Telephony-66

My favorite number is 66. My favorite year is 1966. Growing up, I had a weird fascination with the telephone and tore out the page from our phone book that contained all the country and city codes, and learned which numbers I could call where I could hear the "this call cannot be completed" prerecorded messages (ala Kraftwerk's "The Telephone Call").

Last year upon mentioning this blog idea to a techy friend of mine who knew my fascination with the number of 66, he told me about this:

(from wikipedia)

A 66 block (also M-Block or B-Block) is a type of punchdown block used to connect sets of wires in a telephone system. 66 blocks are designed to terminate 22 through 26 AWG solid copper wire.

The 25-pair standard non-split 66 Block contains 50 rows; each row has four columns of clips that are electrically bonded.

The 25-pair "Split 50" 66 Block is the industry standard for easy termination of voice cabling, and is a standard network termination by telephone companies–generally on commercial properties. Each row contains four clips, but the left two clips are electrically isolated from the right two clips.

66 blocks pre-assembled with an RJ-21 female connector are available that accept a quick connection to a 25-pair cable with a male end. These connections are typically made between the block and the CPE (customer premise equipment).

Its a weird world.