I need to connect some telephone-type things together in my own little
circuit, and test them, but I don't know a simple method or what
voltages to use. I think I need to use some wire, some kind of DC
power, something to put a ring-signal on the line, a phone, and
whatever I am testing.

For example, I'm getting a replacement for my all-time favorite phone
answering machine, but the owner has forgotten the 3-digit code for
remote message retrieval. I'm willing to try all 900 or 1000,
probably while I'm watching tv, but only if I can get it to go
quickly. So I need a test line to ring it directly, have the machine
answer, and punch in the code.

Also I have 2 fax machines, one that sends and one that receives!
I'm pretty sure I can get it down to one that does both.

I don't have two phone lines, and even if I did, I think things would
run quicker with my own little circuit.

In the 7th grade, we had two candlestick phones and a dry cell to play
with during ham radio club, and everything worked (except it didn't
ring, but that was ok because they had no bells. )

Any help appreciated.

Phones need 48 Volts DC with an in series of 600 to 800 ohm source. The ring
is 96 Volts at 25 Hz.

For the answering machine, if it is a name brand, you should be able to get
the information about how to reset the remote code. If it is a fixed
uninique code, then you have a problem. For what it is worth, maybe it would
be better to simply get a new answering machine.

--

JANA
_____


"mm" wrote in message
...
I need to connect some telephone-type things together in my own little
circuit, and test them, but I don't know a simple method or what
voltages to use. I think I need to use some wire, some kind of DC
power, something to put a ring-signal on the line, a phone, and
whatever I am testing.

For example, I'm getting a replacement for my all-time favorite phone
answering machine, but the owner has forgotten the 3-digit code for
remote message retrieval. I'm willing to try all 900 or 1000,
probably while I'm watching tv, but only if I can get it to go
quickly. So I need a test line to ring it directly, have the machine
answer, and punch in the code.

Also I have 2 fax machines, one that sends and one that receives!
I'm pretty sure I can get it down to one that does both.

I don't have two phone lines, and even if I did, I think things would
run quicker with my own little circuit.

In the 7th grade, we had two candlestick phones and a dry cell to play
with during ham radio club, and everything worked (except it didn't
ring, but that was ok because they had no bells. )

Any help appreciated.

"mm" wrote in message
...
I need to connect some telephone-type things together in my own little
circuit, and test them, but I don't know a simple method or what
voltages to use. I think I need to use some wire, some kind of DC
power, something to put a ring-signal on the line, a phone, and
whatever I am testing.

For example, I'm getting a replacement for my all-time favorite phone
answering machine, but the owner has forgotten the 3-digit code for
remote message retrieval. I'm willing to try all 900 or 1000,
probably while I'm watching tv, but only if I can get it to go
quickly.

Are you sure you can't just program a new access code without knowing the
old one? My machine does not ask for any codes at the base unit for
anything. The new code just replaces the old. Only remote access requires
the code. But yours may be different.

Kevin

there are little circuit boxes that immitate the phone line, last I saw
one about 60 bucks

there are little circuit boxes that immitate the phone line, last I saw
one about 60 bucks

Thats the way to go... Getting the operating voltage (48vdc) isn't that
hard just hook up 4 12 volt batteries in series with an 800 ohm (If I
remember correctly) reisistor on the end. Getting a 20hz ringtone is the
difficult part since the wall current is 60hz.. I never figured out an easy
way to make my phones ring.

- Mike

mm wrote:
I need to connect some telephone-type things together in my own little
circuit, and test them, but I don't know a simple method or what
voltages to use. I think I need to use some wire, some kind of DC
power, something to put a ring-signal on the line, a phone, and
whatever I am testing.

For example, I'm getting a replacement for my all-time favorite phone
answering machine, but the owner has forgotten the 3-digit code for
remote message retrieval. I'm willing to try all 900 or 1000,
probably while I'm watching tv, but only if I can get it to go
quickly. So I need a test line to ring it directly, have the machine
answer, and punch in the code.

Also I have 2 fax machines, one that sends and one that receives!
I'm pretty sure I can get it down to one that does both.

I don't have two phone lines, and even if I did, I think things would
run quicker with my own little circuit.

In the 7th grade, we had two candlestick phones and a dry cell to play
with during ham radio club, and everything worked (except it didn't
ring, but that was ok because they had no bells. )

Any help appreciated.
Hmmm,
In this digital age, playing with analog?

"Michael Kennedy" wrote in message
. ..
there are little circuit boxes that immitate the phone line, last I saw
one about 60 bucks

Thats the way to go... Getting the operating voltage (48vdc) isn't that
hard just hook up 4 12 volt batteries in series with an 800 ohm (If I
remember correctly) reisistor on the end. Getting a 20hz ringtone is the
difficult part since the wall current is 60hz.. I never figured out an
easy way to make my phones ring.

- Mike


There's several easy ways to generate a 25Hz at 96v, one is an old
fashioned multivibrator driving a 120V/12V transformer secondary, (ie a 25Hz
inverter) and adjusting the multivibrator's supply down to get 96V. It's
rough and ready but there's no reason why it shouldn't work, and it uses a
few standard, off the shelf components.

Dave

"JANA" wrote in message
...
snip

I'm willing to try all 900 or 1000, probably while I'm watching tv, but
only if I can get it to go quickly. So I need a test line to ring it
directly, have the machine answer, and punch in the code.

snip

Jana:

Seems like a lot of effort for short money (bad ROI)?

What Make and Model is this unit?

I bet we could find you one on e-Bay that doesn't entail hooking up multiple
12 volt batteries in series and punching in a possible 1,000 codes to get it
to work!

Do you really want to sit amongst multiple car batteries in your living room
watching TV punching in codes all night and then recharging them, trying
1,000 possible codes is going to take some time and will probably require
one, or more, recharges.

Just my $.02 worth. Voicemail!!!!

Jay

In the 7th grade, we had two candlestick phones and a dry cell to play
with during ham radio club, and everything worked (except it didn't
ring, but that was ok because they had no bells. )

Any help appreciated.
Hmmm,
In this digital age, playing with analog?

Yup... It's called POTS Plain Old Telephone Service.

One thing to consider... Many fax machines and other devices have
dial tone detection circuits. The mere presence of DC voltage on the
line will not make them dial. Also, getting the correct 20 Hz ring
frequency and voltage (with the right current) in a home grown circuit
is a pain unless you are willing to get fairly elaborate.

Here is a fancy Ringdown Circuit from Viking Electronics. List price
is $106

http://www.vikingelectronics.com/products/pdf/dle-200b(sm).pdf

Beachcomber

Black magic ring generator-

http://www.camblab.com/home.htm

Dave

In article ,
JANA wrote:
Phones need 48 Volts DC with an in series of 600 to 800 ohm source. The
ring is 96 Volts at 25 Hz.

That's the spec to allow for vast voltage drop over the miles of cable
between phones. Just to get two to talk to one another 9 volts will work
just ok. Indeed if you're talking about old non electronics phones with
carbon mics 1.5 volts will be ok for short runs.

--
*Proofread carefully to see if you any words out or mispeld something *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Try the Viking Electronics model DLE200 telephone line simulator box.
It's only about 5" by 2 " with phone jacks on it. It only cost around
$100 about 12 years ago.

On Tue, 28 Mar 2006 04:10:17 -0500, "JANA" wrote:

Phones need 48 Volts DC with an in series of 600 to 800 ohm source. The ring
is 96 Volts at 25 Hz.

Thanks a lot.

For the answering machine, if it is a name brand, you should be able to get
the information about how to reset the remote code. If it is a fixed
uninique code, then you have a problem.

It is a fixed code. A friend of mine and I each bought one 21 years
ago, and the code was printed on the box, not on the bottom of the
unit that became more common. I wish it had been on the bottom; we
would still have it! This new one is from the wife of a friend, and
she stopped using it a couple years ago and has forgotten the code.

It's Code-a-Phone, model 2530 or similar model.

For what it is worth, maybe it would
be better to simply get a new answering machine.

Like I say, this is my all-time favorite phone machine. I have about
10 others, all different brands or models, that I've bought in the
last 2 or 3 years, paying 1 to 3 dollars each at hamfests. They all
work as designed but I don't like how they work.

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

In article ,
JANA wrote:


Phones need 48 Volts DC with an in series of 600 to 800 ohm source. The
ring is 96 Volts at 25 Hz.



That's the spec to allow for vast voltage drop over the miles of cable
between phones. Just to get two to talk to one another 9 volts will work
just ok. Indeed if you're talking about old non electronics phones with
carbon mics 1.5 volts will be ok for short runs.



I have always used the assumptions that there was 400 Ohms in the
telephone. The telephone wants
20 milli-Amps or more so that says you need 8 Volts or more (per phone)
The 48 Volts (really 52)
that the central office uses is to push at least 20 milli-Amps through
the longest line.

Bill K7NOM

I used to have a hand cranked generator from an old phone. This puts out
exactly what you need. Think they are still available through gov surplus as
field telephones.

"Ken Layton" wrote in message
ups.com...
Try the Viking Electronics model DLE200 telephone line simulator box.
It's only about 5" by 2 " with phone jacks on it. It only cost around
$100 about 12 years ago.

On Tue, 28 Mar 2006 23:59:09 -0500, "
wrote:

I used to have a hand cranked generator from an old phone. This puts out
exactly what you need. Think they are still available through gov surplus as
field telephones.

We had these in that 7th grade class I mentioned, but I don't think
they lend them out (and may not have them 46 years later and I
live in another city) But I'll look in surplus sources. OTOH, this
will slow down some my prospective 15 seconds per code, that I need to
finish in about 2 hours. Thanks.

"Ken Layton" wrote in message
oups.com...
Try the Viking Electronics model DLE200 telephone line simulator box.
It's only about 5" by 2 " with phone jacks on it. It only cost around
$100 about 12 years ago.

Thanks a lot to you and beachcomber. It is just what I need, and the
price now ranges from 145 to 114, for the very same thing, online,
plus shipping. It's small to -- oh, yeah, you said that -- and
although that is a lot of money to fix these two things, it may have
uses in the future. OTOH, I have the specs now to do this myself, so
we'll see.

In article ,
mm wrote:

OTOH, this
will slow down some my prospective 15 seconds per code, that I need to
finish in about 2 hours. Thanks.



Good grief. 15 seconds will only let you try 480 combos in two hours.
But, you should be able to do it manually in even less than 15 seconds.
In the time you've spent jabbering about it, you'd already have the damn
thing done if you'd sat down and done it. Hell, you could dial the
number once and punch in five codes in succession. Borrow a damn phone
from someone. If you're looking for pure intellectual diversion, go hook
up with that flavored coffee guy and solve the cold fusion thing instead
of trying to find a code for some five dollar answering machine that
some idiot stole and then fenced on ebay.

I used to work for a guy that could go in the machine shop and make a
piece of tooling from a sketch he scribbled on the back of an envelope
while he was taking a ****. He'd have the thing finished and working
faster than most engineers could draw it out from 12 different
perspectives with their drafting tables and t-squares and little tin
eraser guides.

This isn't a great time to be patriotic, with traitors and war criminals
running the show, but "gettin' 'er done" *is* what made this country
great, not sittin' around pondering things to death.

wrote:
I used to have a hand cranked generator from an old phone. This puts out
exactly what you need. Think they are still available through gov surplus as
field telephones.



Try ebay & search for crank phone or something similar.

Wish someone had told me that when I was trying to build a ring circuit.

Oh well I guess I know now. :-)


- Mike

"Dave D" wrote in message
...

"Michael Kennedy" wrote in message
. ..
there are little circuit boxes that immitate the phone line, last I saw
one about 60 bucks

Thats the way to go... Getting the operating voltage (48vdc) isn't that
hard just hook up 4 12 volt batteries in series with an 800 ohm (If I
remember correctly) reisistor on the end. Getting a 20hz ringtone is the
difficult part since the wall current is 60hz.. I never figured out an
easy way to make my phones ring.

- Mike


There's several easy ways to generate a 25Hz at 96v, one is an old
fashioned multivibrator driving a 120V/12V transformer secondary, (ie a
25Hz inverter) and adjusting the multivibrator's supply down to get 96V.
It's rough and ready but there's no reason why it shouldn't work, and it
uses a few standard, off the shelf components.

Dave

Ross Herbert wrote:

On Tue, 28 Mar 2006 01:22:25 -0500, mm
wrote:


I need to connect some telephone-type things together in my own little
circuit, and test them, but I don't know a simple method or what
voltages to use. I think I need to use some wire, some kind of DC
power, something to put a ring-signal on the line, a phone, and
whatever I am testing.

For example, I'm getting a replacement for my all-time favorite phone
answering machine, but the owner has forgotten the 3-digit code for
remote message retrieval. I'm willing to try all 900 or 1000,
probably while I'm watching tv, but only if I can get it to go
quickly. So I need a test line to ring it directly, have the machine
answer, and punch in the code.

Also I have 2 fax machines, one that sends and one that receives!
I'm pretty sure I can get it down to one that does both.

I don't have two phone lines, and even if I did, I think things would
run quicker with my own little circuit.

In the 7th grade, we had two candlestick phones and a dry cell to play
with during ham radio club, and everything worked (except it didn't
ring, but that was ok because they had no bells. )

Any help appreciated.



Since you need to find the 3 digit code for message retrieval it is
not simply a matter of generating the correct ring signal. The ring
signal needs to be received and tripped so that a normal line
connection is established with correct DC potentials etc. Only then
can you send the DTMF signals to the fax to determine the 3 digit
code. For this you will need an analog phone line simulator similar to
http://www.teltone.com/products/simu.../tls3/home.htm

Unfortunately these aren't cheap (US495 for the TLS3).

AN Australian device which will do the trick is shown here
http://www.mgram.com.au/pdf/pds22001.pdf and sells for around USD271
plus postage.

In the UK you can buy a kit to build one
http://www.hotspot.freeserve.co.uk/H...ame.htm?lsdiag
which will be a lot cheaper than the Teltone.

Hi...

I'd be willing to bet that if the OP would disassemble the machine
he'd find the code on a label somewhere inside it.

Take care.

Ken

On Tue, 28 Mar 2006 17:00:19 +0100, "Dave D"
wrote:


"Michael Kennedy" wrote in message
...
there are little circuit boxes that immitate the phone line, last I saw
one about 60 bucks

Sounds good, but so far the cheapest one was 114 plus S&H. Maybe I'll
find the model you saw.

Thats the way to go... Getting the operating voltage (48vdc) isn't that
hard just hook up 4 12 volt batteries in series with an 800 ohm (If I

I can handle this.

remember correctly) reisistor on the end. Getting a 20hz ringtone is the
difficult part since the wall current is 60hz.. I never figured out an
easy way to make my phones ring.

- Mike


This sounds good, but I need to have it explained in simpler words.

There's several easy ways to generate a 25Hz at 96v, one is an old
fashioned multivibrator driving a 120V/12V transformer secondary, (ie a 25Hz

Multivibrator?

inverter)

25Hz inverter. All I can think of is the power supply from a tube
radio in a 1950 car, that runs off a 6 (or 12) volt battery.

and adjusting the multivibrator's supply down to get 96V. It's
rough and ready but there's no reason why it shouldn't work, and it uses a
few standard, off the shelf components.

So I have to build it? I can do that but I don't know how.

Dave



Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let
me know if you have posted also.

On Wed, 29 Mar 2006 00:02:29 -0800, Smitty Two
wrote:

In article ,
mm wrote:

OTOH, this
will slow down some my prospective 15 seconds per code, that I need to
finish in about 2 hours. Thanks.



Good grief. 15 seconds will only let you try 480 combos in two hours.

I know, and since there are only 1000 possible codes, the odds are
even that I will find it by the time I'm half way through.

But, you should be able to do it manually in even less than 15 seconds.
In the time you've spent jabbering about it, you'd already have the damn
thing done if you'd sat down and done it.

No I couldn't. I had to get the answers that people provided, and I
still have to build or buy a line voltage/ring voltage device. What's
eating you, Smitty?

Hell, you could dial the
number once and punch in five codes in succession.

I don't know if it works that way. It's a lot more secure if you have
to start off with a correct code.

Borrow a damn phone
from someone. If you're looking for pure intellectual diversion, go hook
up with that flavored coffee guy and solve the cold fusion thing instead
of trying to find a code for some five dollar answering machine that
some idiot stole and then fenced on ebay.

The previous one came from E-bay. This one comes from the wife of a
good friend who had it since it was new.

(The one I bought from ebay had exactly the same problem my old one
has. It would answer the phone and play the message, but it wouldn't
beep or start recording the message. I doubt if it was necessary to
steal it since it was broken. At the same time, testing this feature
requires more setup than testing recording and playing the incoming or
outgoing messages, so I don't think the seller knew it was broken. He
didn't claim that it worked. But by buying this one, it was a lot
easier to ask my friend not to get rid of his wife's machine. Turns
out she had stopped using it and he sent it to me.)

I used to work for a guy that could go in the machine shop and make a
piece of tooling from a sketch he scribbled on the back of an envelope
while he was taking a ****. He'd have the thing finished and working
faster than most engineers could draw it out from 12 different
perspectives with their drafting tables and t-squares and little tin
eraser guides.

Isn't that precious.

This isn't a great time to be patriotic, with traitors and war criminals
running the show, but "gettin' 'er done" *is* what made this country
great, not sittin' around pondering things to death.

Yeah, that's it. With the time I save not finding this code (while
watching tv), I'll be able to stop terrorists. (Also while watching
tv?)

Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let
me know if you have posted also.

On Thu, 30 Mar 2006 04:38:13 GMT, Ken Weitzel
wrote:

Ross Herbert wrote:


Since you need to find the 3 digit code for message retrieval it is
not simply a matter of generating the correct ring signal. The ring
signal needs to be received and tripped so that a normal line
connection is established with correct DC potentials etc. Only then
can you send the DTMF signals to the fax to determine the 3 digit
code. For this you will need an analog phone line simulator similar to
http://www.teltone.com/products/simu.../tls3/home.htm

Unfortunately these aren't cheap (US495 for the TLS3).

Wow. Over my limit, I think.

AN Australian device which will do the trick is shown here
http://www.mgram.com.au/pdf/pds22001.pdf and sells for around USD271
plus postage.

Still a lot.

In the UK you can buy a kit to build one
http://www.hotspot.freeserve.co.uk/H...ame.htm?lsdiag
which will be a lot cheaper than the Teltone.

They might ship. I'll check. Thanks a lot.

Hi...

I'd be willing to bet that if the OP would disassemble the machine
he'd find the code on a label somewhere inside it.

Sounds reasonable. I had my old machine apart twice, and my friend's
wife's machine apart once, to change the tape mechanism drive belts,
and I don't think I saw the number for either, but I'll look harder
this time. I think I might have seen both sides of the mechanism, but
maybe not since I didn't want to un"plug" the microphone from the top
half of the case, and there were speaker wires too and maybe button
wires.. Thanks.

It made it a lot easier to ask about my friend's machine, since I had
fixed it once, and she used it for a few years after that. I don't
think she bought her replacement. IIRC it was included with a new job
she had.

Take care.

Ken

Hey everyone!

About the cheapest way to generate a ring-voltage problem...

I've seen several "call directors", a box that picks up a ringing line,
listens, determines if it's an incoming fax or modem, then sends the
signal to the corresponding RJ-11 jack where the actual device is
plugged in.

Wouldn't one of these have to generate a ring voltage to get the fax or
modem to go off-hook?

Anyone have a schematic for one of these? It might be a rather simple
thing to modify one of these for the OP's purpose.

Comments?

Stan.

Stan wrote:
Hey everyone!

About the cheapest way to generate a ring-voltage problem...

I've seen several "call directors", a box that picks up a ringing line,
listens, determines if it's an incoming fax or modem, then sends the
signal to the corresponding RJ-11 jack where the actual device is
plugged in.

Wouldn't one of these have to generate a ring voltage to get the fax or
modem to go off-hook?

Anyone have a schematic for one of these? It might be a rather simple
thing to modify one of these for the OP's purpose.

Comments?

Stan.
Hmmm,
Digitally there is distinct ring service from Telco. Corresponding
device responds when phone rings. Even single line can have different
multitple numbers, etc. Talk to Telco rep. and express your service needs.

"mm" wrote in message
...

This sounds good, but I need to have it explained in simpler words.

There's several easy ways to generate a 25Hz at 96v, one is an old
fashioned multivibrator driving a 120V/12V transformer secondary, (ie a
25Hz

Multivibrator?

inverter)

25Hz inverter. All I can think of is the power supply from a tube
radio in a 1950 car, that runs off a 6 (or 12) volt battery.

and adjusting the multivibrator's supply down to get 96V. It's
rough and ready but there's no reason why it shouldn't work, and it uses a
few standard, off the shelf components.

So I have to build it? I can do that but I don't know how.

Dave




Here's a simple inverter-

http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/F_sa...l#SAMSCHEM_009

But to get more control over frequency you may need a more complex circuit
using an astable multivibrator or timer IC like a 555.

Dave

On Wed, 29 Mar 2006 23:53:22 -0500, mm wrote:
On Wed, 29 Mar 2006 00:02:29 -0800, Smitty Two
wrote:
mm wrote:

OTOH, this will slow down some my prospective 15 seconds per
code, that I need to finish in about 2 hours. Thanks.

Good grief. 15 seconds will only let you try 480 combos in two hours.

I know, and since there are only 1000 possible codes, the odds are
even that I will find it by the time I'm half way through.

You've never heard of Murphy's Law, I guess?

Jonesy

Of all the advice I;ve see so far, the one that makes the most sense
was the person questioning why you need to know the old remote access
code to change it. The ones that I've had were set on the base unit
and you could do it without knowing the old code.

No way in hell I'd spend hours rigging crap to try to salvage a 20 year
old answering machine when you can buy a new one for $20

On 30 Mar 2006 16:24:33 GMT, Allodoxaphobia
wrote:

On Wed, 29 Mar 2006 23:53:22 -0500, mm wrote:
On Wed, 29 Mar 2006 00:02:29 -0800, Smitty Two
wrote:
mm wrote:

OTOH, this will slow down some my prospective 15 seconds per
code, that I need to finish in about 2 hours. Thanks.

Good grief. 15 seconds will only let you try 480 combos in two hours.

I know, and since there are only 1000 possible codes, the odds are
even that I will find it by the time I'm half way through.

You've never heard of Murphy's Law, I guess?

I've been rather exempt from Murphy's law, except on big things.

On little things like this, I actually think the "odds" are much
better than even I'll find it before I'm half-way through.

Jonesy

In article ,
mm wrote:

What's
eating you, Smitty?

I do get worked up, don't I? Sorry about that. I just don't understand
why you want to spend hours and hours and hours, and some money, setting
up some sort of clever, semi-automated, rube goldbergesque way to "save
time" in your quest. My point is simply that you've *already* spent more
time than you would have doing it the "slow" way. And you've barely
begun.

But it isn't like I've never wasted time, so I apologize for chastising
you. Knock yourself out, enjoy it, learn from it. Good luck.

On Tue, 28 Mar 2006 18:34:54 -0500, mm
wrote:

It is a fixed code. A friend of mine and I each bought one 21 years
ago, and the code was printed on the box, not on the bottom of the
unit that became more common. I wish it had been on the bottom; we
would still have it! This new one is from the wife of a friend, and
she stopped using it a couple years ago and has forgotten the code.

It's Code-a-Phone, model 2530 or similar model.

Found this in google for a Code-a-Phone model 2600.

"Not sure of the model number, but it sounds familiar. If it is the
little black one with gold trim and the digital outgoing message, then
the remote code is determinded by two things; a sticker on the bottom
with a single digit (ie '7') and a switch with two numbers. ('3' or
'9') The sticker determines the first digit, the switch selects the
second digit. This may be true for yours, look on the bottom for a
sticker with a single number; then look for the switch, it may be
hidden."

http://groups.google.ca/group/sci.electronics.repair/browse_frm/thread/53a6aaf7777ac05b/86ce2349e56f35b4?lnk=st&q=answering+machine+remote +control+code&rnum=4&hl=en#86ce2349e56f35b4

On Tue, 28 Mar 2006 18:34:54 -0500, mm put
finger to keyboard and composed:

On Tue, 28 Mar 2006 04:10:17 -0500, "JANA" wrote:

Phones need 48 Volts DC with an in series of 600 to 800 ohm source. The ring
is 96 Volts at 25 Hz.

Thanks a lot.

For the answering machine, if it is a name brand, you should be able to get
the information about how to reset the remote code. If it is a fixed
uninique code, then you have a problem.

It is a fixed code. A friend of mine and I each bought one 21 years
ago, and the code was printed on the box, not on the bottom of the
unit that became more common. I wish it had been on the bottom; we
would still have it! This new one is from the wife of a friend, and
she stopped using it a couple years ago and has forgotten the code.

So you have another identical unit? Is it an analogue type, ie does it
use microcassettes rather than flash memory? If so, then there may be
a small 8-pin serial EEPROM that stores the code and speed dial
numbers (?), in which case you could swap the chip between the two
machines. You could also read the chips using a device programmer and
compare the contents, or you could simply duplicate a working chip.

- Franc Zabkar
--
Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email.

On Thu, 30 Mar 2006 19:31:52 -0800, Smitty Two
wrote:

In article ,
mm wrote:

What's
eating you, Smitty?

I do get worked up, don't I? Sorry about that. I just don't understand
why you want to spend hours and hours and hours,

**

and some money, setting
up some sort of clever, semi-automated, rube goldbergesque way to "save
time" in your quest. My point is simply that you've *already* spent more
time than you would have doing it the "slow" way. And you've barely
begun.

But it isn't like I've never wasted time, so I apologize for chastising
you. Knock yourself out, enjoy it, learn from it. Good luck.

Thank you. A lot. We're cool. It takes a big man to say more than
just "sorry", as you have done.

After I read this far, I wanted this paragraph to come after we were
cool:

**I don't want to spend the time, but I want the result. There are
features that this machine has that no other one has. (that I have
found and I've looked a lot). I'm hoping this will last me another 20
years**, but even if it only lasts 5 years, it will be well worth it.
It's not like I don't spend too much time watching tv as it is. I can
do this while I watch tv.

I once did something else like this that was repetitive, and I was
satisfied, but I haven't been able to remember what it was.

**The first one lasted almost 20 and I'm going to put a good surge
suppressor in front of this one (hope that makes a difference.)

I'd go into the details of the features this has that I want, but it
would take a long time and is probably boring to most people.



Posted and mailed too because it's been days and maybe no one is
reading this thread anymore.


Thanks to all of you for the help.

On Fri, 31 Mar 2006 01:48:56 -0500, p wrote:

On Tue, 28 Mar 2006 18:34:54 -0500, mm
wrote:

It is a fixed code. A friend of mine and I each bought one 21 years
ago, and the code was printed on the box, not on the bottom of the
unit that became more common. I wish it had been on the bottom; we
would still have it! This new one is from the wife of a friend, and
she stopped using it a couple years ago and has forgotten the code.

It's Code-a-Phone, model 2530 or similar model.

Found this in google for a Code-a-Phone model 2600.

"Not sure of the model number, but it sounds familiar. If it is the
little black one with gold trim and the digital outgoing message, then
the remote code is determinded by two things; a sticker on the bottom
with a single digit (ie '7') and a switch with two numbers. ('3' or
'9') The sticker determines the first digit, the switch selects the
second digit. This may be true for yours, look on the bottom for a
sticker with a single number; then look for the switch, it may be
hidden."

Thanks a lot, this could be very helpful. I don't have the machine in
front of me right now, but I will look for these things.

http://groups.google.ca/group/sci.electronics.repair/browse_frm/thread/53a6aaf7777ac05b/86ce2349e56f35b4?lnk=st&q=answering+machine+remote +control+code&rnum=4&hl=en#86ce2349e56f35b4

On Sat, 01 Apr 2006 07:48:32 +1000, Franc Zabkar
wrote:

On Tue, 28 Mar 2006 18:34:54 -0500, mm put
finger to keyboard and composed:

On Tue, 28 Mar 2006 04:10:17 -0500, "JANA" wrote:

Phones need 48 Volts DC with an in series of 600 to 800 ohm source. The ring
is 96 Volts at 25 Hz.

Thanks a lot.

For the answering machine, if it is a name brand, you should be able to get
the information about how to reset the remote code. If it is a fixed
uninique code, then you have a problem.

It is a fixed code. A friend of mine and I each bought one 21 years
ago, and the code was printed on the box, not on the bottom of the
unit that became more common. I wish it had been on the bottom; we
would still have it! This new one is from the wife of a friend, and
she stopped using it a couple years ago and has forgotten the code.

So you have another identical unit? Is it an analogue type, ie does it
use microcassettes rather than flash memory?

Microcassettes.

If so, then there may be
a small 8-pin serial EEPROM that stores the code and speed dial
numbers (?)

Not important, but it doesn't have a phone attached. That is one of
the reasons my friend doesn't use it anymore.

I will look for the EEPROM.

in which case you could swap the chip between the two
machines. You could also read the chips using a device programmer and
compare the contents, or you could simply duplicate a working chip.

*simply* duplicate? I don't think I can do that. ;-) But the rest
of it sounds possible. Thanks a lot.

- Franc Zabkar

On Tue, 04 Apr 2006 03:37:06 -0400, mm
wrote:

**The first one lasted almost 20 and I'm going to put a good surge
suppressor in front of this one (hope that makes a difference.)

I'd go into the details of the features this has that I want, but it
would take a long time and is probably boring to most people.

I'm interested in hearing what those featires are, anyone who is
bored the list skip the posting.

In article ,
mm wrote:

On Thu, 30 Mar 2006 19:31:52 -0800, Smitty Two
wrote:

In article ,
mm wrote:

What's
eating you, Smitty?

I do get worked up, don't I? Sorry about that. I just don't understand
why you want to spend hours and hours and hours,

**

and some money, setting
up some sort of clever, semi-automated, rube goldbergesque way to "save
time" in your quest. My point is simply that you've *already* spent more
time than you would have doing it the "slow" way. And you've barely
begun.

But it isn't like I've never wasted time, so I apologize for chastising
you. Knock yourself out, enjoy it, learn from it. Good luck.

Thank you. A lot. We're cool. It takes a big man to say more than
just "sorry", as you have done.

After I read this far, I wanted this paragraph to come after we were
cool:

**I don't want to spend the time, but I want the result. There are
features that this machine has that no other one has. (that I have
found and I've looked a lot). I'm hoping this will last me another 20
years**, but even if it only lasts 5 years, it will be well worth it.
It's not like I don't spend too much time watching tv as it is. I can
do this while I watch tv.

I once did something else like this that was repetitive, and I was
satisfied, but I haven't been able to remember what it was.

**The first one lasted almost 20 and I'm going to put a good surge
suppressor in front of this one (hope that makes a difference.)

I'd go into the details of the features this has that I want, but it
would take a long time and is probably boring to most people.



Posted and mailed too because it's been days and maybe no one is
reading this thread anymore.


Thanks to all of you for the help.

Thank you, sir. I'm not questioning your desire to make the machine
usable. Just your approach. Let us know how it turns out. (My email is
not as shown)

On Tue, 04 Apr 2006 20:38:18 -0400, p wrote:

On Tue, 04 Apr 2006 03:37:06 -0400, mm
wrote:

**The first one lasted almost 20 and I'm going to put a good surge
suppressor in front of this one (hope that makes a difference.)

I'd go into the details of the features this has that I want, but it
would take a long time and is probably boring to most people.

I'm interested in hearing what those featires are, anyone who is
bored the list skip the posting.

I'm sorry I let so many days go by. I would email you two if you had
email addresses.

Primarily, after it starts either playing the outgoing or recording
the incoming message, it doesn't stop when I pick up the phone. This
is great when I'm in bed and don't have a pen and paper to make notes,
or I'm too sleepy. People leave their name and phone number, and the
machine takes it down for me. They also might say when I'm supposed
where.

At that point, I might say "Please pause for 7 seconds so that the
machine will hang up." and if they understand and are sufficiently
quiet, as at least my regular friends are, the machine senses the
quiet, beeps and hangs up. Then we can talk longer with no recording.

Sometimes I don't say that, and I let the machine record up to the
length of the tape. Even with friends, it helps me to review these
tapes to rehear the conversation, and I can get things that I missed
the first time. I don't save these tapes, and there would be nothing
embarrassing even if I, say, died before I had a chance to record over
them.

On a couple occasions, I have been quite burdened by the law in
Maryland and some other states that prevents recording phone
conversations. (remember Linda Tripp) But if they called and the
machine said leave a message, I think even if I got on later, that law
woudln't be applicable. In the most serious case, my mother's stock
broker was lying to my mother about me and to me about my mother, and
to both of us about what she was doing with the account. My mother
was 85 years old and fully competent, but I warn you that vultures are
more likely to steal from old people, even when they are competent.
She, the stock broker, churned my mothers account, causing her to pay
income taxes on realized capital gains, when my mother wasn't having
any high medical bills or other new expenses and there was no need to
buy or sell anything at all. My mother knew that she could refrain
from trading until she died, and then the stocks all got a new base
value without anyone in the family paying capital gains taxes on the
increase, some of it since my father died in 1955. That's the law.
But the stock broker worked it out, lied and said my mother had
approved it over the phone, so that my mother paid taxes on 40 years
of increase in value including inflation, at least 20,000 dollars more
in taxes just so the broker could make 5000 dollars. (Name of the
broker sent via email on request, probably the largest local broker in
Maryland.)

When you are old, set up your account to require written
authorization. Even though you may be fully competent, the broker
will rely on your age to make a tribunal (usually arbitration) think
that maybe you're not so compentent as you look, and maybe you did
approve it, even when you hadn't. When you're as old as my mother,
the broker will think, she may be dead by the time this goes to
arbitration, and indeed my mother was.

It's like one year in the dorm. Every night I slept soundly with my
door open, don't remmeber why. But the one night in the whole year
that I got drunk was the night someone came in and took my wallet. He
could have done it any night, but I seemed vulnerable drunk. So too
do old people seem vulnerable, even when they may be no more
vulnerable than anyone. But more people attack them, so it is
self-fulfilling.

When challenged, the stock broker relies on the fact that they say
that they do not give TAX advice. This sounds like they don't give
tax advice on complicated tax matters, but the example I gave above is
not complicated at all, it's known to every broker, they know they
would not be working in the client's interest, and some of them do it
anyhow. Because they want the commissions.

Another smaller matter, disssimilar from this one and unrelated to it,
is pending now, where I would like to record what is said.


Also, I like double cassette machines. So nothing they sell now is
what I really like. With double cassette, it is easy to have several
outgoing messages and to change them in a couple seconds, by changing
the tape. Easy to save incoming messages that need to be saved.


I like my old machine's logic. It was the top of the line and
everythign that coudl be done in person could be done remotely,
including changing the outgoing message, and it allowed for
interrupting the outgoing message with the pass number when I wanted
to play my message.

Also, I like the logic of this machine and have trouble with others,
including the one I'm using now, which was the best of the bunch.
Wwith my old machine, I used to be able to play the incoming messages
as often as I wanted, in a row, then rewind or not, depending on
whether I want to keep it or not. With the machine I was forced to
use, I press Play Recent and it rewinds and plays the messages since
the last time. But it won't do that a second time. I can press Play
All once too, but if after that, I rewind to the start and press
either Play, it won't play anything. I have to fast forward a bit to
what it considers the middle of the tape, and then press Play and then
it will play. This problem occurs other places in the tape too iirc
under certain circumstances. For a while I thought the machine was
broken. The manual studiously avoids saying anything about these
situations and now I'm sure the machine isn't broken. A Panasonic
Easa-Phone

And this is just what I remember. I haven't used the machine for more
than two years so there might be good features I've forgotten. There
haven't been any good features on any of the 10 machines I bought
since then, except the date and time stamp might be. But since I'm
home every night or call in once or twice a day for messages, and can
call in cheaply from out of town** when I'm away, no message has ever
been so old that I've really needed the date and time. In fact it
annoys me to have to spend the time listening to it before every
message.

Also most new ones let you skip to the start of the next message, and
delete messages in the middle. This is good, but the absence of these
things never bothered me and certanly not as much as the absense of
the things that I do miss.

**I rarely do that. When I'm away, I stop thinking about life back
here, except I woudl call once a week.


I'm a terrible person to buy presents for. Especially mechanical and
electronic ones. I know what I like, and that's often all that I
like. I don't need a lot of things, but what I have has to be just
so.

When I want to fix something, I have almost endless patience. I've
done one or two things with 100 possibilities -- I forget what they
are now -- and 1000 possibilities is only ten times as many. It
doesn't have to be done tomorrow, but when I'm done, that will be the
time.



After all this, I hate to tell you this, but I should. There was no
code on the bottom, but my friend sent me more stuff, including the
spare rubber belts I had bought but not used, and not the manual, but
the QUIK summary of controls, and on that his wife or he had long ago
written the code!!! And there is a zero in the code which means my
plan to do all non-zero codes would mean I would have done the first
900 combinations without finding it. It would have been in the last
100. So it woudl have taken twice as long as my estimate.

But I still benefitted greatly from the info about phone voltages and
ringing voltages. Phones were one of my first interests** and I've
wanted to know this stuff for years, before the two projects I asked
about ever existed. Besides the one remaining, there will be others
and this helps a lot to fill the big hole in my knowledge. It's useful
and satifying even when I"m not using it.

**In college in chicago, I even went to the Illinois Institute of
Technology just to read about phones. They only had one book that
represented my then sub-interest, and I couldn't check it out because
I didn't go to school there, but I spent hours reading it at their
library.

A big thanks, again, to all of you.

On Tue, 04 Apr 2006 03:42:48 -0400, mm
wrote:

On Fri, 31 Mar 2006 01:48:56 -0500, p wrote:

On Tue, 28 Mar 2006 18:34:54 -0500, mm
wrote:

It is a fixed code. A friend of mine and I each bought one 21 years
ago, and the code was printed on the box, not on the bottom of the
unit that became more common. I wish it had been on the bottom; we
would still have it! This new one is from the wife of a friend, and
she stopped using it a couple years ago and has forgotten the code.

It's Code-a-Phone, model 2530 or similar model.

Found this in google for a Code-a-Phone model 2600.

"Not sure of the model number, but it sounds familiar. If it is the
little black one with gold trim and the digital outgoing message, then
the remote code is determinded by two things; a sticker on the bottom
with a single digit (ie '7') and a switch with two numbers. ('3' or
'9') The sticker determines the first digit, the switch selects the
second digit. This may be true for yours, look on the bottom for a
sticker with a single number; then look for the switch, it may be
hidden."

Thanks a lot, this could be very helpful. I don't have the machine in
front of me right now, but I will look for these things.

http://groups.google.ca/group/sci.electronics.repair/browse_frm/thread/53a6aaf7777ac05b/86ce2349e56f35b4?lnk=st&q=answering+machine+remote +control+code&rnum=4&hl=en#86ce2349e56f35b4


I just found an old ad for Code-a-phone answering machines. they were
made by the Conrac company. http://www.conrac.us/

They might be able to tell you what company took over that particular
division of the business.