Black boxes on utility lines

Box #1 looks to be multi-pair phone amplifier, to keep the signal usable for longer distances.

#2, #3 and #7 are splice cans - They seal the cable after it's been opened for some reason - maybe the pole has been knocked down, maybe they just ran out of wire at that pole, maybe that used to be "the end of the wire", but development in the area has forced the phoneco to add another length of cable, or whatever. All three on telephone lines.

Can't make out #4 clear enough to say for sure, but it LOOKS like a Cable TV splice can, drop (or sometimes "breakout") can, or a combination unit that serves both purposes (essentially, a drop can is a splitter that allows access to the signal on the cable, though it might also perform other functions in some cases)

#5 looks to be on a telephone cable, and appears to be a different type (but same function) splice can. It might also be an amplifier or a breakout can (or both), but even after blowing up the shot, I can't tell for certain.

#6, also on a phone cable, looks to be a drop can feeding two customer lines. Basically the same animal as #4, but for phone, rather than cable TV.

It looks to me like this pole is set up with a "feeder" power line and disconnect, 3 large "local" telephone bundles (From the picture, I'd estimate each of them to be a 50-pair cable) and a fourth phone cable (the one with the amplifier) that's probably a long-distance bundle.

Don't take my word as gospel, though... I'm no lineman - Just a guy that's hauled a few of them around while they strung cables, and learned a few things in the process.

Thanks Don, that's a whole lot more than I knew before. One thing that bugs me about all this is that I doubt if anybody is keeping an eye on what's happening out there. Most neighborhoods aren't going to have underground utilities anytime soon. But demand for electricity, cable tv and Internet hookups is growing rapidly. So, I'm afraid we may have more & more of this "stuff" hanging on wires and poles, right outside our doors. The homeowner can plant pretty trees or whatever but they're going to have to compete with not-so-pretty stuff when you look up to take in the view.

I know, I know. They've already marked out with spray paint their plans for Operation Deforestation. I think they're now reviewing how Gen. Sherman dealt with Georgia in preparation for actually executing the operation.

In article , snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com (known to some as ghb624) scribed...

Don Bruder made some pretty good guesses. However, given my telecommunications (including Bell System) background, I'd like to offer some minor corrections.

Box #1 isn't for phone work, actually. It's an inline cable TV distribution amplifier, used to maintain signal strength. It's powered in an interesting manner, in that the DC source that runs it is phantomed on to the coaxial cable's center conductor. Yes, it is very possible to do that and not interfere with the RF signal.

Boxes 2, 3, 4 and 7 are all splice cases, used to protect a junction between two phone cables.

Boxes 5 and 6, especially 6, look like drop-wire distribution for the same phone cables. If you were to open one up, you would find anywhere from a 12 to 25-pair terminal strip spliced into the cable pairs running through the casing, and there would be service drop wires running from those terminals to the various homes being served.

That pole does indeed look crowded. Along those lines, I have a couple of guesses. My first would be that the local telco didn't plan far enough ahead for future growth in the area, and ended up simply adding extra cables piecemeal.

My second would be that you have multiple phone companies sharing the same pole. Since most utility poles are owned by the specific city they're in, utility companies pay leasing fees (usually per-mile) to said city for space on the pole.

I hope that helps. See what other interesting boxes you can find, and I suspect there's lots of folks who will help you ID them.

Oh, FWIW -- I've been out of telephone work for many years now, doing quite well in radio communications systems and general electronics.

Keep the peace(es).

Y'think? I ain't arguing with you, but the ones I'm most familiar with for cable use have always been much smaller - The size of a couple packs of smokes, or thereabouts - Barely a "fat spot" in the line.

If #4 is a splice can, then that poor cable has been through *HELL* at that pole, hasn't it? Two (or was it three? I'm not going to spend the (dial-up) time re-loading the picture for such trivia) splices in what looks to be less than 10 feet of cable isn't exactly "normal" OR desirable...

Much the same "first thought" I had.

Again, thanks (both of you) for the technical insights. The other part of this is more political -- getting into the question of how much stuff society is willing to put up with and have as part of the view when you look up in the sky. As new subdivisions are built, apparently a lot of this clutter is going underground. That's also being done as a retrofit process in older, ritzy neighborhoods. But in the vast majority of middle-aged, middle class neighborhoods it's not going to happen anytime soon (if ever). Some weeks ago I created and posted a pic to propose (partly with tongue-in-cheek) the idea of at least trying to make this apparatus a little prettier. Here's that pic:

In article , snipped-for-privacy@sonic.net (known to some as Don Bruder) scribed...

The newer ones are like that, yes. I've come across several older (but still serviceable) units at, for example, Boeing Surplus that look almost exactly like the unit in the picture, right down to the heat sink fins.

That's putting it delicately. It's entirely possible that someone who was not quite in their right mind at the time took potshots at the cable, with the extra splice case covering the repairs.

'Tis pretty ugly, yes. Ah, well... Remember, there's no mold like an old mold.

Keep the peace(es).

I happened to pass by that same pole today and a BellSouth repairman was working on some equipment right next to it. So, I took the opportunity to ask him about the paraphernalia. He essentially confirmed the comments above -- that box no. 1 is a cable system amplifier and all the others belong to BellSouth, either splice-cases or drop-wire boxes.

The CATV line amplifiers use 60 VAC fed from a pole or pedestal mounted CVT transformer. Some also have a UPS for standby power. The AC supply is normally 60 VAC at 30 A, and is fed from somewhere near the center of that section. The AC is passed through all of the housings, except at the borders of each section so that a single failure won't take down the entire system. The AC is also on the .500" feeders that supply the RF to the line taps that pass your home. been there, done that for United Video Cablevision in Cincinnati, Ohio, about 20 years ago.