Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!casbah.acns.nwu.edu!nucsrl!telecom-request From: roy@alanine.phri.nyu.edu (Roy Smith) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: How do You Hook up a Phone For a Play? Message-ID: Date: 19 Feb 91 15:46:44 GMT Sender: news@casbah.acns.nwu.edu Organization: Public Health Research Institute, New York City Lines: 39 Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 133, Message 11 of 11 Originator: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu John_Richard_Bruni@cup.portal.com writes: > I have on several occassions seen phones hooked up to AC to ring the > bell for plays Our Moderator replies: > What you are suggesting is a *highly dangerous* practice ... OK, I'll agree that it's a Bad Idea, and I'm not advocating that you do it, but let's think about this for a minute. Just how dangerous could it be? Typical ringing voltage is 90-100 volts (the guy who runs our shop takes advantage of this by putting a regular incandescant light bulb across his phone line so he can see the phone ring when his noisy machines are running). The AC mains is about 120, so we're only talking about a 25% or so overvoltage condition. Surely that won't damage the phone. Roy Smith, Public Health Research Institute 455 First Avenue, New York, NY 10016 roy@alanine.phri.nyu.edu -OR- {att,cmcl2,rutgers,hombre}!phri!roy [Moderator's Note: An actual phone line not being used has closer to forty volts DC on the line doesn't it? It goes up to ninety volts only when ringing ... and only around ten volts DC when off hook ... I think my figures are correct. But a straight 110-120 volts AC coming into it for even a few seconds? Never! Speaking of which, do any of the older readers remember the stories of the infamous 'Tucker Telephone' ... the torture device the Warden at Tucker Prison Farm in Arkansas used on recalcitrant and defiant prisoners for many years until the Supreme Court made him stop? An old, rural-style phone with a crank, and two wires coming out of it ... as the Warden cranked the phone, one wire would be clamped to the prisoner's ear lobe, and the other attached to his ... oops, we're out of space for this issue. Sorry I couldn't finish the story. :) PAT]