atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums Wiring - Telecom Carriers - Trunks & Services T1's, CSU's and DSU's Smart Jack or not to Smart Jack?

Hey Field ops, welcome. I remember those units and we could also access them remotely, if I remember right (see age related issues in this post) on remote testing you had to think backwards or what you saw in the PM data would mess with your head. Keep in mind these were very new at the time.

"CPE fault Yellow alarm" may be an ANSI standard from the late 90's but the bell system has had it from before 1970. The old D1B carrer system only had two signal alamrs red and amber(yellow). Red was when the system could not see a signal it could sync to. amber was a signal sent by a system with a red alarm to tell the other end that it could not see its signal.

I think a lot of the ANSI standards came from the old Bell system standards.

I have a T1 on an InterTel Axxess system that keeps dropping into red alarm, When I called in the tech said to look at the LED's on the smartjack. I show Power lit green and ESF lit green but flucuating.

Question is What is ESF? Should it be flucuating? and is this an indication of a problem with our provider.

Usually, if the ESF light is lit, then the T1 is configured for Extended Super Frame (ISDN-PRI). If it's not lit, it is configured differently or there is a problem with the circuit. I just checked ours here and it's lit steady. A few weeks ago, our circuit went out a few times and each time, the ESF light was flickering. My guess would be that you definitely have a problem with the circuit from your service provider.

Wow… You dug up an oldie but a goodie with this post!

ESF= Extended Super Frame
No, it should not be bouncing. You’re getting framing errors for some reason. That would be a Telco issue they need to resolve.

Excellent. Thanks for the help folks. I am by no means a newbie to this phone stuff, but I'm never sure whether to call our InterTel or Sprint. Finding these forums is the best thing I ever did!

Thanks again for your help.

Maybe getting a CSU that is "Smart" something like the Kentrox T-Smart would help as a test tool. It will let you see which way the errors are coming from you or the network.

Does a Smart Jack need to be plugged into local AC power or is power provided by telco?

If you are referring to a T1 termination card mounting, A.K.A: NIU, then the answer is probably no. Most stand-alone circuits are line powered these days.

It is generally better if you start your own new thread instead of tagging onto an old one. That way you will receive a response more promptly. This original thread dates back to 2005!