On Thu, 28 Apr 2016 14:35:42 -0400, Stormin Mormon
wrote:

On 4/28/2016 1:44 PM, wrote:
Thanks for any expertise you can offer.

THanks to all for all the info. This is far more than I found searching online. Consumers really do understand tech and what to do to help themselves! Thanks!


For plain old telephone:

Off hook 5 VDC
On hook 48 VDC
Ring 105 VAC

IIRC, red to ground should show power.

This is also a very high impedance source, It is not going to light a
lamp unless it is ringing. Then it would light a neon.

500 ohms or less will take the line "off hook" and show busy to an
incoming call.
It really sounds like he is not connected to the central office but it
is connected to the DSL hub which might just be a box on a pole, right
up the street.
..