax signal being sent.
cosinewave
Piece of a telecom cable made for underwater applications.
LousiaTheCrunchCrunch
100% positive that’s a submarine cable. Signed- guy who is installing submarine cable 3 phase cable with 144 strands of fiber across lake superior from Bayfield to Madeline Island
playswithphotons
A submarine cable usually has a lot of armor strands surrounding the guts, which this one lacks.
VibratingNipples
close but no, this is what a undersea cable looks like. OP image looks more like AT&T Coaxial Cable Cross-Section
baals
An earlier one perhaps.
playswithphotons
This is an undersea power cable.
PanNonOpticon
It's a communications cable before fiber optic cables.
betterave
So. Much. Copper.
PanNonOpticon
There is a lot of that stuff abandoned in the sea. And buried in the ground.
Conz
It's too thin to be an undersea cable, the small wire bundles would also limit distance. This might be a link cable between like multiple city PBX's or a link between a PBX and like satellite dishes/antenna. The outer cables are coaxial so it's something analog :)
bellpushguy
PBX + Private Board eXchange for the non-dweebs.
ChloeRed
Doesn't have to be analogue with coax, it could easily be carrying TDM signals. Coax is good for distance.
Conz
Yea true, it's possible to multiplex on coax just like fiber. The principle is the same.
allenvasher3000
The closest thing I can find is at&t coaxial unit 22 cable
betterave
Oh wow, that’s very close ! Thank you.
allenvasher3000
Yeah apparently there why many prototypes & most telecoms developed their own
Jawesome19
That's a big piece of wire with more wires
betterave
Indeed it is.
sugarsharkshack
I think the purpose of the object is just as a paperweight, but a cool telephony history piece. Maybe for work anniversary/retiring employees/gifts for business contacts. That's why it's got a soft, protective base
betterave
I was really wondering about what’s inside. It’s a slice of telecom cable, but I can’t pinpoint the exact function, or age.
sugarsharkshack
I'm sure you've looked, but have you tried asking in a Nortel fb group? I'm sure this is from a cable upgrade and recipients would've known since it might've been tied to a project completion. It's beautiful tho, thanks for asking your question where I could see it :)
betterave
I have not. I avoid fb, but that’s enough to make me go there, just this once.
fformulaa
Quick question, i was told that electricity, and signals run on the surface of the wire. Why wouldn't they use stranded to increase the surface area of the cable?
Smidge204
What you were told is technically correct but misses a LOT of detail, and stranded wire would not help in cases where that effect matters.
ilikehornets
Stranded wire where the strands are not insulated from each other behaves like solid core wire in terms of skin effect. Coaxial cable needs a specific geometry to work so solid core is (always?) used, as the signal actually runs in the insulator between the core and the shield. Google coaxial transmission line and Litz wire
Hurro
If you wanna know more, look up skin effect. Essentially the magnetic fields push the conductive electrons to edge of the conductor.
Hurro
Stranded is worse for conductivity because you introduce gaps between each smaller conductor, where if it's pure copper it's as close as it
Hurro
Can get atomically. When you use stranded vs solid conductors you need to upsize your wire one size when using stranded over solid. The
Hurro
Trade off is flexibility and easier to install and work with.
humuhumunukuapuaa
Oh the horrible mess!!! I cannot even LOOK at that cable it’s so distressing! Thank goodness for that pupper to save the day
betterave
It’s a mess?
humuhumunukuapuaa
Only per your last note :). I had the same question when I saw someone else note the “messy” room. Looks great to me!
betterave
Oh! I thought you were referring to the cable. My bad