Advice..Pulse to Tone Converter..Old phones no longer work on Comcast...

[rp2813]

What about Rotatone?  They're kind of pricey but seems like they're still available.  I know they've been discussed on CRP in the past.

[Matilo Telephones]

Phonesweep, I'm having the same issues. A dialgizmo was the perfect solution for my customers. I cannot tell them to buy a panasonic 616 exchange. That is just silly.

I get a lot of questions from people about this subject.

For now I use an internal converter. I install it inside the rotary telephones myself. Great little thing, when it works. But it is a little querky and I have to spend a lot of time doing after care for the telephones I have sold to get it all working properly.

The Alldav site has been down for mainaintance for a couple of months now. Not very hopefull.

I have a OPW converter, external. But sofar I haven't gotten it to work properly. Even if I do, I wasn't easy. So chances are that is not an easy solution for my customers.

My last resort is a german manufacturer. Haven't tried their converter yet. It has the disadvantage that it has TEA-connectors and not RJ. So I'll need to adapt it or get adapter cables.

[trainman]

Its time to have the electronics experts disect the dialgizmo and rotatone and offer instructions and where to buy the components so we can build our own.

Or just pay to have a POTS line. But at some point the POTS will go away.

[Matilo Telephones]

There are plenty of sites who have instructions to build one. And sure there are other solutions.

But you are missing the point. These solutions are no good for the individual who doesn´t have a collection but just wants to use one restored Phone.

I cannot recommend my customers to go and use POTS. That is expensive and the company that runs is is not a nice company to do business with. It is bad advice.

[Matilo Telephones]

Well, I finally got some news on this subject.

A while ago I saw a German converter, but it had TEA-connections instead of RJ.

See here:

http://www.telefonmanufaktur.de/home/kon.html

Now a Dutch website has the same ones, but with RJ-connectors. So I´m going to try one of those.

Here is the link. Please note the word dialgizmo in it. The actual converter is not a dialgizmo. Also the pic has the TAE-connectors, but the text says it has RJ-connectors.
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http://www.phone-master.nl/Dialgizmo/DIALGIZMO.html

[phone-sweep]

Well, I was able to get my house put back on POTS and still keep U-verse for internet access.  They (AT&T) were kind enough to do the rewire for free I guess since I had just made the change to all U-verse and complained about losing the rotary dialing.  I did lose a $30/month discount for a year because of the switch back.  The installer sounded like he flipped a switch somewhere then spent a minute or two in the central box redoing the dedicated line I have for my computer.

At any rate, I'm still gonna hold out on the Chinese (or whomever) coming up with something that works like the Dialgizmo....  Something in the $20-$30 range would be nice....

In the meantime, I've started adding a note in my Ebay listings explaining the digital (dialing) problem to potential customers.  Hopefully, people will read it before they buy...

[Matilo Telephones]

I also warn my potential customers about the pulse-dtmf issue. Many people are not aware that it is there and not aware that it can be solved.

I´m going to try out these German converters. I´m in contact with the manufacturer now.

They are more expensive than the dialgizmo. That leaves me with a dilemma. At the moment I offer a built in converter at cost, 35 euro, for people who buy one of my phones. It takes me some time to install them properly and they are a bit querky, so some after care is often needed.

An external converter is more plug and play. Shall I increase my price for an internal converter to the level of the external one, so as not to encourage my customers to opt for the internal one?

[phone-sweep]

An external converter is more plug and play. Shall I increase my price for an internal converter to the level of the external one, so as not to encourage my customers to opt for the internal one?

I'm going to try to avoid the whole issue now that Dialgizmo is out of business.  In the states, that was my only option.  I've had new customers send phones to Steve Hilsz to have the dial calibrated (at my expense) only to find out later they were on digital lines.  A few customers have purchased the Dialgizmo on my recommendation and were satisfied with the result although myself, I probably would've been a little ticked to be out another $55.  I think I'm going to work up a webpage explaining the whole situation and options.  I think a lot of my customers are purchasing just for the décor...... And I want to make it clear before they buy that if they are on digital lines, that it will only be an extension phone - no dialing out.....

[poplar1]

Maybe there's a new market for non-dial phones, for people with VOIP lines.

I wish the XLink BTTN  Bluetooth Cellular Gateway had better transmission. It seems to work OK with rotary or Touch-Tone phones as far as receiving, dialing and ringing. Perhaps it's the cell "line" and not the BTTN that is at fault? I notice that gray-western is now modifiying an X-linx Box as a pay phone controller.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/301087987881

[Matilo Telephones]

Yesterday I had the chance to try out this converter from www.telefonmanufactur.de

It worked fine on my PBX and my outside line (VOIP, cable company, UBEE modem).

It is a bit pricy, though.

http://www.telefonmanufaktur.de/shop/product_info.php?cPath=35&products_id=111&osCsid=tghaovibqdg9mitj1redpa2606

[phone-sweep]

Looks like Dialgizmo is back in business.  Got this in the mail today:

Hi. Good news. Today after over 6 months of suspended sales we are now resuming sale. You can now order them direct from our website.


Regards Justin Vietz.

[BDM]

Yep they're back. Question, using this DialGizmo, is it real time? Or do you hear and have to wait for the return DTMF sound before dialing the next digit. Maybe a stupid question but their site says something about hearing the touch-tone after dialing.

[Matilo Telephones]

You'll have to wait for the translation. It is only for a fraction of a second and you'll hear the DTMF tone on the receiver.

However, it is possible to start dailing the next digit before the translation is made.

As I said, it is only for a very small moment. The dialgizmo responds very quickly and after dailing just one number you'll be used to it. It as virtually no trouble at all and it comes very naturally.

[BDM]

Got it, thanks Arwin.