Found this site last night while looking for phone ringing options. Real name is James (Jim) Gill. hdog was a nickname I picked up at Bell Laboratories.
I am a retired electrical/software engineer from Bell Laboratories. I worked on software for Electronic Switching Systems (1ESS, 1AESS, 5ESS, and AMPS/TDMA/CDMA cellular).
While thinking about my career in college, I looked into TV broadcasting, and lucked into a job in video control at KCMO-TV in Kansas City, Mo.
in the summer of 1967. Big old Ampex 2" videotape machines, etc. Had a great time, but made a choice to pursue being a 'classic' engineer.
Always had an inkling for the showbiz part though, as shown below.
I got into theater by auditioning and getting a part for a community theater in 1983. Done lots of community theater since. Also, due to my background was very interested in the technical side. So, lots of backstage work as well.
Our first show needed an on stage phone ringer, and the director had his own box. He also worked inside the AT&T system at that time, and was using a pbx ringer mounted in his own box. I later built something similar with some donated parts from my Bell Labs hardware friends. It has been used sucessfully for many shows.
While researching sound cue systems, I lucked into a sound board job at the Piven Theatre in Evanston, IL. Did two shows there, and one was using SFX brought in by the sound designer.
The same sound designer was looking to mic two actors on stage talking with each other on phones. We were discussing various ways of doing this, and I found this site, which obviously appeals to my interests.
Always interesting to see what is out there for on-stage phone action.
Also, while taking some community college courses on audio editing, I stumbled onto the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences student (I'm a 60 year old student!) program. Attended a seminar on jobs, and met with a few Chicago area tv engineering types. Also met
a few directors, and one allowed me to watch while he directed the news one evening. Fun to see what was the same from 1967 and what was different.
Recent interests are the public education of the digital tv transition, and the side effects of 16:9 vs. 4:3 production and the systems to help, like Active Format Descripton, and internal CATV distribution. I have a condo in Chicago, that used to have RCN cable, then switched to DirecTV. Our tiered wiring (non-home run) forced us to use a 'stacked' system. To get HD, we are now trialing a MFH-3 system which delivers HD over the existing CAT3 wiring using VDSLs.
So, sometimes I become the one-eyed man in the land of the blind. But I am searching for my own set of experts to help me. I hope I find some of them here.
I am a retired electrical/software engineer from Bell Laboratories. I worked on software for Electronic Switching Systems (1ESS, 1AESS, 5ESS, and AMPS/TDMA/CDMA cellular).
While thinking about my career in college, I looked into TV broadcasting, and lucked into a job in video control at KCMO-TV in Kansas City, Mo.
in the summer of 1967. Big old Ampex 2" videotape machines, etc. Had a great time, but made a choice to pursue being a 'classic' engineer.
Always had an inkling for the showbiz part though, as shown below.
I got into theater by auditioning and getting a part for a community theater in 1983. Done lots of community theater since. Also, due to my background was very interested in the technical side. So, lots of backstage work as well.
Our first show needed an on stage phone ringer, and the director had his own box. He also worked inside the AT&T system at that time, and was using a pbx ringer mounted in his own box. I later built something similar with some donated parts from my Bell Labs hardware friends. It has been used sucessfully for many shows.
While researching sound cue systems, I lucked into a sound board job at the Piven Theatre in Evanston, IL. Did two shows there, and one was using SFX brought in by the sound designer.
The same sound designer was looking to mic two actors on stage talking with each other on phones. We were discussing various ways of doing this, and I found this site, which obviously appeals to my interests.
Always interesting to see what is out there for on-stage phone action.
Also, while taking some community college courses on audio editing, I stumbled onto the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences student (I'm a 60 year old student!) program. Attended a seminar on jobs, and met with a few Chicago area tv engineering types. Also met
a few directors, and one allowed me to watch while he directed the news one evening. Fun to see what was the same from 1967 and what was different.
Recent interests are the public education of the digital tv transition, and the side effects of 16:9 vs. 4:3 production and the systems to help, like Active Format Descripton, and internal CATV distribution. I have a condo in Chicago, that used to have RCN cable, then switched to DirecTV. Our tiered wiring (non-home run) forced us to use a 'stacked' system. To get HD, we are now trialing a MFH-3 system which delivers HD over the existing CAT3 wiring using VDSLs.
So, sometimes I become the one-eyed man in the land of the blind. But I am searching for my own set of experts to help me. I hope I find some of them here.
