duane@oddjob.uucp (Andrew Duane) (06/01/89)
OK, all you telecommers. Here's a bizarre little problem that happened at a friends house last night. Anyone got any clues? BACKGROUND: a single line house, in Newton, MA (617-244-XXXX), with 4 phones: 2 AT&T desk pushbuttons, 1 IT&T desk pushbutton, 1 Radio Shack cordless. PROBLEM: the 2 AT&T phones suddenly and simulatenously lost their ability to dial. They work fine for incoming calls, get dial tone, etc. Both other phones (and a spare IT&T from the car) worked fine the whole time. When you pushed a button, the dial tone went away while the button was down. Anyone got a guess? My friend is going to return the (leased) AT&T phones, to see if that helps. I will let you know if/when it is fixed. Andrew L. Duane (JOT-7) w:(508)-685-7200 X122 h:(603)-434-7934 Samsung Software America decvax!cg-atla!ginosko!duane 1 Corporate Drive uunet/ Andover, MA. 01810
eli@eecs.nwu.edu (06/01/89)
Andrew Duane describes a problem with touch tones at his friends house... the cause is probably a polarity change at the CO or somewhere else along the line... most modern phones can handle either polarity, but some older models must be wired for the proper polarity. you can probably fix the ATT phones by opening them up and reversing the tip and ring leads (the only 2 wires that do anything). this task is easier said than done for some people... i've messed up many a phone by trying to change polarity. (i'm color blind). -- Steve Elias -- (eli@spdcc.com) or (eli@chipcom.com) -- voice mail: 617 239 9406 [this number will change in June] -- work phone: 617 890 6844
dts@cloud9.stratus.com (Daniel Senie) (06/01/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0182m04@vector.dallas.tx.us>, ginosko!duane@oddjob. uucp (Andrew Duane) writes: > PROBLEM: the 2 AT&T phones suddenly and simulatenously lost their > ability to dial. They work fine for incoming calls, The problem is most likely due to the reversal of the pair. To check this, open one of the ATT phones and exchange the red and gree wires where they enter the phone and are first attached. ATT made the phones sensitive to the polarity of the phones once-upon-a-time. This allowed the RBOC to flip over the line to keep people who did not order Touch-Tone from using it. Of course the breakup changed all of that... If your friend does not pay for TT service (and nobody should have to...) then just reverse the pairs. Most other telephone manufacturers put a diode bridge in the telephones so that polarity didn't matter. The ONLY negative impact that I have found is that telephones with the diodes require modification to work on party lines. -- Daniel Senie UUCP: harvard!ulowell!cloud9!dts Stratus Computer, Inc. ARPA: anvil!cloud9!dts@harvard.harvard.edu 55 Fairbanks Blvd. CSRV: 74176,1347 Marlboro, MA 01752 TEL.: 508 - 460 - 2686
fel@ucsd.edu (Skip La Fetra) (06/01/89)
From the little that I know, it sounds like the polarity of the phone line became reversed. This affects some, but not most, touch-tone phones. I believe the ATT phones are among the ones affected. - Skip
ab4@cunicx.columbia.edu (06/01/89)
[Moderator's Note: Again, problem deleted. See first item. PT]
Depending on how the non-ATT phones are put together, iut sounds like your
line polarity may have been reversed. Flipping the line pair where it
comes into your home should do the trick.
NY Telephone did the same to me a few months back; I knew what had happened
but wanted to see what NYT would make of it. The lineman only tested my line
with a rotary test set (why, I dunno...) and they subsequently tried to bill
me for a needless service call. If that is the problem, it'll be a lot easier
to just fix it yourself.
ab4@cunixc.columbia.edu
ab4@cunixc.bitnet
{backbone}!columbia!cunixc!ab4wheels@watmath.waterloo.edu (Gerry Wheeler) (06/01/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0182m04@vector.dallas.tx.us> ginosko!duane@oddjob.uucp (Andrew Duane) writes: >PROBLEM: the 2 AT&T phones suddenly and simulatenously lost their > ability to dial. Sounds to me like the line polarity has been reversed. Some phones have rectifiers so they don't care about polarity, but others can't hack it and the keypad shuts down. That would explain why two phones work but two don't. -- Gerry Wheeler Phone: (519)884-2251 Mortice Kern Systems Inc. UUCP: uunet!watmath!mks!wheels 35 King St. North BIX: join mks Waterloo, Ontario N2J 2W9 CompuServe: 73260,1043
ben@sybase.com (ben ullrich) (06/02/89)
simple problem really: the polarity on the pair of wires for your line got
reversed. older pushbutton phones cannot deal with this very well; newer
ones (like the cordless) can.
...ben
----
ben ullrich consider my words disclaimed,if you consider them at all
sybase, inc., emeryville, ca
+1 (415) 596 - 3500 "skinheads are pinheads!" -- greg sullivan
ben@sybase.com {pyramid,pacbell,sun,lll-tis}!sybase!benlars@salt.acc.com (Lars J Poulsen) (06/02/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0182m04@vector.dallas.tx.us> you write: >X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 182, message 4 of 7 >OK, all you telecommers. Here's a bizarre little problem that happened >at a friends house last night. Anyone got any clues? >BACKGROUND: a single line house, in Newton, MA (617-244-XXXX), > with 4 phones: 2 AT&T desk pushbuttons, > 1 IT&T desk pushbutton, 1 Radio Shack cordless. >PROBLEM: the 2 AT&T phones suddenly and simulatenously lost their > ability to dial. They work fine for incoming calls, > get dial tone, etc. Both other phones (and a spare > IT&T from the car) worked fine the whole time. > When you pushed a button, the dial tone went away > while the button was down. It sounds like the CO is no longer accepting tone dialling on this line. On 5ESS exchanges, there is a status bit to indicate tone service, and if tone service is turned off, it will behave as you describe. The phones are okay. Tone dialling is an extra-cost option - $1/month/line in most areas. Most BOCs have implemented the blocking for subscribers that don't pay for it by now; used to work whether you paid for it or not, but they might start billing you if you used it. -- / Lars Poulsen <lars@salt.acc.com> (800) 222-7308 or (805) 963-9431 ext 358 ACC Customer Service Affiliation stated for identification only My employer probably would not agree if he knew what I said !!
hughes@bosco.berkeley.edu (06/02/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0182m04@vector.dallas.tx.us> the author writes:
[Moderator's Note: See first item for problem description]
Many AT&T phones will not dial when the polarity of the phone line
is reversed. Try switching the wires around, either at the incoming
junction (preferable) or inside the phone itself.
Eric Hughes
hughes@math.berkeley.edu ucbvax!math!hughesklb@lzaz.att.com (K.BLATTER) (06/02/89)
> PROBLEM: the 2 AT&T phones suddenly and simulatenously lost their > ability to dial. They work fine for incoming calls, > get dial tone, etc. Both other phones (and a spare > IT&T from the car) worked fine the whole time. > When you pushed a button, the dial tone went away > while the button was down. Since the AT&T phones are leased, return the phones and get new ones (I think at no cost). Since DTMF signals are generated by the phone set, the problem definitely sounds like it is the phones themselves. Kevin L. Blatter AT&T - Bell Labs
ellisond@asuvax.asu.edu (Dell Ellison) (06/07/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0182m04@vector.dallas.tx.us>, ginosko!duane@oddjob.uucp (Andrew Duane) writes: -> OK, all you telecommers. Here's a bizarre little problem that happened -> at a friends house last night. Anyone got any clues? -> BACKGROUND: a single line house, in Newton, MA (617-244-XXXX), -> with 4 phones: 2 AT&T desk pushbuttons, -> 1 IT&T desk pushbutton, 1 Radio Shack cordless. -> PROBLEM: the 2 AT&T phones suddenly and simulatenously lost their -> ability to dial. They work fine for incoming calls, -> get dial tone, etc. Both other phones (and a spare -> IT&T from the car) worked fine the whole time. -> When you pushed a button, the dial tone went away -> while the button was down. My guess is that your local phone company, for some reason, disconnected your 'touch tone' ability. Of course I am assuming that the other two phones that work are set on sending 'dial pulse' even though they're 'pushbutton phones'. If this was the case then the 'dial pulse' phones would 'break' dial tone and the 'touch tone' phones would not. Dell Ellison
dpe@uunet.uu.net (Donn P. Elggren) (06/17/89)
-> BACKGROUND: a single line house, in Newton, MA (617-244-XXXX), -> with 4 phones: 2 AT&T desk pushbuttons, -> 1 IT&T desk pushbutton, 1 Radio Shack cordless. -> PROBLEM: the 2 AT&T phones suddenly and simulatenously lost their -> ability to dial. They work fine for incoming calls, -> get dial tone, etc. Both other phones (and a spare -> IT&T from the car) worked fine the whole time. -> When you pushed a button, the dial tone went away -> while the button was down. The problem is this: There is not enough juice on your phone line to power the AT&T phones. I had this same problem. Thinking it was a problem with my new AT&T phone, I took it back to the AT&T store I purchased it from. I told the woman that I had installed the phone, it worked for a few days, then it wouldn't dial out, but I could receive calls. She gave me the above explanation along with a refund. Donn Elggren