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Vintage Telephony and Telecomms Vintage Telephones, Telephony and Telecomms Equipment |
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5th Jan 2008, 8:56 pm | #1 |
Tetrode
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Haywards Heath, West Sussex, UK.
Posts: 81
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Boosters and Telephone wiring
Hi all
Could the experts give a bit of advice please. I need to get BT upgrade my master socket to the modern type. I will then run some additional wiring so that I can get my old phones working in the main living room. 2 questions 1. I was hoping to install a booster after the master which is suposed to increase the REN to 11 instead of the current 4. Does this actually work? 2. Does it matter what wire is used when making an extension ie is there such a thing as "high quality" or "low loss" telephone cable or will anything bought in Dixons etc do just as well? Many thanks and happy new year to all Trev |
5th Jan 2008, 9:30 pm | #2 |
Hexode
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Wigan, Greater Manchester, UK.
Posts: 479
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Re: Boosters and Telephone wiring
Can't help you with the problem but, are you aware that a call-out charge may apply for BT
Do I have to pay for an engineer visit? Do I have to pay for an engineer visit? For most engineer visits, there is no charge. The call out charge does not apply if the engineer is already visiting the premises to carry out other work. However, there may be a charge if it's something you can fix yourself. So please check your own connections and equipment carefully before arranging a visit by an engineer. When charges do apply, they are: £99.00 plus VAT, (£116.33 inc VAT), call-out charge, then £85.00 an hour (or part of) plus VAT, (£99.88 inc VAT). This is a total of £184.00 plus VAT, (£216.21 inc VAT), for each minimum visit period, which is an hour. Source |
5th Jan 2008, 9:42 pm | #3 |
Octode
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Willand, Devon, UK.
Posts: 1,023
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Re: Boosters and Telephone wiring
Why do you need the master socket changed? If you can just use a plug in adapter which has terminals to connect extention wiring I would go for that, it is certainly a lot cheaper. I have phoned BT on two occasions requesting a new master socket in two houses to replace faulty ones, and both times BT didn't want to know, 'the fault is on your wiring' I think in the end both people changed them theirselves with ones from the local hardware store.
I fitted one of these boosters in a massive house which telephone points were added to each of the 10 bedrooms as well as around the house. I think they sense the ring signal and supply their own higher power one from their buit in psu to the outlets. It certainly worked ok. I seem to remember seeing you could also fit broadband filters to each socket and have a few more phones as the filters have thier own cap for ringing fittd inside, and don't use pin three at all. I think the problem with REN4 is the size of the ring cap prevents it being able to power a lot of phones, hence seperate caps allow it to work, but I can't be sure. As for cable standard 4 core twisted pair is good, the untwisted version can cause problems for data use over long lengths, better quality cable is easier to install and tends to be a little more robust. |
5th Jan 2008, 11:16 pm | #4 | |
Dekatron
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: West Cumbria (CA13), UK
Posts: 6,127
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Re: Boosters and Telephone wiring
Quote:
Into my master socket is plugged the ADSL filter followed by the booster box and the one above-mentioned 'phone. It has the additional advantage that I can switch off the ringers of all the 'phones connected to the booster by switching off the power to the box. The 'phones still work, but don't ring - great for when I want an early night and don't want to be disturbed by incoming calls!
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6th Jan 2008, 12:54 pm | #5 | |
Nonode
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: South Bradford, West Yorkshire, UK.
Posts: 2,573
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Re: Boosters and Telephone wiring
Quote:
When we had an extension built about 10 years ago I rewired the phone wiring making sure that sockets etc were in convenient places and using the correct wiring, obtained I think from RS. I enquired from BT as to how much it would cost to connect my wiring to the master socket where the phone line entered and was told £100 +VAT for the first hour and £50 +VAT for subsequent hours. Faced with that exhorbitant cost for what amounted to connecting up 4 wires I'm sure you can imagine what I did. I never had any problems with the phone. Keith |
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6th Jan 2008, 11:58 pm | #6 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire, UK.
Posts: 3,310
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Re: Boosters and Telephone wiring
ISTR these are called ringing converters or regenerators(a white box about the size of a pack of 10 fags that connects to your internal wiring.) I used to carry a few on the van, handy for large vicarages/manor houses pubs etc. with long internal cable runs or locations a long way from the exchange.
Can't remember the item code though off the top of my head.
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"Nothing is as dangerous as being too modern;one is apt to grow old fashioned quite suddenly." |
15th Jan 2008, 2:17 pm | #7 |
Retired Dormant Member
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Saffron Walden
Posts: 4
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Re: Boosters and Telephone wiring
As per previous replies do not get BT to change your master socket - do it yourself, there are only two wires to connect.
Have installed several boosters, and all work well. Normal twisted pair (CW 1308) telephone is fine, three pair gives you a few extra wires in case of future open circuits. |