atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums Other TDM Phone Systems 1A2 and Comkey Telephones & Systems 551b basic setup

Greeting!

I am a phone fan who is returning after several years away from collecting. It started with showing my kids pictures of what phones used to look like, to digging some out that I have, to buying a Viking ring down box to get a basic intercom in the house, to getting my home office set up with a 551b I just got on ebay. It escalated quite quickly.

My only real plan is to hook up what I have in my office. I have a Uverse VOIP line for an office line (L1), a XLink BTTN for my cell phone (L2) and my Viking intercom (L3). I have 3 400E cards and a frequency generator. I have a 15' 25 pair cable with the appropriate Amphenol connector punched directly into the KSU instead of going to another 66 block. I then have that plugged into a CPC box, with my 2564 plugged in with another 15' cable to run another phone just for the option to rotate some of other phones I have. Everything works great, but all the setups I see have the phones wired into the additional 66 blocks. I have no plans to expand into the rest of the house. Is the set up I have OK, or should I add more.

I have learned a ton from this site already, which I would like to say thanks, as well as thanks in advance for the help. I really enjoy this site.

There's nothing wrong with the setup you have described. If that's what works for you, then there's no real reason to change it. The BSP for the 551 KSU says you can connect 5 or six sets directly to the ksu, most people don't as a matter of neatness. I just installed my very first 1A2 setup as well. I put the ksu on the opposite side of a wall from the 66 blocks, mostly because I didn't want the KSU in my boiler room should a pipe burst or something. The main reasons for having separate block(s) would be for expansion of the system, neatness as I mentioned, and to facilitate wiring changes. These systems can range from simple to enormously complex depending on how far you want to go with it. For 2 phones and no plans of expanding, I would leave it just the way you have it. I, however, am not normal and I can't leave anything alone. I added a Valcom dial selective intercom, four line cards, and I have 3 more phones on the way. I have mine wired behind an Avaya Partner ACS, using 4 analog ports on the partner as the four CO lines on the 551. My 2 "CO" lines are a Comcast voip modem, and a cellphone link thing. My point to all this, I guess, is it only has to be as complex as you want it to be.

For a small demo installation, you have done it correctly.

The only warning is that 6-button (5 line & Hold) telephones whose model numbers end with "5" (like 565 or 2565) have all 25 pairs terminated in the cord and the telephone. Phones with a "4" at the end of the model number (like your 2564) are missing the violet group leads that are used for speakerphone service.

When using a CPC to connect two sets, if the phones are 565 or 2565, you will get unwanted sneak paths and weird symptoms, unless you go into the phone and insulate & store the violet leads.

Thanks guys. The info on the speaker phone wiring is helpful. I do have 2 565s that I'll use from time to time.

I always forget about the violets...

They won't forget about YOU...

Our backyard has lots of them.

My old neighborhood in NYC had lots of pansies.

I have another question about the 400e cards. Looking at the top of the card with the connection terminals facing me, the left bridging terminals are jumped on 2, one has a resistor bridging the 2 with the other leg contacting the next terminal to the right, and the last one isn't bridged at all. Which is the correct setup? They all seem to function. Properly.

Those are various options for things like steady or interrupted ringing, the one with the resistor is for time-out control and the last option is for lamp steady or wink on hold. Arthur could probably recite the BSP from memory, but that's the general jist of it.