I am Zoltán Drinóczi, [zoltan dreenotsee] I live in South-West of Hungary (Southern Transdanubia) near the Danube river in a small town: Szekszárd [sexared]. I finished the Tech High School of the Nuclear Power Plant of Paks . I have got there the final exam with electric technician diploma. After that I have finished the Budapest Tech College, I have got there Electric Power Engineer diploma. I plan go back to the nuclear power plant, because I know it and in my home area the engineer wages are few and here are not jobs! The nuclear power plant is my first way without move from my home. I have got the job from the in a good company, I work on substations, my job is the measuring of the protection automatics, control technics, measuring circuits, secondary tech etc.

I am 28 years old, I have been collecting insulators since.. maybe 23 years, I started it very early and alone.

I got my first Insulator from my gandfather. I don't know where is it from, he found it somewhere. Some people used them for paper-wheight. I was about 5-6 years old. This Insulator was a rare clear glass DG-3. Unfortunately it was total broken and I have been very cheerless. I liked and like see the telephone and electric poles when we went and go somewhere by car. My parentage knew this. My grandmother moved house and I was there. My father found a KT-150 Insulator with iron pin and he gived it me. I was very happy, you look on this photo with this Insulator. I was 8-10 years old, I liked loafed in the town and I found sometimes fallen poles or house demolitions and I found Insulators in the prairie. I could find porcelain Insulators only, because the glass ones are very rare here. The people was strange, they said: "Why collect I these somethings, am I stupid? What can you use them for?" They didn't understand my feeling. I went to high school and I to knew the Internet there. I searched pictures about American poles because I am interested in the construction of poles and the old telephone and electric lines. I found the www.insulators.info page. At the moment I admired the screen without moving and I freezed than the Windows 98. I was very happy, I am not alone with this hobby, but I thought America is to far to me. I saved all pictures from this page. I began write emails to different adresses, I sent a message accidentally to ICON. I got reply from Lee Brewer first. He kept the first swap with me with a CD-162 Hemingray-19 at 2000. That Hemingray Blue CD-162 was my first American glass Insulator. I had many swaps at that time, but unfortunately it is very expensive. I cound sold some common pieces, and from that money I had the firt Insulator trip to Milan, Italy. Guido was there the first collector who I met with. Today I have about 1200 pieces Insulators are on my shelfes and my field. The best: My parents divorced from each other. We had to sell our big house because my mother had to pay out my father. My father has been good man, he has gived his money part to me and my syster. That $6000 gived me $1500 interest from uncle-loan business and I could buy a wine maker farm.

I hear a story from the Romanian Insulators and telephone poles. It began at 1919. At this time in Transylvania the Hungarians built telephone network there with Hungarian technology. In the Romanian Kingdom were not telephone network, only some own telegraph lines near the railways. At end of the 1st WW, the Romanian Kingdom got Transylvania from Hungarian Kingdom, and some war contribution from the loser courtiers. Romania got lot of help from the Antant and from America. There an American company designed the telephone network at this time. There the all technology were American design, the Insulators also. The CD-408 is American designed Insulator. They were manufactured in a Transylvanian town, in a glass factory. The American company built there a network, and destroyed the Hungarian network. (I looked some Hungarian Insulators on other poles and on some house caps.) The company went out from there, because of the communist nation came. The Romanian communist nation built there newer network. They were not interested in the technology, and they carried on the American technology. They built American style poles, but the Insulators were newer, the CD-445 and 446, They are European style "bell" Insulators. They were manufactured in the Transylvanian town, Torda "Turda".

About the Hungarian network: We build Telephone lines for 100 years, The Hungarians designed very hard technology. The poles are staying today, which have not been destroyed yet. Here is a big lowland, Hungary has not mountains, in Transylvania were Hungary's mountains. There live the best fir trees for poles. Hungary is lowland, here are not good firs. We used other trees for wood. That wood is weaker. It is not good for crossarm, and the pole need concrete guardian (foot), and iron arms. It is pity, because the wooden arm is cheaper than the iron, and I like better the American style poles :-) The designers did not like the glass, and the porcelain was cheaper. Here all telephone Insulators are from porcelain. This technology dead unfortunately. I saw a pole which burnt near the railway. On the pole were 4 live wires. The workers could not put back the crossarm, and they pot the wires on the pole without nothing, with wires.

In Budapest are the Hungarian Standard Depository (technical laws). There are descriptions from the all telephone services, poles, Insulators, arms etc. These are antique papers, and they are used nobody. 2 company used these norms, the Hungarian Mail, and the Hungarian Railways. They built alike telephone network. The Hungarian Telecommunication Company assumed the building from the Mail about 15 years ago. Today the telecommunication company are building everywhere its back cables, it has built yet open wires at 1988. Today the H. Railways are destroying its open wire network, because it built own optical cable network. The telecommunication company are not destroying its open wire lines, because it is not interest anybody. Now here are lot of telephone companies, but the old network is (was) the old Telecommunication company's own. Here are lot of people who like steal the copper wires. I Romania attitude is similar. But the railways there are using its open wire system, but they like destroy the also, because they are building new lines. There are rare the live telephone lines which are the telecommunication company's ones. I saw near the roads debris. The wires are stole, the lying poles also. The destroying are not interest anybody. In the towns the Home Rules are destroying them, and the road builders. I saw lot of poles which are staying alone, and very busy poles which have some black cables.

April 14, 2002

Zoltan Drinoczi