See ==== inline:

"Beowulf" wrote in message
newsan.2006.04.06.21.53.21.398948@wayoftheancien ts.trail...
....
I know phones generally only need only two lines, such as green
and red,
for usage, so I attach the gree and red wires to each of the
two poles of
the thing on the rafter, but does it matter which pole gets red
and which
gets the green?

==== It depends on a lot of things, but mixing them up
would -probably- never be noticed. Keep red to red and green to
green and you should never have a problem.
FWIW, with the phone hung up, the red lead should be negative
w/r to the green wire. There's a bout a 99% chance the wires
coming in from the telco will have that DC polarity correct, but
when things seem 'funny' it's worth checking out.
If the wires were reversed, it will NOT cause any damage to
anything. The worst would likely happen is some really cheap
phone equipment might not count the incoming ringing voltage
properly since it's 90Vac riding on top of 48V DC. I'd be
surprised if you ever noticed it, though since equipment hasn't
been that cheaply made in some time. It takes all of 4 cheap
diodes to make the equipment immune to polarity of the wires g.


Also, the modular phone jacks have terminals for green, red,
black, and
yellow, which I connect, but are the black and yellow really
needed if
only green and red are attached to the main pole terminal on
the basement
rafter?
==== No, not for standard, plain old telephone service. You
can cut them off even with the jacket if you wish to get them out
of the way. Only the two wires are necessary.
Actually, some people use the other two wires for intercoms,
things like that. But you don't need them.

And if the black and yellow are needed, is their order of
attachment on the main pole terminal important, and should the
black go
with the green, and the yellow with the red?
==== IFF you had a key system or something that used them,
rather than just plain old service like you probably have, it
would matter. For some systems, there ARE uses for those wires
but you're not likely to have that type if you're just wiring up
plain old telephones.


I appreciate any help, I am having one hell of a time getting
this sorted
out, in part because of the phone company-- they hooked my up
to my house,
I had a dial tone, then 5 minutes later the line went dead;
there was no
dial tone at the "Demarc(ation) box" phone jack so I know the
problem for
now is on their end.
==== Just for grins, when you checked it at the "demarc", did
you make sure you had YOUR house wiring disconnected? To be
certain, always disconnect the house wiring from the demarc
before testing.
Also, don't let them come into your house without telling them
you are NOT authorizing any charges of any kind for them. I let
one clown in thru my garage doors once, and he looked up at the
box on the way by, and commented on the neat wiring job. I
received a BILL for "inside services" from the telco! They
didn't get away with it!

Their repair is coming back to check for a short etc
at the main box.
==== Repair -should- do exactly what you did: disconnect the
house wiring, and then put their butt-set on it to see if there's
dialtone there and that the voltage is in spec. If it's not, the
problem will be on their lines somewhere between where they
connected the butt-set and the telco. They do NOT have to go
into your house for any of that. If they go inside, then you're
likely going to get charged for it, even if all they do is tell
you that there's a short "somewhere" in your wiring.

But once they confirm a dial tone at the box I am on my
own,
==== Well, you don't -have- to be on your own. They'll
probably be glad to fix it, but it's going to cost you. So,
you're doing the right thing.

frustrating and I want to understand this to get my phones
working
once I have a signal from the phone company.

Thank you in advance,
Randall

Best of luck, & HTH,

Pop