Bt installing earth rod

[Hanch123]

Went to price a board change today, did the usual checks and noticed it had a tn-s and tt earth supply. Both met the required ze, however the customer claims that bt installed the earth rod years ago because his phones had stopped working and they said it was because the house had lost its earth, so they therefore installed a rod.
Now I'm no telephone engineer but this is news to me, just wondering if anyone could prove me otherwise, cheers.

 

[Darkwood]

Depends how your telephone set up is .... if it uses mains supply i.e. wireless connection then it will convert to dc SELV but in doing so requires to dump the waste to earth (designed leakage) if this is resisted in any way it can corrupt the electronics and cause interference..... too little info to say though.

 

[Geordie Spark]

Years ago when telephone lines were in short supply, BT (then GPO Telephones) used a system that allowed two customers to share one line. It was called Party Line (I think) and involved installing an earth rod at each of the shared customers premises.

Not sure if this is the case in this scenario though.

 

[PEG]

How old is the BT rod? Used to be common for them to rod an earth AND fit lightning protection,still fitted in my gaff although me pal who does fibre optic installs says its only a hinderance to broadband.

 

[Knobhead]

As Geordie said, at on point it was a GPO party line. I'd be surprised if the rod is more than 18" long.

 

[Geordie Spark]

As Geordie said, at on point it was a GPO party line. I'd be surprised if the rod is more than 18" long.

I remember seeing telephone blokes knocking them into the ground - my mate worked on the phones and I saw him do it - but I can't remember how long they were.

 

[MDJ]

I remember seeing telephone blokes knocking them into the ground- but I can't remember how long they were.

Around 5FT 9 is the average I think Geordie haha

 

[Geordie Spark]

Around 5FT 9 is the average I think Geordie haha

My mate was shorter than that and definitely suffered from "short person syndrome"

 

[MDJ]

My mate was shorter than that and definitely suffered from "short person syndrome"

LOL, I'd love to put a decent laughing my --- off smillie up fella, but there isn't none here haha

 

[Geordie Spark]

LOL, I'd love to put a decent laughing my --- off smillie up fella, but there isn't none here haha

Well you know Napoleon was a short --- and look what he was like.

I like your new sig BTW

 

[GLENNSPARK]

My mate was shorter than that and definitely suffered from "short person syndrome"

good for sending under floors then...lol..

 

[Geordie Spark]

Oh!! ........... Speaking of Napoleon, looks who's just arrived!!!

 

[Hanch123]

Ha, cheers lads. Never heard of party line before except the ones dirty old men ring. He said it was done not long after he moved in, and that was 1981, im not sure when gpo became bt, but quite interesting to know they used to do it. Cheers

 

[GLENNSPARK]

no...i look more like this:

 

[Geordie Spark]

Ha, cheers lads. Never heard of party line before except the ones dirty old men ring. He said it was done not long after he moved in, and that was 1981, im not sure when gpo became bt, but quite interesting to know they used to do it. Cheers

Yes, 1981 will be about right for party lines - I had one then, and it wasn't long after that they were discontinued.

It was a "workaround" to provide as many folk with phones as possible at a time when there was a shortage of lines.

They were a bloody nuisance because if the other person sharing the line was using their phone, you couldn't use yours, and was the cause of arguments between neighbours.

The problem was solved when the exchanges were converted from the old electro-mechanical stuff which took up a lot of room, to the the new digital stuff which needed a lot less room and freed-up a lot of floor space to install more equipment thus providing a lot more lines.