[comp.dcom.telecom] DTMF Levels

euatdt@euas11g.ericsson.se (Torsten Dahlkvist) (08/10/89)

O.K. so now we've been given the frequencies for DTMF dialling. What no-one
has mentioned is the fact that the levels are crucial too. The one group
(the higher or the lower, I can't remember) is a couple of dB's louder.
This (as far as I can recall) is the same for Bell (U.S.) and CCITT
(Europe). However, the nominal levels for the signals are different in
Bell and CCITT countries. Bell, I think, is louder.

Somebody out there to fill me in? The figures were on the order of
-7/-9 dB for Bell and -11/-13 dB for CCITT, but my memory is very vague
on the exact values. Of course, a variation of a few dB's doesn't matter
much and a Bell phone usually works just fine in CCITT country (the reverse
would probably be true in most cases except very long lines).

Oh, by the way, the "dB" levels are of course weighted against the old
traditional "1 mW into 600 Ohms" standard, giving a reference voltage
of 0.7746 V.

Does anybody know why the 600 Ohm standard line impedance has been replaced
by "900 Ohm // 30 nF" for modern phones?

/Torsten

 Torsten Dahlkvist                        ! "I am not now, nor have I ever
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