Postcard #1 - I must be crazy

I had an idea.

I'm a telecom/datacom/computer geek. I like tinkering. I like OSS. I even like Windows, at least Windows 2K/XP. Not a fan of Elmer F.U.D. - er, Steve Ballmer - or of Vista, but that's another discussion...

I like OSS telephony apps, specifically Asterisk and FreeSWITCH. I like playing with T1's. I work at a call center and I have T1's, PRI's, PBX cards, etc. to tinker with. It's fun, at least for us geeks. I have a few quad-T1 PCI cards, and they work very well, but they're limited to Asterisk right now. (Long story having to do with GPL...)

I wondered to myself if someone had created a USB T1 interface device. The answer is yes, but it's WAY too expensive for a tinkerer. I posted my question on the Asterisk user mailing list. To my surprise, a lot of people offered cool ideas for the use of a USB T1 interface device, but no one knew of any that existed. That's when it hit me:

I'll see if I can build one myself! Hence the title of this post.

This blog is dedicated to the relating of the details of my journeys through OSS software and hardware. I welcome any insights, anecdotes, offers of help, donations to help pay for my therapy, etc.

You are welcome to tag along. But please, don't let me hear, "Are we there yet?"

-MC