@* In which the denizens of the INF join forces to assail whatever manner of hotel telephone frustrates them in their attempt to telecommunicate.... Fm: Ed Nunnally 70445,177 To: Joan Friedman 76556,3643 I think I remember that you mentioned having a "black box" that screws on to the phones mouth piece and allows easy hookup of a computer to a hotel phone. Could you tell me where I could get one and how much? Fm: Joan Friedman 76556,3643 To: Ed Nunnally 70445,177 (X) I've never had a "black box" for use on hotel phones. I have an extensive "kit" of various types of phone wiring for connecting a modem to hotel phones, including one setup (modular connector on one end, bare wires with alligator clips on the other) which is supposed to be possible to hook up to the two "live" wires you find when you unscrew the mouthpiece of a phone handset. I've never had to resort to that, though (and, sometimes the phones are not the sort that this will work with anyway). I've found the most useful cord is one with a modular connector on one end, and the four colored wires on the other end terminating in lug connectors. This can be used for connecting directly to the wall junction box, and allows you to leave the phoneset connected too. In both of these cases, only the red and green wires need to be attached. My kit also includes a small screwdriver, a regular length of phone cord with modular connectors on both ends, and a connector for attaching lengths of modular phone cords (double female receptacle). At Connie's suggestion, I'm also going to look for an adapter that splits a two-line plug to two single-line plugs. Fm: N. Arley Dealey 70130,177 To: Ed Nunnally 70445,177 (X) The device you are thinking about is called the "Black Jack" and costs $49.95 from the Microperipheral Corporation, 2565 - 152nd Avenue NE, Redmond, WA 98052, (206) 881-7544. I've never used it but it is reputed to work quite well (even at 1200). There are a couple of drawbacks... (A) It won't work with many phones. Forget phones with mouthpieces that are other than round right off the bat. Pay phones (and even some in motels) have mouthpieces that do not unscrew, so scratch them also. And many non-Western Electric phones use different types of microphones in the handset and so won't work with it. (B) It costs $49.95. So what do I recommend... two things actually: (1) You can make a functional duplicate of the Black Jack very cheaply. All you need is a piece of phone cable with an RJ11 plug on one end and alligator clips on the other. Unscrew the mouthpiece, connect the clips and off you go (as long as you don't mind looking and feeling like some kind of spy). Will also work with several phones that the commercial unit won't. (2) For pay phones and the like there is still nothing to beat old fashioned acoustic cups. No need to buy a full acoustic coupler, though. 3M has a set of acoustic cups that just clip into the phone line connector of your modem for about $80. Fm: Joan Friedman 76556,3643 To: N. Arley Dealey 70130,177 Arley, do you know of a source for the 3M acoustic cups you mention? I've often used an acoustic coupler with my Model 100 with good results, but it's a Radio Shack special that only connects to the M100. What you mention is just what I've been hoping to find to use with the Compaq and the Hayes 1200B. Fm: N. Arley Dealey 70130,177 To: Joan Friedman 76556,3643 Sorry, I really don't know of a specific source. I'd suggest that you look up a 3M Data Products distributer in the phone book. What you want is the Model 1490 Acoustic Coupler for the 3M WhisperWriter. As an interesting aside, I've had it reported that they work fine at 1200 (which surprises me). Fm: Bill Mueller 75166,2557 To: Joan Friedman 76556,3643 I was reading the messages from a couple of days ago and saw you are interested in 3M's Acoustic Coupler. Arley's info about the model number is right on the money. In case you haven't followed up on it yet, here are the address's and phone numbers for a couple of 3M offices near you: One Maxim Rd, Hartford (203) 527-5003 845 Third Ave New York (212) 688-2030 Fm: SysOp Wes Meier 76703,747 To: Joan Friedman 76556,3643 FYI, I've tried that trick of alligator clipping to the two little prongs under the telephone handset's mouth mike. You have to pry the mike up a bit to see the wires under the prongs and then clip the red lead onto the red wire. Works like a champ. Now, if ONLY most hotels would upgrade the quality of their phone circuitry!!!!! Fm: Conrad Kageyama (IBMSIG) 76703,1010 To: SysOp Wes Meier 76703,747 (X) You shoulda seen the system at the Le Bel Age!!!... Each telephone was a full console, twin lines, conferencing, direct push-button to services, and completely computer-controlled!!!... If you broke a line connection, the terminal would go down for about 5 minutes until the system reset... Cute, but we couldn't break into the phone system... I gots to try again with that line-splitter though... Fm: Joan Friedman 76556,3643 To: Conrad Kageyama (IBMSIG) 76703,1010 (X) I just stopped by the Shack this afternoon and picked up one of those splitters. According to the picture on the package, you can still have the dual-line console connected to one of its output sockets while plugging in your modem or answering machine to one of the two single-line sockets. Pretty neat, if it works: no need to keep plugging and unplugging the phone. I have similar connectors for single lines, and they have always worked as advertised. All I need now is a bigger pouch to tote all this stuff around in! If you want to find one, it's RS part no. 279-402, "two-line modular 3-way jack." $6.95. Fm: Conrad Kageyama (IBMSIG) 76703,1010 To: Ed Nunnally 70445,177 (X) You don't have to "make up" the cord... you can get it at Radio Shack all ready to go... you also oughta get a cord that has a modular on one end and dual plugs on the other so that if the system is modular, you can still have your phone hooked up... Fm: Conrad Kageyama (IBMSIG) 76703,1010 To: Joan Friedman 76556,3643 I can also confirm that it works... you just tap into the mouthpiece and earpiece take the phone off the hook, dial, and do an ATO from terminal mode... Fm: Joan Friedman 76556,3643 To: Conrad Kageyama (IBMSIG) 76703,1010 (X) Mouthpiece *and* earpiece? I thought both wires were under the microphone in the mouthpiece? Fm: Conrad Kageyama (IBMSIG) 76703,1010 To: Joan Friedman 76556,3643 well, yes, both the red and the green are in the mouthpiece, but you can only get to one of the wires (the red, I think)... The exposed green wire is in the earpiece... What's the diff??? If you take the mouthpiece apart, the phone is useless anyway...... Fm: N. Arley Dealey 70130,177 To: Conrad Kageyama (IBMSIG) 76703,1010 (X) I've never had to take the earpiece off! What are _you_ up to? Fm: Conrad Kageyama (IBMSIG) 76703,1010 To: N. Arley Dealey 70130,177 (X) uh, then how do you get to the other wire???... I saw one wire coming off the connector that went to a screw onto which I could apply an alligator clip, but the green wire just came straight out of the connector and ran up the handset... No place to tap on that I could see, short of stripping the wire... Fm: N. Arley Dealey 70130,177 To: Conrad Kageyama (IBMSIG) 76703,1010 Well, you've sort of got me here as its been a long time since I connected this way (I generally prefer several other methods) and I don't have a Western Electric handset here to refresh my memory, but... it seems I just opened it up and attached to the obvious points. Of course, the innards of handsets are no longer standardized like they used to be. Some of the ones you run across nowadays offer no possibility to get to either wire (take a look at a Radio Shack handset someday... yeck). Fm: Joan Friedman 76556,3643 To: Conrad Kageyama (IBMSIG) 76703,1010 I've just dismantled the handset in my office, which is a pretty old Western Electric baby. Right under the plastic mouthpiece containing the microphone (which is removable), is another plastic gizmo containing two metal springs that make contact with the microphone. You can partially remove this gizmo to get to the wires, but it's not necessary, since you can attach your alligator clips to the metal springs. Haven't yet tried to dial, though. Fm: Conrad Kageyama (IBMSIG) 76703,1010 To: Joan Friedman 76556,3643 uh, but on my handsets, one of those metal springs is connected to the BLACK wire, while the other is connected to the RED wire... The GREEN wire is in the earpiece... Fm: N. Arley Dealey 70130,177 To: Conrad Kageyama (IBMSIG) 76703,1010 It doesn't really matter where you connect to the wire. If you connect at the handset you can still use the modem's dialing capabilities, tone or pulse. In fact, if you have acoustic cups and a modem that tone dials you can still use the modem to dial. Fm: David Klatzco 74025,1005 To: Joan Friedman 76556,3643 Someone has mentioned an acoustic cups setup that plugs into a modem comes complete with and amplifier to boost the direct connect signal to acoustic level. It was for a fac machine or some such. He quoted a price of $85 or so. I don't remember any more about it, I'm jsut hoping whoever left the message will pipe up here. Fm: Ken Jongsma 73115,1041 To: Joan Friedman 76556,3643 Was reading a few weeks ago in Teleconnect (a comm mag) that one hotel chain was using an odd combination of colors (instead of red/green) in their hotel wiring to discourage theft of the telephones! Apparently, they felt when the people got home and found the phone didn't work, they wouldn't do it again! Anyway, the mouthpiece trick should work around that problem. Fm: David Klatzco 74025,1005 To: Joan Friedman 76556,3643 You can't dial pulse dial though the hand set. You should be able to tone dial. (this may not be any help 'cause I am working with limited info) Also some of the newer electronic telephone systems won't let you tone dial through their systems, I don't know why. Fm: Joan Friedman 76556,3643 To: David Klatzco 74025,1005 But it's not a tone phone! How could that possibly work? I'll give it a try though; not to worry about "newer electronic phone systems," that's definitely not what we have! The campus is in the process of being rewired for same, and then we'll have proper data lines in place, with modular outlets and all, but they won't reach this part of campus for another 15 months. Fm: Ed Fitzgerald 72447,1631 To: Joan Friedman 76556,3643 You know, don't you, that if you open up the phone itself, you can connect your red and green wires to the L1 and L2 terminals? I'm in a hotel in Detroit, and that's how I'm connected right now. Fm: N. Arley Dealey 70130,177 To: Tom Herman NYC 74316,661 Tone dialing works fine when you are clipped into the handset. It doesn't matter whether you connect at the junction box, inside the main part of the phone (I used to butcher hotel phones themselves to connect, still do occasionally... whatever is easiest in the particular situation) or the handset, its still all the same circuit. Fm: N. Arley Dealey 70130,177 To: Joan Friedman 76556,3643 Sorry, I guess I forgot to make it clear that you can _tone_ dial when clipped into the handset. Doesn't matter if the phone has tone dialing as long as the exchange supports it (and some still don't despite the phone companies and their propoganda). Fm: Joan Friedman 76556,3643 To: N. Arley Dealey 70130,177 What I found is that not only *can* you dial tone, but only tone seems to work. I don't quite understand why, but I'm not complaining, since it seems to give me a very good line. The only thing is, you can hear static out of the earpiece for the entire duration of the call! @* Fm: Joan Friedman 76556,3643 To: ALL I am here to report that I have had success in tapping into my office phone (as you can see from the time stamp on my messages!) via the "unscrew the microphone" method. In the interests of clarity, here is how it worked: First, I have a lenth of phone cord with a modular connector at one end, which is attached normally to my modem. The other end I've stripped the outer insulation off of, to reveal the four separate colored wires. I stripped the insulation off the ends of the red and green wires and attached alligator clips. Unscrewing the microphone of the phone (the mouthpiece is sufficient, no need to touch the earpiece), I attached the alligator clips to the metal springs that normally make contact with the microphone and, on their bottom side, have the hot wires attached. These wires are, in this phone, red and black; I attached red to red, and green to black, and it works! The trick is, you must set your modem for tone dialling, as suggested by Dave Klatzco. I didn't quite understand this, since the phone line is a pulse line. But making that change made it work. The modem will then autodial, no need for you to dial manually. It seems to give a very good connection too. Fm: David Klatzco (temp) 70136,510 To: Joan Friedman 76556,3643 SOME pulse lines will accept the tone dialing, not all. If you come up against a pulse system that will not dial; First: switch the wires you connected to the MIC. Tone systems are polarized. Second: If tone dialing sill does not work then the system is pulse only. Tap in after the phone. At the wall would be best. The transformers in the phone make it impossible to pulse dial when connected to the MIC in the handset. With tone dialing remember to try switching the leads. They have to be connected the correct way. I am confident that you will now be able to handle ANY phone connection! (Well we really haven't gone over payphones have we?)