mayer@rochester.UUCP (03/26/85)
From: Jim Mayer <mayer>
Most (all?) of the telephones I use produce loud, sharp, clicks while
making connections. I find the clicks very anoying, and often actually
painful. Holding the phone away from my ear works, but sometimes
(depending on the quality of the connection) makes it hard to hear when
the call is answered. Does anyone knows of a product or a trick that
might help?
I would think that a low pass filter could be fitted in the circuit
somewhere to deaden the clicks; if it interfered with voice quality too
much it could be set up with a bypass switch. Alternately, and much
more (too) expensively, I have heard of a black box that helps suppress
pops and scratches in old records -- it cuts them out of the signal and
substitues a snippet of the adajacent signal.
-- Jim Mayer University of Rochester
(arpa) mayer@Rochester.ARPA Department of Computer Science
(uucp) rochester!mayer Ray P. Hylan Building
(via allegra, decvax, or seismo) Rochester, New York 14627hollombe@ttidcc.UUCP (The Polymath) (03/26/85)
In article <7583@rochester.UUCP> mayer@rochester.UUCP writes: >From: Jim Mayer <mayer> > >Most (all?) of the telephones I use produce loud, sharp, clicks while >making connections. I find the clicks very anoying, and often actually >painful. Holding the phone away from my ear works, but sometimes >(depending on the quality of the connection) makes it hard to hear when >the call is answered. Does anyone knows of a product or a trick that >might help? A complaint call to your phone company should do the trick. Phones aren't supposed to do that and the phone company knows how to fix it (I think they install a capacitor somewhere in the handset). They should be sensitive to the problem as several people have successfully sued over hearing loss caused by this situation. -- -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- The Polymath (aka: Jerry Hollombe) Citicorp TTI 3100 Ocean Park Blvd. Santa Monica, CA 90405 (213) 450-9111, ext. 2483 {philabs,randvax,trwrb,vortex}!ttidca!ttidcc!hollombe
rfg@hound.UUCP (R.GRANTGES) (03/27/85)
[] The clicks you are hearing are most likely the result of battery reversals which sometimes occur when old, antique, non-bell switching equipment is being used. Like did where your phone resides recently purchase somebodies loss-leader PBX? What you need is not a low pass filter, because the transients may be 48-96 volt impulses, but rather something known as a click suppressor. I used to carry one around with me from phone to phone (even at Bell Labs they used to use old antiquated equipment in some locations). But modern phone designs incorporate these devices. I surmise that your phone itself is either non-AT&T or of a very old design. If it isn't, complain. If it is, you can try complaining. Maybe Radio Shock carries something useful. A click supressor amounts to two diodes pointing at each other, with relatively low reverse breakdown voltages. Thus they clip the tops off of spikes. I see I still have two in my desk drawer (not used for 23 years). THey are both Western Electric. One says: D166277 Varistor(2/53), the other says: 33L (Varistor, presumably)(6-57). You can see how old they are from the manufacture dates. They need to be installed across the earpiece, but this is accessible inside the base, or used to be. Unscrew your earpiece and see if there isn't one already hooked across the back of the receiver. If there is a funny looking metal thing shaped vaguely like a large aspitin tablet, that's it. Good Luck. -- "It's the thought, if any, that counts!" Dick Grantges hound!rfg
2141smh@rduxb.UUCP (henning) (03/28/85)
> A complaint call to your phone company should do the trick. Phones aren't > supposed to do that and the phone company knows how to fix it (I think they > install a capacitor somewhere in the handset). ... **** **** From the keys of Steve Henning, AT&T Bell Labs, Reading, PA rduxb!2141smh The "Bell phone companies" don't own, lease, sell, or fix telephones anymore in most places. Most leased "Bell" phones are actually AT&T phones and are usually handled in "AT&T Phone Stores". Most "Bell phone companies" charge about $25 to come out and tell you that the click is due to a faulty phone which they won't fix since it is not theirs to fix. For about 25 or 30 years Western Electric phones have had varistors installed across the speaker in the earpiece to limit the loudness of clicks. In fact we call this varistor a click reducer. If you have a Western Electric telephone without a click reducer, I would return it to the AT&T phone store to get one. One clarification, Western Electric is a trademark of AT&T.
gnome@oliveb.UUCP (Gary Traveis) (03/28/85)
> From: Jim Mayer <mayer> > > Most (all?) of the telephones I use produce loud, sharp, clicks while > making connections. I find the clicks very anoying, and often actually > painful. Holding the phone away from my ear works, but sometimes > (depending on the quality of the connection) makes it hard to hear when > the call is answered. Does anyone knows of a product or a trick that > might help? > > I would think that a low pass filter could be fitted in the circuit > somewhere to deaden the clicks; if it interfered with voice quality too > much it could be set up with a bypass switch. Alternately, and much > more (too) expensively, I have heard of a black box that helps suppress > pops and scratches in old records -- it cuts them out of the signal and > substitues a snippet of the adajacent signal. > > -- Jim Mayer University of Rochester > (arpa) mayer@Rochester.ARPA Department of Computer Science > (uucp) rochester!mayer Ray P. Hylan Building > (via allegra, decvax, or seismo) Rochester, New York 14627 What you really need is a thing called a DIAC. DIACs are used in all Bell phones. They are supposed to be connected across the terminals of the earpiece in order to clip all high amplitude impulses. DIACs are basically two low-voltage Zener diode hooked up contra-parallel. I am not sure where you cold find them in your area. Gary (hplabs,ihnp4,allegra)oliveb!olivee!gnome
rjk@mgweed.UUCP (Randy King) (04/07/85)
<><><> A varistor across the earpiece will attenuate spikes and prevent the loud clicks. All AT&T phones have this; either you've been bitten by the "ours is cheaper" sale, or your AT&T phone has been severely dropped a few times. Sorry for the stab; I couldn't resist. But a $4 phone is a $4 phone!! Hee hee hee. Randy King AT&T-CP@MG ihnp4!mgweed!rjk
mayer@rochester.UUCP (Jim Mayer) (04/09/85)
In article <16338@mgweed.UUCP> rjk@mgweed.UUCP (Randy King) writes: > >A varistor across the earpiece will attenuate spikes and prevent the loud >clicks. All AT&T phones have this; either you've been bitten by the >"ours is cheaper" sale, or your AT&T phone has been severely dropped a few >times. Sorry for the stab; I couldn't resist. But a $4 phone is a $4 >phone!! Hee hee hee. > Randy King > AT&T-CP@MG > ihnp4!mgweed!rjk > Or else AT&T makes $4 telephones and sells them for $50. Actually, I have noticed the problem with a brand new AT&T Trimline (I'll be returning it -- but it does seem well made), an ITT wall model (so much for dropping), a Northern Telecom wall model, and a Radio Shack basic rotary (about $30 1980 dollars). All of the phones that had twist off ear pieces (ie. all but the AT&T) have some piece of gadgetry across the earpiece, and at least one (the ITT) is a formerly leased phone. Furthermore, I used to use the Radio Shack phone in Connecticut and don't recall any similar problems. Since I notice the problem at several different locations I suspect that either Rochester Telephone (a non Bell company) produces truly horrendous clicks or that I haven't attended enough rock concerts to ruin my hearing. A couple of points: o I didn't notice any problem during a recent trip to New Jersey with a 20+ year old rotary and NJ Bell service. The phone had a dignus across the earpiece also. Perhaps NJ Bell's switching system doesn't produce the clicks in the first place? o Some of the people I talked to aren't bothered by the clicks. My hearing might be unusually sensitive in that range, or I might be unusually fussy. o The folks from Rochester Telephone will be taking a look Saturday. My thanks to the many people who took the time and effort to send me their polite, helpful, suggestions. I'll post the telephone company's findings when I get them. -- Jim Mayer University of Rochester (arpa) mayer@Rochester.ARPA Department of Computer Science (uucp) rochester!mayer Ray P. Hylan Building (via allegra, decvax, or seismo) Rochester, New York 14627