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REN numbers and the maximum number of phones

Started by Tribune, August 24, 2010, 03:55:23 PM

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Tribune

I read somewhere that for one household, you don't want your combined REN to exceed 5.0 or else your phones will only ring once and then the telephone company gets concerned. Is this in fact the case?

As far as I can remember, a typical WE 500 has a REN of 1.0, as does my later model British Telecom Tribune unit, and your average answer machine 0.5. So if I want to wire in more of my telephone collection - phones in kitchen, living room, library, my office, wife's office, bedroom,guest bedroom, garage - that's already exceeding the recommended REN limit of 5.0.

Are there any ways around this? Would I have to somehow boost the ring signal? If so, how?
Mark Furze - TCI, ATCA

To miss-quote "Bones" McCoy . . .
                     "darn it Jim - I'm a doctor, not a telephone engineer!"

gpo706

You can buy a REN booster I had one for ages, though it didn't seem to make a heck of a lot of difference, maybe I maxed it out, the easiest solution is to get a PBX - I got a Panasonic 616 for peanuts off the bay, each line out has 4 REN output, plus you can obviously use it as a switchboard.
"now this should take five minutes, where's me screwdriver went now..?"

Phonesrfun

Trib:

5.0 (sometimes more, sometimes less) is about the maximum before the load of all the ringers start to create false ring tripping.  That is, the resistance becomes so low that when the telco sends a ring signal down the line, it sees a low resistance coming back, and thinks you have answered the phone.  These days, you'd be lucky if someone at the telco even cared enough to check their own lines, so you don't have to worry about the phone police knocking at your door.

There is no easy way to extend the ringing of phones in the house without doing what many collectors have done and that is to get a small office PBX for the home.

Having a PBX allows for connecting lots of phones and being able to demonstrate them and has the additional benefit of being able to transfer calls within the home and being able to put them on hold etc.  The 1980's vintage of a Panasonic 308 or 616 are both popular choices because they are cheap; there are lots of them out there; and they support old rotary dial phones.  The downside is that you have to run home-run wires between the PBX and each phone you have connected to it.  Sometimes the family also does not like having all the phones in the house ringing with different cadences every time an incoming call comes in.

-Bill
-Bill G

Tribune

Mark Furze - TCI, ATCA

To miss-quote "Bones" McCoy . . .
                     "darn it Jim - I'm a doctor, not a telephone engineer!"

Wallphone

Bill said - "Sometimes the family also does not like having all the phones in the house ringing with different cadences every time an incoming call comes in."

Someone could end up like Oliver Hardy in Saps at Sea.
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZBvz9rgn_8 <

Dougpav

Tribune

Nice one Wallphone! That had me in stitches here in my office!  :D
Mark Furze - TCI, ATCA

To miss-quote "Bones" McCoy . . .
                     "darn it Jim - I'm a doctor, not a telephone engineer!"

Wallphone

Watch the rest of it if you can find it. The Dr. tells him that he needs some R & R so they rent a boat.
I won't tell the rest. One of my all time old time favorites in comedy.
Dougpav

gpo706

Quote from: Phonesrfun on August 24, 2010, 04:36:59 PM
Trib:

5Sometimes the family also does not like having all the phones in the house ringing with different cadences every time an incoming call comes in.

-Bill

I get round this by assigning a few extensions which only ring out when progammed through the proprietary set, well worth investing in one to get the full flexibility out of the system.
"now this should take five minutes, where's me screwdriver went now..?"

Tribune

Right, I'll have to keep my eyes open for a set up on eBay. Shouldn't be too bad to install as all my current phone jacks are wired in a star topology (correct term?) anyway rather than daisy-chained.
Mark Furze - TCI, ATCA

To miss-quote "Bones" McCoy . . .
                     "darn it Jim - I'm a doctor, not a telephone engineer!"

Phonesrfun

They come up all the time, and several of us have them that participate here.  Also, the TCI  and ATCA listserves have these come up once in a while too.  TCI is an open listserve, and ATCA requires an ATCA membership.

-Bill G

LarryInMichigan

I have inserted resistors in series with the ringers on some of my phones, especially the European ones which tend to have lower impedance ringers.  A resistor reduces the amount of current flowing to the ringer leaving more for other phones.  It also reduces the loudness of the ringing, and in my small house, I cannot deal with too many phones ringing loudly.  I don't recall off-hand what values I have used, but I have experimented with different values on some phones until I hear the desired loudness.  1 or 2KΩ would probably work.

Larry

Tribune

Perhaps I'll give that a try. Hmmmm, I wonder if it will help the tinkling issues on my two British phones . . .
Mark Furze - TCI, ATCA

To miss-quote "Bones" McCoy . . .
                     "darn it Jim - I'm a doctor, not a telephone engineer!"

paul-f

There has been discussion on several types of ring booster on the club sites from time to time.  As I recall, a favorite was made by Viking.

Here's a current example from ebay.
  http://cgi.ebay.com/Viking-Ring-Booster-10-Ren-/150472886242

They occasionally slip past at under $40.
Visit: paul-f.com         WE  500  Design_Line

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Bill

I've never lived in a house that was so big that, with 4 phones ringing, I couldn't hear any of them. On the other hand, I suppose that the sound of some ringers (not all, in my opinion) is worth preserving. But really - more than 5 ringing in one house? 

Bill

paul-f

#14
Good point.  We turn off or disconnect the ringers from all our phones.  Many more than 5 are live.

We have one WE 592 ringer mounted on the wall to the cellar.  It can easily be heard throughout the whole house -- loudest on the first floor, and softer on the second floor.  That way it doesn't disturb out sleep.
Visit: paul-f.com         WE  500  Design_Line

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