Fig. 327. Details of Lamp, Plug, and Key Mounting
[View full size illustration.]

Switchboard Assembly. The general assembly of the parts of a simple common-battery switchboard deserves some attention. The form of the switchboard need not differ essentially from that employed in magneto work, but ordinarily the cabinet is somewhat smaller on account of the smaller amount of room required by its lamps and jacks. An excellent idea of the line jacks and lamps, plugs, keys, and supervisory signals may be obtained from Fig. 327, which is a detail view taken from a Kellogg board. In the vertical panel of the board above the plug shelf are arranged the line jacks and the lamps in rows of twenty each, each lamp being immediately beneath its corresponding jack. Such jacks are ordinarily mounted on 1/2-inch centers both vertically and horizontally, so that a group of one hundred lamps and line jacks will occupy a space only slightly over 10 by 5 inches. Such economy of space is not required in the simple magneto board, because the space might easily be made larger without in any way taxing the reach of the operator. The reason for this comparatively close mounting is a result, not of the requirements of the simple non-multiple common-battery board itself, but of the fact that the jack strips and lamp strips, which are required in very large numbers in multiple boards, have to be mounted extremely close together, and as the same lamp strips and jack strips are often available for simple switchboards, an economy in manufacture is effected by adherence to the same general dimensions.

Fig. 328. Simple Common-Battery Switchboard with Removable Relay Panel
[View full size illustration.]

A rear view of a common form of switchboard cabinet, known as the upright type and manufactured by the Dean Company, is shown in Fig. 328. In this all the relays are mounted on a hinged rack, which, when opened out as indicated, exposes the wiring to view for inspection or repairs. Access to both sides of the relays is thus given to the repairman who may do all his work from the rear of the board without disturbing the operator.

Fig. 329 shows a three-position cabinet of Kellogg manufacture, this being about the limit in size of boards that could properly be called simple. Obviously, where a switchboard cabinet must be made of greater length than this, i. e., than is required to accommodate three operators, it becomes too long for the operators to reach all over it without undue effort or without moving from their seats. The so-called transfer board and the multiple board (to be considered in subsequent chapters), constitute methods of relief from such a condition in larger exchanges.

Fig. 329. Three-Position Lamp Board
[View full size illustration.]