Dialing Problems (Rotary)

[rinaldit2]

Hi All,

A rotary dial conundrum here that I'm hoping someone might be able to help me with.  I switched recently from Verizon to RCN, and my WE 300 could no longer dial out.  Still receives calls but when you go to dial, the dial tone just continues uninterrupted.  I called RCN and they assured me that my service should still be able to handle rotary phones.  I then tested a few other sets on the same line (WE and SC 500s) and – same issue.  Does anyone know whether there's anything I can do?  I searched through old threads and found some people having similar issues but couldn't find a resolution that looks like it quite fits this.  Any advice much appreciated,

-Tom Rinaldi, NY

[TelePlay]

If RCN accepts pulse dialing, the window of the pulse may be very tight (9.9 to 10.1 PPS) making it time consuming to get a dial speed adjusted to that window, if the dial can be adjusted like a 302, or the people at RCN may be just pulling you leg, lying to you. Even after cleaning, oiling and adjusting the governor on a 302 dial, I rarely get the speed right on 10 PPS, and it can then drift over time a few tenths of PPS.

Not familiar with RCN but you may end up having to install a rototone or a 616 or some other pulse to tone converter.

Other members will probably know better.

===================

Just read through a lot of the online information provided by RCN and could not find any claim that pulse dialing is supported. When I switched to AT&T Uverse, I lost rotary dialing but by said so in their advertising. Other VOiP providers say they do support pulse dialing. The absence of that in the RCN information (and there is a lot of it to read through) is suspicious. Their list of equipment supported is:

        Cable converter boxes
        Cable Cards
        Remote controls
        Cable modems
        Routers
        EMTA phone equipment
        Splitters
        Wires and cabling (coax, Ethernet, etc.)

and I don't see anything "old phone" in that list.

[19and41]

If all of your phones can't dial out it looks like your new service can't use pulse dialing.  You as TelePlay said, may need to get a pulse to tone converter.  There are types that can wire into a single phone and others that interconnect between your phone and the jack.  There are a number of threads on each of the types of converters and their characteristics.  The rep for your provider may not even know rotary phones access the line differently.

[andy1702]

I had a very similar problem to this with a Grandstream ATA. It turned out teh ATa was much more fussy about pilses than the POST used to be. Not only did I have to get everything very close to 10 pulses per second, the make / break ratio was also critical. The latter was particularly problematic because most of my phones are UK models and the ATA wanted the sligtly different make / break ration that is standard in the USA. Once all my dials were adjusted the problem went away. But only about 1 in 20 phones worked before adjusting.

One good way to test the system is if you can find a push-button phone that is capable of sending out pulse dialling. These pulses are normally generated electronically, so they should be spot on.

Rather than have to adjust every dial I now simply connect everything through a Panassonic PBX, which takes in pulses and sends out tones to the outside world. The PBX is not at all fussy about speeds or ratios.

[Babybearjs]

I'm so glad I have CableOne.... I don't have that problem.... all my phones dial out just fine....

[rinaldit2]

Thanks all for your input and ideas.  Sounds like this might be a tough nut to crack.  If I make any headway, I will reply here.... wish me luck,

-Tom.

[andy1702]

Good luck!

[19and41]

Just bear in mind that you may just need a pulse to tone converter.  There are several threads where folks have wrote about their experiences with the different types.