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Academic Question Regarding Old JK Color Code

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Banner1971

Technical User
May 22, 2013
28
US
I saw once on the web a complete chart of all the color codes of a 25 pair JK cable feeding a 1A2 station, prior to the BOGBS/WRBYV color code we are now all familiar with. It had the voice pairs, as well as lamps, grounds, etc. but now I can't seem to find it. I wish I had saved it at the time because it was hard to find. Does anybody know of such a reference?

You know the one, green/red; black/yellow; white/blue; brown/orange; and I think it gets non-standard after that. But anything semi-official would satisfy me.
 
Thanks for the replies to all my questions Tommy. That is an interesting page but unless I am missing it, it does not include the "JK" color code or whatever it was called. I was thinking of the one that we still see that rarely gets past green/red and black/yellow since that's all the 4 conductor cable has in it.

The chart I saw had them paired this way

1 green/red
2 black/yellow
3 white/blue
4 brown/orange

and after that it started to get weird because the various other wires were used for lamps and whatnot, and even common returns IIRC, but the color code bore no resemblance to the one we use now. The PDF you linked is the same basic color code as we now have but more complicated.
 
You are talking about "JKT" station wire. I've not see more than 4 pairs, like you listed. I'm sure there was, but I never dealt with it.

Jim

 
I agree. I have seen these 4 pair line cords and they are almost always with a black jacket and cat 3 only. Do not attempt to use for data.....you will be sorry.
 
The page that Southpaw46's link point to also lists the familiar "BOGBS/WRBYV"code.

I think the OP was looking for a chart that has Green/Red, Black/Yellow, White/Blue, Brown/Orange pairing.

I [love2] "FEATURE 00"
 
Here is what I think Banner1971 wanted. The Bell System referred to the old color code as the MD color code after they established the Even Count color code. The MD code did not pair leads as the Even Count does. For those that remember, on 1A, 1A1 KTS the lamp ground leads were tied to one lead, the [SL-BK]lead per set. The most conductors in a line cord then were 40 conductors. These were all spade tipped leads in those days before the Amphenol ribbon connectors were deployed in 1959/60 after they were successful on the Call Director® phones.

[tt] EVEN COUNT COLOR CODE
COLOR CODE Pin Pair MD COLOR
------------------------------------------------------------
W-BL WHITE-BLUE 26 1 GN
BL-W BLUE-WHITE 1 RED
W-O WHITE-ORANGE 27 2 BLK
O-W ORANGE-WHITE 2 YEL
W-G WHITE-GREEN 28 3 SL-BK
G-W GREEN-WHITE 3 SL-Y
W-BR WHITE-BROWN 29 4 WHITE
BR-W BROWN-WHITE 4 BLUE
W-S WHITE-SLATE 30 5 BR-GN
S-W SLATE-WHITE 5 BR-RED
R-BL RED-BLUE 31 6 ---
BL-R BLUE-RED 6 SL-BL
R-O RED-ORANGE 32 7 BR-BK
O-R ORANGE-RED 7 BR-Y
R-G RED-GREEN 33 8 BR-WH
G-R GREEN-RED 8 BR-BL
R-BR RED-BROWN 34 9 ---
BR-R BROWN-RED 9 SL-WH
R-S RED-SLATE 35 10 R-Y
S-R SLATE-RED 10 R-G
BK-BL BLACK-BLUE 36 11 R-BL
BL-BK BLUE-BLACK 11 R-BK
BK-O BLACK-ORANGE 37 12 ---
O-BK ORANGE-BLACK 12 SL-BR
BK-G BLACK-GREEN 38 13 G-Y
G-BK GREEN-BLACK 13 R-W
BK-BR BLACK-BROWN 39 14 G-BL
BR-BK BROWN-BLACK 14 G-BK
BK-S BLACK-SLATE 40 15 ---
S-BK SLATE-BLACK 15 BR
Y-BL YELLOW-BLUE 41 16 ---
BL-Y BLUE-YELLOW 16 ---
Y-O YELLOW-ORANGE 42 17 ---
O-Y ORANGE-YELLOW 17 ---
Y-G YELLOW-GREEN 43 18 ---
G-Y GREEN-YELLOW 18 ---
Y-BR YELLOW-BROWN 44 19 Y-BK
BR-Y BROWN-YELLOW 19 G-W
Y-S YELLOW-SLATE 45 20 Y-W
S-Y SLATE-YELLOW 20 Y-BL
V-BL VIOLET-BLUE 46 21 BK-W
BL-V BLUE-VIOLET 21 BK-BL
V-O VIOLET-ORANGE 47 22 SL
O-V ORANGE-VIOLET 22 BL-W
V-G VIOLET-GREEN 48 23 OR-G
G-V GREEN-VIOLET 23 OR-R
V-BR VIOLET-BROWN 49 24 OR-BK
BR-V BROWN-VIOLET 24 OR
V-S VIOLET-SLATE 50 25 OR-W
S-V SLATE-VIOLET 25 OR-BL [/tt]

Sorry about the spacing issue. Hope this helps!
....JIM....

 
Thanks for that posting. That looks like what I was remembering but I am 90% sure that the one I remembered did not have any spots missing and the first 4 pairs were G/R Bk/Y W/Bu Br/O. It also had lamp and switch hookups for the 1a2 type systems.

I bet that just tells me that there was no real standard before the modern color code came in.
 
On station equipment of the key phone type there were no missing conductors. The most conductors contained in line cords of the era were 40! The D40A line cord is an example, but most 564 series used the D30A line cord. Call Directors™ were just introduced in 1958, and would be the only exception, and the 6051 Separately Mounted Key Unit was not yet introduced. The leads are all there. Some wiring diagrams of the time did not put the lamp leads together with T/R/A/A1 leads (1A1 or 1A2), but showed them after the proceeding leads. The cross reference list I compiled above follows the Even-Count color code order, not the MD color code order. If you want the actual lead designations, I could easily add them for the 1A, 1A1 or 1A2 KTS. You are correct in regards to a standard. Different manufacturers other than Western Electric did use other color codes.

Hope that clarifies it!

....JIM....
 
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