General Information

Serial #

prototype

Part Number

1

Total Parts

1

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

Synthetic casing and speaker with metal microphone, wires, screws and connectors

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

30.0 cm

Width

21.5 cm

Height

14.2 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Communications

Category

Sound

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Nortel

Country

Canada

State/Province

Ontario

City

Ottawa

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Ontario

Period

ca. 1988-1989

Canada

Bell Northern Research, was the research and development subsidiary of Northern Telecom (later Nortel Networks) and Bell Canada. It was built by Northern Telecom at its Trans-Canada plant in Montreal. Northern Telecom and its predecessor, Northern Electric, was for decades Canada’s largest manufacturer of telecommunications equipment. Originally a subsidiary of the AT&T-owned Western Electric, for which it manufactured American-designed products for the Canadian market, Northern Electric became Canadian-owned in the 1950s and in the 1960s began to design and produce equipment to meet the distinctive needs of Canadian telecommunication companies. In the 1970s, through its new research subsidiary, Bell Northern Research, the company made a concerted shift from conventional analogue equipment into the emerging field of digital communications, becoming in the 1980s the first equipment supplier to provide a complete line of fully digital switching and transmission gear. During this decade the company moved aggressively into export markets, and opened manufacturing and R&D operations in several countries. The company’s sales soared during the internet boom of the 1990s, but a combination of poor financial decisions and a failure to maintain its technological edge led eventually to its bankruptcy in 2009. The original Bell Northern facilities were designed with cutting edge telecommunications research and development in mind with the first three buildings on the campus featuring laboratories, an extensive research library, and an anechoic chamber. The anechoic chamber was the focal point of the Bell Northern Research acoustics research examining both the technology and placement of speakers and microphones in telecommunication devices. The anechoic chamber group was organized under the Industrial Design and working together with design were responsible for the development of the acoustic properties of most products. (From the Acquisition Proposal, see Ref. 1)

Function

Used to test the microphone and speaker arrangement in an intercom telephone. (From the Acquisition Proposal, see Ref. 1)

Technical

According to David Cuddy, former director of the Nortel Acoustics Laboratory, this prototype was used to determine the acoustical properties of the intercom arrangement. To limit the acoustic interference caused by sound reflection and delay to the microphone, the microphone is placed close to the surface of the table. (From the Acquisition Proposal, see Ref. 1)

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

Handwritten on the proper bottom in black marker: "Rough/ Model/ # 2/ [signed initials]"

Missing

Appears complete

Finish

Predominantly white synthetic body with a black speaker on the proper front, and a silver coloured metal microsphone connected to red and black wires covered with a silver coloured metal mesh taped to the body of the model with black adhesive tape on the proper right. On the proper left there is a blue wire and a black wire coming out of the casing and connected to a black and silver coloured metal connector.

Decoration

N/A