REMEMBER THE STORY OF
Don Quixote?
An ageless old world story: An elder idealist spends his golden years refusing to see the world for what it is, preferring to live out his chivalrous daydreams. He is, by definition, quixotic.
I find something warmly relatable in Don Quixote — being newly retired and somewhat of a relic in my field. It's fascinating, and heart-wrenching at times, to think about just how much our vital industry has changed since 1978 when I started. The span of my career has gone from rotary phones and party lines to 400 Gbps fiber-optic networks and digital soft switches. Yet I've thoroughly enjoyed remodeling my skill set at every transition along the way. So, in this new consulting chapter of my life, I choose to be adaptable and relevant, even if it means trading my wire snips for a slideshow clicker. I'm resisting [Ohms] the Quixotic. My services and experience are listed below. I look forward to hearing from you! – tim
TIM WILKINS
Communications Consultant
QuixΩhm Services LLC
Wyoming Low-Voltage Contractor
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SERVICES
• Communications consulting
• Customized training
‧ telecom
‧ standards and codes
‧ grounding
‧ engineering
‧ copper
‧ fiber
‧ DC Power
• Underground locating
EXPERIENCE
2019–present
Communications Consultant
QuixΩhm Services LLC
Self employed Communications Consultant offering evolving professional services such as:
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Training classes related to Copper and Fiber Network Best Practices, Grounding Bonding and Protection and Telecommunications Overview and History.
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Network Design and Deployment Assistance
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DC power system Design and Deployment Assistance
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Adjunct Instruction for LCCC Structured Cabling
2014-2018
Network Engineer
RT COMMUNICATIONS
In May of 2014, I was asked to fill the roll of Telecommunications Network Engineer for my company. My duties included CO translations on our MetaSwitch and Nortel DMS-10 switches, design and installation assistance for power and battery systems, switching, transport, access and CPE gear, technical support for numerous analog and TDM legacy platforms and OSP Engineering for four exchanges as well as design upgrades from Digital to Softswitches.
1994-2014
Combination Technician
RT COMMUNICATIONS
When US WEST sold several rural exchanges, including 23 in Wyoming, all four of the exchanges I cared for were sold to Range Telephone. I opted to stay in my community when I was given the opportunity to work for the buyer's newly formed RT Communications. I enjoyed helping start the company from ground up and oversee the upgrades to my four exchanges to fiber toll cables, EAS and a Nortel DMS-10 switch with three remotes. We were able to activate the new switches, 120+ miles of new copper and 80+ miles of new fiber in a flash cut, on schedule, with fewer than five cases of trouble. We had a great team and it was some of the best hard work I have ever been part of. For most of the time after the upgrades, I took care of the switches and two of the four exchanges including OSP engineering, construction and splicing, cable maintenance, step-by-step electromechanical, digital and IP Central Office I&R and translations, SONET Transport, Analog and TDM Access electronics, DSL, Coin, POTS, KSU and PBX, CPE. I have provided tier two technical support and training for my company, including fiber splicing and GPON installation and maintenance since 2005. I have engineered major GPON deployments and switch consolidations as well.
1988-1994
Facilities and Central Office Technician
US WEST
A season of changes. I moved my family to small town Pine Bluffs, Wyoming to raise my two children in the country and took a title called Service Supervisor overseeing four small electro-mechanical switches and four rural exchanges. I also did the tech work including aerial and buried cable construction and maintenance and customer premises work. With title consolidations by the newly formed RBOC, I opted to stay in the community as a Facilities Technician.
1978-1988
NOC Analytical Clerk
Customer Services Technician and Supervisor
MOUNTAIN BELL
Starting as a traffic analyst in the NOC at Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph in a time when Operators used cords to connect calls, I was able to serve consumers of voice and data communications in a variety of duties, including installation and repair work for residential, business and coin services. I also directly supervised crews for seven years in Cheyenne, Wyoming providing installation and repair of loop and carrier connections for all residential and business classes of service, including key, PBX and special services access data.
EDUCATION
1978–Present
Ongoing Industry Specific Training
TECHNICAL SCHOOLS AND
ON-THE-JOB EXPERIENCE IN:
Network Surveillance and Forecasting
Plant and Construction Operations OA&M
Special Services I&M and Design
Emergency Services I&M
E911 Conversion/MSAG NENA II Standards
Central Office I&M, Translations and Design
SS7 and LNP I&M, Translations
T1 & Fiber Transport I&M inc. DWDM
DLC Access I&M and Design Analog, TDM and IP
Wireless Basic Design PTP and PTMP
Central Office and OSP grounding and Bonding
Telcordia GR-1275
Power and Battery Systems I&M and Design
OSP Copper and Fiber Network Engineering
Management by Objectives
Class Information/Certificates and Annual Evaluations available upon request
1979-1999
Laramie County Community College
RELEVANT COURSEWORK
Microsoft Access
Local Area Networks I
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1975-1978
High School Diploma
EAST HIGH SCHOOL
Cheyenne, Wyoming
SKILLS
‧ Microsoft ExCel & Word - Advanced
‧ Microsoft Power Point - Proficient
‧ Microsoft Visio - Proficient
‧ MetaSwitch - Advanced
‧ Nortel DMS10 - Advanced
‧ SS7/LNP/TCAP - Advanced
‧ Fiber Transport & Access - Advanced
‧ GPON & AE - Advanced
‧ Copper Plant - Advanced
‧ OSP Engineering - Proficient (less CAD)
‧ Special Services & E911 - Advanced
‧ Analog & Digital Carrier - Advanced
‧ TDM/SIP/H.248/ISUP - Advanced
‧ L2 Networking - Proficient
‧ IP Unlicensed Wireless - Proficient
‧ Spanish - Basic Conversational
‧ Public Speaking - Proficient
‧ Develop & Conduct Training - Proficient
BIOGRAPHY
Community Involvement
Local church leadership
Lions Club
Hobbies and Interests
I married my High School sweetheart 47 years ago and we are both proud of our Western heritage. Both of our families homesteaded around the turn of the last century in Wyoming. Our kids and grandkids live in Billings, so we are quite connected to Montana as well. We love fishing and camping, hiking and biking, and I really enjoy carpentry, photography and astronomy.
What's Next?
Retiring from Telecommunications ILEC duties after 40 years of service in 2018 gives me the opportunity to do some new and exciting things while staying connected to the industry that has been such a large part of my life. I enjoy customizing training for folks who deploy and maintain networks, focusing on practical courses that teach theory, best practices and real-world applications of grounding, fiber and copper networks and DC power as well as Codes and Standards Training.
I have also been able to teach Structured Cabling for copper and fiber networks at the local Community College as an Adjunct Instructor.
My Contractor and State Electrical Licenses allow me to work for other contractors, ISPs and government agencies to perform underground locating on private networks, design and build fiber networks and install network remote sites including DC power and batteries plus a wide variety of networking equipment. I have been building fiber equipment sites for an ISP since March of 2023.