[BC] Undersea Cable

[R J Carpenter]

I think you'll find that the undersea cable was fed from a
constant-current source, not a voltage source. Earth-currents such as
induced by magnetic storms required a _very_ wide range of voltage
compliance to maintain the constant current.  Weren't the heaters in
series with the cable with some sort of by-pass in case the tube(s)
burned out?  The system was designed so that it would still work with
a certain fraction of the repeaters inoperative.

A ham I knew (W3GKP SK) had a meter between the ground side of his
phone line and his local ground. Significant magnetic storms would
create a voltage ... at which point he'd get on 2 meters to work
aurora.

bob carpenter