Lucent 7 R/E 5ESS Telephone Switch Rescue
4 days ago
- #vintage-tech
- #telecommunications
- #museum-project
- Successfully saved a Lucent 5ESS telephone switch, a massive logistical project.
- The 5ESS was installed at the University of Arizona in the late 1980s, serving over 20,000 lines at its peak with 35 years of uptime.
- The system underwent two significant retrofits, culminating in a Lucent-dressed 7 R/E configuration with an optical packet-switched core (CM3/GMS3).
- Moving the system required two 26' trucks, equivalent to nearly a full semi-trailer, and involved complex cable management and power distribution.
- The next steps include acquiring power distribution equipment and booting the Administrative Module (AM), a 3B21D computer running the rare DMERT or UNIX-RTR operating system.
- Plans to 'de-grow' the system, reconfigure it, and demonstrate POTS and ISDN voice and data services.
- Part of a broader project to build a computing and telecommunications museum, seeking collaborators.