wendyt@pyrps5.pyramid.com (Wendy Thrash) (10/12/88)
I'm the formerly happy owner of a Panasonic answering machine similar to one described in a recent article here. A week ago I moved to San Francisco. My phone line is the third one in the apartment, and the wires were apparently run by a friend of my roommates rather than by Pac Bell. My phone works OK in the new apartment, but my answering machine will not work; it answers the phone, jiggles its tapes a couple of times, and hangs up. I think the machine believes that another extension has been taken off hook, and courteously relinquishes the line. This would be a feature if, in fact, another extension had been taken off hook, but there is no other extension on the line. My answering machine works fine on my roommates' lines. Their answering machines work on my line. Short of trading machines or lines with one of my roommates, what can I do? Is my off-hook guess plausible? If so, how does the machine decide that another extension is off-hook; is there a possible wiring error that could confuse it? Is this a problem I'm likely to be able to fix (with some guidance from someone on this list)? Is it a problem the phone company is likely to be able to fix? (or willing, since they aren't doing interior wiring)? Thanks for any information/advice.
chip@vector.UUCP (Chip Rosenthal) (11/09/88)
In Telecom Digest #161 yrps5.pyramid.com (Wendy Thrash) writes: }I'm the formerly happy owner of a Panasonic answering machine similar to one }described in a recent article here. A week ago I moved to San Francisco. }My phone line is the third one in the apartment, and the wires were apparently }run by a friend of my roommates rather than by Pac Bell. My phone works OK }in the new apartment, but my answering machine will not work; it answers the }phone, jiggles its tapes a couple of times, and hangs up. There should be a switch on the bottom labeled "CPC" with two positions, "A" and "B". Normally, the machine is shipped (and works) with the switch in the "A" position. You might try switching it to the opposite position of whatever it is in now (meaning probably switching it to "B"). According to my Panasonic booklet for my KX-T1421, the switch is "Set to 'B' when some incoming messages are not recorded up to the end." }I think the machine believes that another extension has been taken off hook, }and courteously relinquishes the line. This would be a feature if, in fact, }another extension had been taken off hook, but there is no other extension }on the line. If this line works differently with CPC, this might explain your problem, and swapping the position of the CPC switch might solve it. }My answering machine works fine on my roommates' lines. Their answering }machines work on my line. Then again, maybe it's not the CPC. But it's worth a try! }Short of trading machines or lines with one of my roommates, what can I do? }Is my off-hook guess plausible? If so, how does the machine decide that }another extension is off-hook; is there a possible wiring error that could }confuse it? Is this a problem I'm likely to be able to fix (with some guidance }from someone on this list)? Is it a problem the phone company is likely to }be able to fix? (or willing, since they aren't doing interior wiring)? If you decide you need more help, you can call (800) 447-4700 (24 hours/day 7 days/week) to locate an Authorized Service Center in your area, or for technical information you can contact the Service Administration office in Cypress, CA at (714) 895-7438. Hope this helps! }Thanks for any information/advice. No problem! Hope you can get everything working ok... - ----- Steve Lemke ------------------- "MS-DOS (OS/2, etc.) - just say no!" - ----- Internet: steve@ivucsb.UUCP; lemke@apple.COM AppleLink: LEMKE - ----- uucp: pyramid!comdesign!ivucsb!steve CompuServe: 73627,570 - ----- alt.uucp: {decwrl!}sun!apple!lemke GEnie: S.Lemke - ----- Quote: "What'd I go to college for?" "You had fun, didn't you?"