Telephone line simulators to run old phones as intercom?

[JonasClark]

I hope this is the proper forum for this question. I just joined.

I bought a Western Electric 302 at an auction. Took a bit to get it wired right, some former owner had disconnected half the wires inside, and someone (I suspect a later owner) stuffed a paper chart in there, with which they'd tried to figure out where everything went. Thanks to wiring diagrams I found, everything is now set right. Also, a neighbor is digging out some (I think 1960s or 1970s) rotary phones for me.

I have a few questions related to using this as part of an intercom system. I've seen several "telephone line simulator" devices for sale which supposedly connect two (or more) telephones to create an intercom arrangement, and send a ring voltage to operate the ringer of one phone when the other is picked up. My questions are:

First, are there any of these which will operate the electro-mechanical ringer on these older phones, as opposed to simply the electronic modern ones? I was looking at the "Qwikconnect" at sandman.com, its manual says it has 20hz for ringing (a site I found discussing this sort of thing says electronic ringers use much higher frequencies and some units may not handle old electro-mechanical ringer phones).

Second, can I double up phones? That is, assuming I have a working line simulator, can I plug splitters into the outputs, and connect two phones to each? What I'd like is to have both phones A1 and A2 ring when B1 or B2 is picked up, and vice-versa, and either A phone can talk to either B phone and vice-versa, and have enough voltage that both will ring. I don't need the capability of two simultaneous conversations (that is, A1 talking to B1 while A2 is talking to B2, etc.)

[Jack Ryan]

Welcome to the forum.

I bought a National Communications "Ring Master" of eBay for (I think) $20.

It has two phone ports and if I dial '0', the other phone rings. Dialling different numbers results in different ring cadences (distinctive ring codes).

I see no reason why two phones wouldn't work - but I haven't tried it.

Regards
Jack

[dsk]

Welcome to the forum 
Without knowing more about the unit, I have to say as Jack, Ill guess it works.

The 302 and most  later North American telephones has ringers with just a modest load at the line

Warning: This hobby is addictive, and when you first have got 2 telephones in the house they tends to breed! 

You'll better look for a Panasonic KXT 308, or 616 at once. These are simple and easy to use, and copes with touch tone and rotary.   

dsk

[JonasClark]

Unfortunately, I think the Panasonics are beyond my budget, they do far more than I need, and it says they require one phone with a built-in display so you can program them.

[unbeldi]

Unfortunately, I think the Panasonics are beyond my budget, they do far more than I need, and it says they require one phone with a built-in display so you can program them.

The standard configuration is fine for most purposes on the KX-T61610 and KX-T30810, especially if only a couple phone are connected. It becomes more of a requirement when you have 8 or 16 phones and central office line connected, because they will all ring at the same time when a phone call comes in from the CO.

Most telephone line simulators that I have seen cost about the same amount as the Panasonic systems.  A good Panasonic can often be bought for $20 to $30.

[twocvbloke]

I made a telephone intercom using a Linksys PAP2t VOIP adaptor (though there are cheap chinese clones out there that don't work properly so be careful), using an Instructables guide on how to set up the PAP2t box to act as a ringdown circuit, so lifting the handset of phone A rang phone B, and vice versa:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Hack-a-VOIP-Box-Into-a-Telephone-Intercom/

Simple and effective, and if you get creative, you can require the PAP2t to wait for you to dial a number for it to ring the other phone (I have one side of mine set to make me dial 4291 (Victor Meldrew's phone number from "One foot in the Grave") before it rings)...

[dsk]

Yes that works fine but only for touch tones, or with a dialgizmo on each line. I have used it. 
(Or you may set it up to ring the other line after time delay.)

dsk

[Owain]

(I have one side of mine set to make me dial 4291 (Victor Meldrew's phone number from "One foot in the Grave") before it rings)...

In the first series it was 770301.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0tiNwOpZ68 for anyone who doesn't know what we're talking about.

[twocvbloke]

In the first series it was 770301.

Yeah, I couldn't remember the first series number, but 4291 is one I remember well as I occasionally use it as a PIN number (not for banking though, just for mobile phone SIMs)... 

And funnily enough, I was going to post that clip of the dog-phone, best clip of the whole show...

[JonasClark]

Thanks for the discussion, though I'm not really finding out which ones will or won't specifically run older, electro-mechanical ringers. I've hunted for the Panasonics and have found only new ones.

I don't know any of the model numbers or devices being mentioned unless someone tells me what they are, and I don't have the know-how to chop-and-modify or build my own devices.

[unbeldi]

Thanks for the discussion, though I'm not really finding out which ones will or won't specifically run older, electro-mechanical ringers. I've hunted for the Panasonics and have found only new ones.

I don't know any of the model numbers or devices being mentioned unless someone tells me what they are, and I don't have the know-how to chop-and-modify or build my own devices.

This board has many articles and several summaries for Panasonic PBX systems with model numbers:  http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?board=62.0

[twocvbloke]

Thanks for the discussion, though I'm not really finding out which ones will or won't specifically run older, electro-mechanical ringers.

My PAP2t will ring traditional mechanical ringers (that's pretty much all I've used on it, namely in my GPO 706CB, WE500s, AE80, Cortelco 2554, etc.)...

[TelePlay]

Thanks for the discussion, though I'm not really finding out which ones will or won't specifically run older, electro-mechanical ringers. I've hunted for the Panasonics and have found only new ones.

I don't know any of the model numbers or devices being mentioned unless someone tells me what they are, and I don't have the know-how to chop-and-modify or build my own devices.

I have a 616 now but started with TeleTone simulators, 2 line (TLS-3A) and 4 line (TLS-5), of which the TLS-5 is programmable.

They ring EM ringers along with buzzer types on newer phones just fine and they work just fine with rotary or TT phones. Only problem is they are quite expensive. I got them because I needed a small, very portable device to ring phones on stage for live theatrical performances. They were great for that in that they are 1/6th size of a 616.

Here's the first two I found on eBay (all this is offered to expand your knowledge of what's out there, not as a recommendation to go with this particular simulator)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Teltone-Corp-TLS-3A-01-TELTONE-Telephone-Line-Simulator-P-N-250-00198-02-USA-/122068588264

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Teltone-TLS-5-Telephone-Line-Simulator-30-Day-Warranty-/172234854975

[.....]

Welcome to CRPF, this is what I use.

Viking DLE - 200B

[podor]

Welcome to CRPF, this is what I use.

Viking DLE - 200B

I had one. They are very effective, but need a ring booster. It would only ring 2 phones at the most, plus it was pricey.

I absolutely love my Panasonic KX‑T61610. I use it for my display phones, running behind my 1A2 key system, and as an intercom system in the house.

Something else that will work as a ringdown (just basic talk battery and ringing) as well as a fantastic phone tester is a BK Precision 1045a or 1045b. I've seen them around the $50 mark on eBay.