Arthur_Axelrod.WBST128@xerox.com (03/02/90)
Does anyone know a source for a cordless portable hand-free telephone set? That is, a cordless portable telephone that has a headset-microphone rig rather than the usual handheld unit, and with a base unit that plugs into a standard POTS line, rather than cellular or anything exotic. Thanks. Art Axelrod Xerox Webster Research Center Axelrod.WBST128@Xerox.COM
tad@ssc.UUCP (Tad Cook) (03/05/90)
Art Axelrod asked if there is a cordless portable headset type phone that plugs into a regular POTS line. I am using one at work. It was made by Plantronics, then discontinued. I bought it from the DAK catalog. It was cheap! It works on the regular 46/49 MHz cordless phone frequencies. My boss and I got a pair on different channels, and hooked them up in parallel with the phones on our PBX extensions. The PBX is compatible with regular POTS phones. One thing to watch out for...computer RFI. You may have to get some ferrite beads and conductive paint to tone down the noise from PCs and terminals in the area. We find these very handy for roaming around the plant, so we can still answer calls quickly. It is very handy if I have to run down the hall to look up something in a file. I can keep talking to the customer all the way. Another handy use is just as a remote ringer. Sometimes the RFI is bad enough in the office that I can't have a really clear call when I am a long distance away, but the ringer still works. So on our ROLM PBX, I just walk over to any extension and dial the call pickup code, followed by my extension number. I confess....being a ham I could not resist modifying mine. The antenna is typical for a cordless phone....short. A quarter wave groundplane seemed like a good idea. A quarter wavelength antenna in the 46/49 MHz region is about 5 feet (quarter wave at 46.8 MHz). I opened up the housing of the base unit, disconnected the external antenna, and ran a five foot wire out that I taped vertically to the wall (used the same color wire that matched the paint!). Then I located the ground plane on the circuit board, and attached an external ground radial system. These are also 1/4 wave (5 feet) long. The base unit is on top of a metal file cabinet, next to the wall. I ran two radials, one in each direction, horizontally along the wall. Then two more ran out at angles across the file cabinet, with the ends taped down the opposite corners. This gives good ground coupling to the radial system, and makes for an efficient low-angle radiator. It also violates the FCC type acceptance. The range on this is incredibly good. The downside is that when the secretary in the next office turns on her computer, which is located directly on the other side of the wall from my base unit, it gets VERY noisy, unless I am withing 60 feet or so. The first day I had this arrangement, I took a walk way out into the woods, lay down in the sun, and took a few customer calls! Remember that cordless phone calls are NOT private! DAK still had the cordless LiteSet in their latest catalog. Have fun! Tad tad@ssc.UUCP ...uw-beaver!amc-gw!ssc!tad
jeh@simpact.com (03/06/90)
In article <4737@accuvax.nwu.edu>, tad@ssc.UUCP (Tad Cook) writes: > (complimentary things about the Plantronics cordless headset phone > sold by DAK) I have one too and I agree with everything Tad said. I did have trouble at first keeping the ear unit in my ear; the weight of the cord tended to pull it out, and furthermore tended to rotate the mic "boom" so it pointed too far downward for good voice pickup. I solved that by simply looping the cord over the top and back of the ear unit instead of just letting it hang; now the weight of the cord tends to rotate the boom up, where it belongs. Just one complaint: The hookswitch ("on/off" button) on the remote unit does not operate fast enough to allow a "hookflash", so I can't access most of our PBX system's fancy features. But for handling those long customer calls that involve lots of terminal use, reference to manuals, etc., it's great! And Tad is right about using it as a "remote ringer". I haven't modified the antenna on mine, and it can still punch through well over 100 feet worth of modern office interior space (many partitions built with aluminum 2x4s, lots of tall metal desk and file cabinet units, etc.) and ring the ringer on the remote *when I'm in the restroom surrounded on three sides by double-layer metal partitions*. Not bad at all, considering that DAK is selling these for $70 (less than the cost of a conventional cordless phone, and less than the cost of the same ear unit set up as a *wired* headset from Hello Direct!), and that DAK has a 30-day no-questions-asked return-for-full-refund policy. --- Jamie Hanrahan, Simpact Associates, San Diego CA Internet: jeh@simpact.com, | Future shock: A sense of bewilderment or if that fails, jeh@crash.cts.com | felt by those who were not paying Uucp: ...{crash,decwrl}!simpact!jeh | attention. -- Analog (Jan 90)