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Vintage Telephony and Telecomms Vintage Telephones, Telephony and Telecomms Equipment |
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1st Jan 2019, 11:11 am | #1 |
Retired Dormant Member
Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: Suffolk, UK.
Posts: 2
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US Ericofon on BT
Happy New Year!
It's my wife's birthday today and I proudly presented her with a beautiful looking Ericofon I had bought from the US. The website and seller confidently told me all we would need was an adaptor from RJ11 to BT and so I bought one and wrapped it with the phone. However, plugging it in we don't get a dial tone and cannot call out. The handset speaker becomes active, but no noise beyond a slight humming. The adaptor seems to be a straight through adaptor, so nothing much to go wrong there. But here is the interesting thing, if I take it down stairs to the main socket, it still doesn't work, but there is a small RJ11, which I assume is for a broadband modem (which we don't use) and it works on that socket. It's a bit crackly, but perhaps that's another issue (the phone wasn't cheap and was supposed to have been completely restored). Any thoughts anyone? Many thanks for your time. James |
1st Jan 2019, 11:35 am | #2 |
Dekatron
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Derby, UK.
Posts: 7,735
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Re: US Ericofon on BT
You will need an adaptor which connects the middle two wires of the RJ11 to the outside two wires of the RJ431.
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If I have seen further than others, it is because I was standing on a pile of failed experiments. |
1st Jan 2019, 11:54 am | #3 |
Heptode
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Edinburgh, UK.
Posts: 805
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Re: US Ericofon on BT
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1st Jan 2019, 12:00 pm | #4 |
Heptode
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Edinburgh, UK.
Posts: 805
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Re: US Ericofon on BT
Or (sneaky) rewire the phone extension socket on the wall so the wires to 2 and 5 go to 3 and 4, and disconnect and insulate the other wires.
Even just temporarily so that her present works 'on the big day'. |
1st Jan 2019, 1:19 pm | #5 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: West Cumbria (CA13), UK
Posts: 6,130
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Re: US Ericofon on BT
... plugging into the ADSL socket of it of course.
As with the ADSL socket you described, this will connect the outers (2 & 5) of the BT plug to the inners (3 & 4) of the RJ11 socket. It seems that your adaptor is a "straight" one that doesn't provide the necessary cross-over as described above. The crackliness you describe is indeed a separate matter.
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Mending is better than Ending (cf Brave New World by Aldous Huxley) |
1st Jan 2019, 2:28 pm | #6 |
Heptode
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Hakadal, Norway
Posts: 643
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Re: US Ericofon on BT
This picture may be a good illustration to how it is should be connected:
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....PL._SY355_.jpg |
2nd Jan 2019, 10:15 am | #7 |
Retired Dormant Member
Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: Suffolk, UK.
Posts: 2
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Re: US Ericofon on BT
Hi all,
Thank you so much for all your replies. We've decided it works best in the lounge anyway, so for now I will just use the ADSL socket, but will get the crossover adapter suggested if we want to move it. As I mentioned there is an intermittent crackle in the ear piece, is there a good beginners guide to tracking down the source of this? James |
2nd Jan 2019, 12:52 pm | #8 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: West Cumbria (CA13), UK
Posts: 6,130
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Re: US Ericofon on BT
The crackle could either be caused by the carbon-granule transmitter (microphone) or a dirty switch contact within the switch that's operated by the button on the bottom of the 'phone. The contacts should be accessible for cleaning (e.g. a squirt of good-quality contact cleaner) once the case is removed.
Beware that the receiver (earpiece) is phyisically attached to the case and wired to the chassis, so be careful not damage its wires when removing the case.
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Mending is better than Ending (cf Brave New World by Aldous Huxley) Last edited by Dave Moll; 2nd Jan 2019 at 12:56 pm. Reason: note of caution |