Path: utzoo!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!linac!att!bu.edu!telecom-request From: jimmy@icjapan.info.com (Jim Gottlieb) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Should Projects be Connected to the Phone Line? Message-ID: Date: 3 Mar 91 11:11:56 GMT Sender: news@bu.edu.bu.edu Reply-To: Jim Gottlieb Organization: Info Connections, Tokyo, Japan Lines: 38 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 176, Message 4 of 6 John Higdon writes: > Macy Hallock writes: >> Somewhere in my basement I have a couple of KS-20721s > A final note: to its credit, the CPUC eventually ordered Pac*Bell to > refund ALL money EVER paid by customers for "network protection" > devices. This included installation and montly charges plus interest. The really neat part of this was that they still took orders for these devices (we always called them "couplers") after they announced that anyone could get this refund for the asking. Knowing this, I ordered a ton of RDMZR (KS-20721) and RDL (KS-19522) couplers. A few months later I called for my refund. And sure enough, a check arrived covering all costs plus 7% simple interest. And because, as John described, there was a lot of equipment in the field that required that the coupler be there, Pacific Telephone let you keep the device in place. My friends and I used the RDMZR for multi-line conferencing (we just tied the audio pairs together and used the control leads for various control functions). But I always liked the RDL. I have always liked to fiddle with phones and electronics, but I have also always been a bit lazy. Why design my own telephone interface circuit when the RDL will do it all for you. It signals you that the line is ringing, you tell it when to answer. It then allows outgoing audio. When you are done with your outgoing announcement, you short a pair of wires and the RDL automatically provides a beep tone, reverses the direction of audio, and throws a relay to stop your outgoing tape and start your incoming tape. Despite what John Higdon says about audio loss, I still say that the answering machines I built with RDLs sounded better than most commercial machines on the market today (and definitely better than voice mail [which I now use]).