september - october - Fort Sill

USE OF SIGNAL CORPS TRAINING MANUALS
desirable. In general, we use test points in their place, largely because we
do not have sufficient long circuits or personnel to warrant the installation
of the test station. Information on the subject, however, would not be
amiss. The use of Line Route Maps and Circuit Diagrams is for the same
reason (few long trunks) of doubtful value to the average lineman. But
certainly officers and noncommissioned officers should be more or less
familiar with them and able to construct them if necessary.
TRAINING MANUAL NUMBER 23
Telephone Switchboard Operator—Instructor's Guide
This manual contains much excellent information on installing, testing
and operating switchboards. Lack of familiarity with the advantages of
cable and terminal strips is responsible, it is believed, for the general failure
to use them with the switchboard. While they do add weight and at first
glance it would appear that their use unnecessarily complicates matters, a
little reflection will prove the opposite. Any officers who have used the
new type boards, made experimentally by the Signal Corps, will agree that
the weight gained by the addition of cable and strip is more than
compensated for by the ease of installation, operation and inspection. Its
use also adds greatly to the appearance of the installation. Since the
switchboard will in most cases be carried on a vehicle, there is really no
reason why it cannot be permanently installed in an improvised case
containing operators' phone, board, cable and terminal strip. The new
switchboards will be so arranged, and will have, in addition, a night alarm.
Of course the idea of the cable is to remove to some little distance, the
point where linemen connect in to the board and where they can test
without annoying the operator. The terminal strip, so far as we are
concerned, is to facilitate connecting in the lines—it is much easier to
connect to a terminal having wing nuts than to the terminal on the board
which requires the use of a screwdriver. While terminal strips, type TM-84,
are issued, it is perfectly possible to improvise more effective ones by
using the wing nuts which come with pistol ammunition boxes. For the
above reasons, Unit Operation Nos. 1 and 2, should receive attention. In
many of the unit operations, it will be noted that the operators set type
EE-64 is mentioned. This set is not at present issued to the Field Artillery
and there are no indications that it will be. However, by substituting for it
and the camp telephone wherever mentioned, the EE-5 telephone, and
making appropriate minor changes in the text where necesssary, it will
be found that the manual answers very well for us. Attention should be
given Unit Operation No. 8, Routing Calls and Use of the Traffic Diagram. A
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