Long Distance, Please - a PDH Online Course for Engineers, Architects and Surveyors

Long Distance, Please

J.M. Syken

Course Outline

Through the viewing of several archival/documentary films produced in the 1930s/40s/50s, we examine the history of the development of long-distance telephonic communications in the United States.

We will also examine the technological improvements, starting in the 1880s and up to the early 1950s. This includes use of metallic circuits, the transposition principle, loading coils, phantom circuits, repeaters (using vacuum tubes and later transistors), improved wire, dial service, operator toll dialing, microwave transmission, radiophone, co-axial cable etc.

This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of the course materials.

Learning Objective

At the conclusion of this course, the student will:

Understand/appreciate the history of telephone service and need/development for long-distance telephone communications in the U.S.;
Understand/appreciate the technical obstacles needed to be overcome in the effort to extend telephone communications from coast to coast (trans-continental);
Understand/appreciate the technological advancements made starting in the late 19th through the middle of the 20th Century that made efficient long-distance telephony possible; and
Understand/appreciate how international telephony was made possible via technological advancements.

Intended Audience

This course is intended for architects, engineers and other design professionals.

Benefit to Attendees

The attendee/s will gain an intimate knowledge and insight into the background, history and technology of long-distance telephonic communications

Course Introduction

The course incorporates the viewing of several archival/documentary films showing through dramatic recreation, examples, models, diagrams etc. the history and development of long-distance communication in the United States..

Course Content

TITLE: A Continent is Bridged – Part 1 (1940)
LINK: http://archive.org/details/gov.archives.arc.89093.r1
DURATION: 09:09
TITLE: A Continent is Bridged – Part 2 (1940)
LINK: http://archive.org/details/gov.archives.arc.89093.r2
DURATION: 07:43
TITLE: A Continent is Bridged – Part 3 (1940)
LINK: http://archive.org/details/gov.archives.arc.89093.r3
DURATION: 11:15
TITLE: A Continent is Bridged – Part 4 (1940)
LINK: http://archive.org/details/gov.archives.arc.89093.r4
DURATION: 11:28
TITLE: Far Speaking (ca.1935)
LINK: http://archive.org/details/FarSpeak1935
DURATION: 11:11
TITLE: Long Distance (1941)
LINK: http://archive.org/details/long_distance
DURATION: 14:38
TITLE: Speeding Speech (ca.1950s)
LINK: http://archive.org/details/Speeding1950
DURATION: 10:06
TITLE: The Nation at Your Fingertips (1951)
LINK: http://archive.org/details/Nationat1951
DURATION: 10:53
TITLE: Story Without End (1950)
LINK: http://archive.org/details/StoryWit1950
DURATION: 18:32

Course Summary

When Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, he saw its great potential to connect human beings not just from one side of a city to another, but from one side of the planet to the other. His great dream would be realized and by the middle of the 20th Century, such communication was commonplace. It wasn’t any easy task, it took the best minds in science and engineering to overcome the formidable obstacles involved with sending a human voice via wire across a continent and the seven seas. With the problems came the solutions that would make long-distance communication as simple and easy as saying “Long Distance, Please.”

Related Links

For additional technical information related to this subject, please visit the following websites:

http://en.wikipedia.com/wiki/Long-distance_calling

Quiz

Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.

DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDH Center or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered architect and/or professional engineer/surveyor. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.