Mark Bernay recalls his 'phone trips' from thirty-five years ago, activities centered around exploring the acoustic differences in payphones across small towns. This practice, common among phone phreaks, involved documenting the unique sounds produced by various switching systems. Bernay used a Craig 212 portable reel-to-reel tape recorder to capture these sonic artifacts for his friends.

His interest began in Los Angeles after moving between Pacific Telephone and General Telephone territories, revealing immediate variations in dial tones and signaling noise. Later, operating near Seattle, he discovered even greater acoustic diversity among independent local phone companies. He recorded these sounds by placing the microphone against the payphone's earpiece, avoiding pickup coils due to excessive hum.

Bernay stopped these excursions because modern telephony homogenized the sounds; today's ubiquitous systems offer little variation to analyze. The equipment has changed from analog tape machines to PCs on his desk, but the underlying motivation—examining network mechanics—persists. The entire practice offers a fascinating, analog glimpse into telecommunications infrastructure before digitization.

Although the accompanying photo shows another enthusiast, Bernay confirms that the featured gentleman, whom readers might recognize, did not participate in his specific audio collection efforts.