Robert Scott wrote: > > Years ago I researched the dialtone as a frequency standard. What > I found out was that although it may appear to be very close to > A-440, it is not guaranteed. And each central office has their > own dialtone generator. Right. It's called a ringing and tone plant. Most cities have the "new" dial tone (F and A) but not all. I just measured the local A and found it dead on at 440.00 according to RCT. The F, however, is 3 cents sharp (no Reverse Well in Santa Cruz). > So, the bottom line is that I would trust a good > tuning fork at a known temperature more than I would trust the > dialtone as a pitch reference. Okay but there are those battlefield situations where you are out of town without your tools, a piano needs to be tuned and only a tuning wrench is available. If that sounds far fetched, just such a thing happened to me last June in Yonkers, NY. And, yes, I picked up the phone for a pitch reference. Tom Cole, erstwhile Western Electric installer
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