atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums Other TDM Phone Systems 1A2 and Comkey Telephones & Systems FIOS not playing nice with 1A2?

Verizon installed FIOS on Wednesday. All is well. Good installation. Nice Installer. Neat work. Everything tests out. Calls come in, calls go out.

No calls at home last night after 6 PM, but that's not unusual. This morning I happened to glance at my new caller ID box (Thanks Ed!) and there are calls listed there! I check DT & it's stuttering - I've got voice mail.

Missed 3 calls, all between 7 & 9 PM. I call in from my cell phone - no incoming ring. I answer the call and I've got continuity.

Go down to the FIOS box assuming that must be the problem. Plug in a CV and it rings fine!

Check the KSU - I've got ring generator in the Power supply. I swap line cards 1 & 2. Still NG. I try putting a call on hold & the interruptor works. Just for the hell of it I throw in a new (well not "new" but a 3rd) line card. It works! Put a 4th card in slot 2 and it works!

What could be killing the line cards? Slot #1 was a Sanbar 4000F. Slot #2 was a WECO 400D, that sucker should be bulletproof. WTF?!?!

I've put in an ITT 400E and a WECO 400H (what I had laying around). Now we'll see if they die again. If it happens again I'm going to have to change the system ASAP. I don't have many more 400 cards.

Anybody got any ideas?

Sam

PM Sent. Is FIOS = Fiber?

Thx
Matt

FiOS is fiber. I've had it for a while now and, except for 1 incident, it's been problem free. I don't use a 1A2 at home, but I do have a Partner ACS. Everything works quite well. :thumb:

You guys are too lucky. I've got the next best thing (U-Verse), IMO.... but man. I'd kill for fiber. I don't know why, I've got way more bandwidth than I need already. But I still want it.

AT&T encircled my subdivision with fiber a couple years ago for U-Verse, but I don't think they're going to be ripping up anyone's backyards anytime soon.

I'm just glad I don't have to have cable.

Well, you certainly don't have any of the possible spikes and overvoltage that you could have on copper but I'm wondering what the ring generator in the ONT is putting out. Say what you may about the 1A2 but those line cards are OLD and components age. They ain't what they used to be.

-Hal

1A2 depended heavily upon the relationship between the tip side of the line and ground in the central office. 400D cards definitely required that the tip be grounded in the CO and that the KSU be grounded at the premises. ONTs, channel banks and pair gain hardware do not maintain a reference between the tip and ground; everything is floating. This is part of the reason why systems connected behind channel banks always seem to have phantom problems.

Later versions of cards were developed to circumvent this issue when pair gain equipment came into play in the 1980's. The 400G and H series of cards were developed to work directly across tip and ring with no need for a ground reference.

You may want to check the ONT to see if there is a strapping option to bond the signal ground to the chassis ground. Their installers surely wouldn't know to do that. Otherwise, we may need to switch you over to 400H cards.

Well, the plot thickens.

I'm back from the Doctor ( Another new one. Do you know how you know when you've gotten old? When you have more Doctors names in your phone book then friends.)

Anyway I discovered the problem this morning and promptly had to run into Manhattan to this high end specialist. So I'm back and I check the phones. Now I've got flashing but no ringing! Did they burn out two more cards differently this time in under 5 hours? So I check the ringing voltage coming out of the ONT (FIOS box).

No higher then 45VAC.

Being as I'm going to be disconnecting the 2nd line I disconnected the common bell and hooked up a few line bells.

So far so good. But I have to ask - does this sound normal? My antique 2500 set rings fine so I guess 45V is enough. But I always learned the Ringing was 90-105V.

Maybe because the equipment is in the house they feel they can get away with a lower voltage?

Sam

Sam:

I seriously doubt that you are actually losing cards. Most 1A2 cards don't look for ring voltage across tip and ring; they are looking across ring and ground. As I was saying earlier, the ONT likely has a floating output, so standard line cards won't work. The 400H2 ones will though. Do you want me to send you a couple? I have dozens upon dozens of them.

Ringers are very tolerant of voltage variations. It comes down to how much AC can get through the capacitor for the most part. I've seen voltages as low as 55 VAC RMS. It is hard to get an accurate AC voltage measurement with a standard meter since the frequency is typically in the 30's.

Ed -

Thanks for the offer. Let's wait and see if I keep the 1A2 system or if I let the wife talk me into something else.

I'm sure you're right. Once I saw the voltage so low I knew. Why I'm getting incoming flash and no incoming ring is another question. We'll have to see. I was going to throw the cards back in and bridge Generator across them to prove them good - but there's no rush.

Sam

Sam

No no no no no no no and no.

Well, that's my opinion anyway.