HTTP 1.1/418 TeapotJun 22, 2023
Happy birthday to the 19" equipment rack, which turns 100 next month. From the July, 1923, Bell Systems Technical Journal: "All panels are to be of a uniform length, designed to mount on vertical supports spaced 19>< inches between centers. The height of the different panels will vary, according to the amount of apparatus in each unit, but this vertical dimension is in all cases to be a whole multiple of 1-3/4 inches."(p139 at https://archive.org/details/bstj2-3-112/page/n27/mode/2up )
BSTJ 2: 3. July 1923: Telephone Equipment for Long Cable Circuits. (Demarest, Charles S.) : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Bell System Technical Journal, 2: 3. July 1923 pp 112-140. Telephone Equipment for Long Cable Circuits. (Demarest, Charles S.)

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Show threadSimon BrookeJun 23, 2023

@rmd1023 I've never understood the logic behind either of those two frankly bizarre measurements, but I suppose we should not expect any rational dimensions to emerge out of the anglophone world.

We should just be grateful they didn't express it in furlongs.

Show threadDaniel Barlow
@simon_brooke @rmd1023 it's about a cubit, so maybe something to do with how storage was laid out on Noah's Ark. Strong "widths of two horses' asses" energy here ...

(I say "about" because like most measures from antiquity there seem to be a wide range of sizes of cubit)
Jun 23, 2023 at 7:34amWeb