[inforoots] Carterphone

[Stan Sieler]

Re:

> Back in 1976, after the 1968 Carterphone case but before the
...

That reminds me ... Dave Crocket (R & D manager at HP in charge
of the HP 300 ("Amigo", circa 1978)) told me that he was the main
designer of the Carterphone.  He told me a story about the
trial when AT&T was suing them.  AT&T was claiming, in part,
that "foreign" equipment could damage the phone line or
the switching equipment at the other end of the line,
by putting too much voltage on the line.

The judge ordered that they take him, and an AT&T engineer,
and Dave, to a switching office where a Carterphone line 
came in.  They measured the line, and the Carterphone was within
AT&T specs for voltage.  They picked another line at random,
measured it ... and it had a high voltage, above AT&T specs.
The judge asked what was on the other end.  It was an AT&T modem!

Dave later donated his HP 300 to CHM (a year or so ago?),
but I don't know if he also donated his original Carterphone.

Stan