What's got two thumbs and a 551A KSU?

[AMCer]

Ain't it pretty!



MORE PIX:
http://s1350.photobucket.com/user/AMCer/library/551A%20KSU

[AE_Collector]

COOL, you've got a 1A2 system in your AMC! Did you use wall or desk key sets? 

Terry

[AMCer]

It fit PERFECTLY in the trunk!

I haven't hooked it up yet but I'm going to use desk sets.  I have to take it to work and snub my nose at the VOIP guys first.

[AE_Collector]

It fit PERFECTLY in the trunk!

Right where the spare tire used to be?!

I have to take it to work and snub my nose at the VOIP guys first.

Prepare for laughter and snickering. However, you will get the last laugh in the end!

A co-worker was on a course one day with a bunch of 20 somethings (he and I are in our mid 50's) and when it came to introducing yourself to everyone else on the course and telling about your past jobs in the company (Telco), he told everyone that he started with the company working on Step by Step in the 70's. He told me afterwards that there was snickering from others on the course! Of course he and I found it Hilarious that the twenty somethings found Step by Step to be funny! They probably had NO IDEA in the world what Step by Step was, they just thought it sounded funny.

Terry

[AMCer]

Spare tires are for whimps!


A couple of the guys I work with are OLD TIME SWBell techs who worked on this stuff in the 70s and 80s and though they say I'm crazy for collecting this, I noticed that once you bring the subject of old phone systems up, they ramble on FOR HOURS about the old days...  Like most crusty old techs they say they are glad they don't have to deal with it any more but you can tell that they still like it.

I'm gonna get an earful tomorrow about 'how to do this' and 'how to do that'.

The younger guys aren't real technical.  They went to the Cisco classes and know how to get Cisco VOIP working and that's the end of their technical abilities.

[poplar1]

Be sure to connect ground (earth) to the large terminal. With older 400D line cards, you need the ground in order for the phones to ring and flash on incoming calls. Later cards---400D Issue 15 and up, 400G and 400H---detect bridged ringing.

[AMCer]

Phil mentioned that.  I'm un-clear...

I ground the KSU chassis AND the positive incoming telephone lines from my ATAs?

BTW, I have 1 POTS, a HandyTone 502 and a LinkSys SPA1001 ATA if that matters...

[poplar1]

Just the KSU.

A refurbisher I worked for for sold some 400-type line cards to a friend who had a real estate office with 9-line 1A2 sets. I was supposed to add the cards to the 584 KSU. The office was actually a house, and the KSU was in a bedroom closet--along with about 20 pairs of shoes.  It was getting commercial power through a 2-conductor extension cord---no ground anywhere.

I told the owner he must be getting complaints from some customers about their calls going unanswered. He said, no, he never had that problem. He wouldn't agree to call the installer back to finish the job. So, I moved the cards around so that the first few lines, which were in a hunt group, would have the later cards which would work without ground. At least the agents would get more incoming calls than before, especially if they used the new lines for outgoing only.  I also made sure that he signed the receipt for "delivery only" because I didn't want to be blamed for his ignorance.

[AMCer]

2WIRE EXTENSION CORD IN THE CLOSET: God looks out for the ignorant! (That's why I've had such a good life)  

I'm gonna ground the &&&& out of it on your (and Phil's) advice but, forgive my ignorance, how does grounding the KSU help it detect the ring if the ATAs are completely floating (they only have a 2 conductor power supply)?

(oh and two of my 400Ds are ISS15! WOOT!)

[poplar1]

I guess that's something I can trouble-shoot without being able to explain it.

The first KSU I acquired was a 501 (6 lines) from a building being demolished in downtown Atlanta. I could get the lamps to indicate a busy line, but no ring or flash on incoming. An older guy asked me if I had the KSU grounded, and when I said no, he told me what I needed to do.

There is currently a discussion on the TCI listserv that may help:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/singingwires/message/111080

Steph explains that the older cards cannot detect bridged (non-grounded) ringing.

[AMCer]

I'm going to follow your advice  AND use ISS15 cards.  That's gotta work!

[poplar1]

I think maybe we just should have said to ground it rather than finding ways to get around it.