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My dad is an elevator mechanic and just recently switched from Schindler to Thyssen Krupp. It's always boring to go see him at work now - all the new buildings as well as the modernized old buildings are almost exclusively switched over to digital systems. The old systems are incredibly interesting - huge cabinets full of relays! The smell of ozone and the sound of thousands of relays clicking in consortium is really enjoyable to see. Imagine the relay computer videos that come across here on occasion, but put in ten large cabinets of the relays and you get an idea of the sound.

Of course, touch the relay without a relay pick and you'll get a 120v shock :)

The stuff put together in the 80's is a combo of relay logic and old school processors, where you get to load the program in using paper tape!



Do you know of any videos where we can hear the sound of that many relays? I believe i've heard sounds similar to what you are describing in movies, but I'm not sure if those were the same thing, or if they were accurate.



Nice find - now imagine a machine room for a bank of 10 elevators :)


When I was a kid my father worked for Southern Bell. I used to go in with him on trouble calls to the local office and it was a building full of rows and rows of relays like those. Smelled awesome.


Search YouTube for "relay computer" for an example.




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