UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum - View Single Post - VOIP Phone line and my Bakelite telephones

hamid_1 · 26th May 2020, 3:10 am

Good news - I changed the flash duration using the Xlink Xwizard software and it works! Here's how I did it:

First, download and install the Xlink software, then connect the Bluewave box via USB. It won't let you update, but don't worry. Click 'Configure'. I chose the option 'North America' then clicked 'Reset'. You'll hear a relay click as the box resets itself. I also reset the cellphone volume settings to default as they were originally set to 'loudest' which was a bit too loud.

Note that I initially selected 'Configure' then 'United Kingdom' but the Bluewave did not work with pulse dialling afterwards. I suspect the country options only work properly with newer firmware which is not available for the Bluewave. So I left it on 'North America' - it still works in the UK.

Next, on the configuration page, click 'Advanced', then 'Show'. Some extra tabs appear in the xwizard program. You can scroll by clicking the < and > symbols.

To get the recall to work, scroll to the Telephone tab, then change the flash duration (min) to 90ms. I left the max (ms) unchanged at 1550, then move over to the Land Line tab, change the flash timing (ms) to 90 and press Save.

Now the R button on a BT phone will work to switch lines. If you are using a vintage phone without a recall button you can press the hookswitch and release it within 1.5 seconds (but preferably a bit quicker to be on the safe side) - this will perform a recall. To end a call, hang up for at least 2 seconds.

In the Dialing and DTMF tab, you can change the default 'line' for outgoing calls as well as set the length of your local numbers. By default, it will use the land line first if available. I changed this to use Cell Phone 1 first. To use the land line connection, I can dial 4 then R (recall).
Also it assumes that standard phone numbers are 7,10 or 11 digits long. In the UK, national and mobile numbers are almost always 11 digits so no need to change that. Some cities like Birmingham and Manchester have 7 digit local numbers. If that's where you live, you won't need to change anything. But outside big cities, UK local numbers are usually 6 digits instead of 7, or 8 in some areas like Northern Ireland and London. You can change the figure 7 accordingly for slightly faster connection. If you dial a non-standard length number, the Bluewave waits 5 seconds before connecting in case you haven't finished dialling. You can cancel this delay by pressing # on a tone-dialling phone after dialling the number; the call will connect straightaway.

The bad news is that some of the Xlink features require a firmware update which you can't get for the Bluewave. See here for details of updates and what they do. In particular, I believe the 2012 Bluewave does not support acquiring the caller ID from BT phone lines. BT used a different system from the American one which is called Bellcore. Vintage phones don't have caller display, so this won't matter unless you use a modern caller display phone or box alongside your vintage one. If you do, it may only display incoming callers' numbers from mobile phones and not from BT landlines. In my case, I'm using a VoIP line instead of BT. I can simply change my VoIP ATA to send caller ID using Bellcore instead of BT and it works, at least with a Binatone caller display phone which can recognise both BT and Bellcore signals. Some BT phones do not accept Bellcore and will not display any caller ID. You can test your phone or caller display box to see if it works. Press the [.] and [..] blue buttons together on the Bluewave for a few seconds. It will ring the connected phones and send a caller ID message containing the software version and radio version. Mine shows software 0133 and radio 0117. If these are displayed on your phone or box, it's Bellcore compatible.

26th May 2020, 3:10 am	#20
hamid_1 Heptode Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: High Wycombe, Bucks. UK. Posts: 811	Re: VOIP Phone line and my Bakelite telephones Good news - I changed the flash duration using the Xlink Xwizard software and it works! Here's how I did it: First, download and install the Xlink software, then connect the Bluewave box via USB. It won't let you update, but don't worry. Click 'Configure'. I chose the option 'North America' then clicked 'Reset'. You'll hear a relay click as the box resets itself. I also reset the cellphone volume settings to default as they were originally set to 'loudest' which was a bit too loud. Note that I initially selected 'Configure' then 'United Kingdom' but the Bluewave did not work with pulse dialling afterwards. I suspect the country options only work properly with newer firmware which is not available for the Bluewave. So I left it on 'North America' - it still works in the UK. Next, on the configuration page, click 'Advanced', then 'Show'. Some extra tabs appear in the xwizard program. You can scroll by clicking the < and > symbols. To get the recall to work, scroll to the Telephone tab, then change the flash duration (min) to 90ms. I left the max (ms) unchanged at 1550, then move over to the Land Line tab, change the flash timing (ms) to 90 and press Save. Now the R button on a BT phone will work to switch lines. If you are using a vintage phone without a recall button you can press the hookswitch and release it within 1.5 seconds (but preferably a bit quicker to be on the safe side) - this will perform a recall. To end a call, hang up for at least 2 seconds. In the Dialing and DTMF tab, you can change the default 'line' for outgoing calls as well as set the length of your local numbers. By default, it will use the land line first if available. I changed this to use Cell Phone 1 first. To use the land line connection, I can dial 4 then R (recall). Also it assumes that standard phone numbers are 7,10 or 11 digits long. In the UK, national and mobile numbers are almost always 11 digits so no need to change that. Some cities like Birmingham and Manchester have 7 digit local numbers. If that's where you live, you won't need to change anything. But outside big cities, UK local numbers are usually 6 digits instead of 7, or 8 in some areas like Northern Ireland and London. You can change the figure 7 accordingly for slightly faster connection. If you dial a non-standard length number, the Bluewave waits 5 seconds before connecting in case you haven't finished dialling. You can cancel this delay by pressing # on a tone-dialling phone after dialling the number; the call will connect straightaway. The bad news is that some of the Xlink features require a firmware update which you can't get for the Bluewave. See here for details of updates and what they do. In particular, I believe the 2012 Bluewave does not support acquiring the caller ID from BT phone lines. BT used a different system from the American one which is called Bellcore. Vintage phones don't have caller display, so this won't matter unless you use a modern caller display phone or box alongside your vintage one. If you do, it may only display incoming callers' numbers from mobile phones and not from BT landlines. In my case, I'm using a VoIP line instead of BT. I can simply change my VoIP ATA to send caller ID using Bellcore instead of BT and it works, at least with a Binatone caller display phone which can recognise both BT and Bellcore signals. Some BT phones do not accept Bellcore and will not display any caller ID. You can test your phone or caller display box to see if it works. Press the [.] and [..] blue buttons together on the Bluewave for a few seconds. It will ring the connected phones and send a caller ID message containing the software version and radio version. Mine shows software 0133 and radio 0117. If these are displayed on your phone or box, it's Bellcore compatible.