I have a cordless phone / answering machine system at home that's
started giving trouble of late. It's a Panasonic, model KX-TG5433. 5.8
gHz. It came with 3 handsets, which I like because I can always find one
of them and at least one always has a full battery charge. I'd guess
it's about 5-8 years old.

Problem is, two of the handsets have stopped reliably communicating with
the base. I often can't get a dialtone to call out, nor answer an
incoming call. Error message sometimes comes up on the handset display,
saying I'm out of range.

I know I can buy a new phone, but I don't mind tinkering with this one
if there's a chance I can resurrect it. I've run into things like this
befo electronic car keys not communicating with the car lock, TV
remotes not communicating with the TV, etc. Is this a matter of
frequency drift as components age?

TIA for any useful feedback.

Problem is, two of the handsets have stopped reliably
communicating with the base. I often can't get a dialtone
to call out, nor answer an incoming call. Error message
sometimes comes up on the handset display, saying I'm
out of range.

Well, there's your problem.

The most-likely cause is that the output of the base station is down. Make
sure its antenna isn't dirty (!!!) or broken, and position the base station
where the handsets can easily "see" it (RF-wise).

"William Sommerwerck" wrote in message
...
Problem is, two of the handsets have stopped reliably
communicating with the base. I often can't get a dialtone
to call out, nor answer an incoming call. Error message
sometimes comes up on the handset display, saying I'm
out of range.

Well, there's your problem.

The most-likely cause is that the output of the base station is down. Make
sure its antenna isn't dirty (!!!) or broken, and position the base
station
where the handsets can easily "see" it (RF-wise).

Don't the hand sets have batteries? Have you checked them ? Ours have that
problem when it needs recharge or battery bad. WW

In article ,
Smitty Two wrote:
I have a cordless phone / answering machine system at home that's
started giving trouble of late. It's a Panasonic, model KX-TG5433. 5.8
gHz. It came with 3 handsets, which I like because I can always find one
of them and at least one always has a full battery charge. I'd guess
it's about 5-8 years old.

Problem is, two of the handsets have stopped reliably communicating with
the base. I often can't get a dialtone to call out, nor answer an
incoming call. Error message sometimes comes up on the handset display,
saying I'm out of range.

First thing I'd check is the batteries. 8 years is a very good life for
rechargeable types. Swap from the good handset to a faulty one to prove
this hypothesis.

--
*He has Van Gogh's ear for music.

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

In article ,
"William Sommerwerck" wrote:

Problem is, two of the handsets have stopped reliably
communicating with the base. I often can't get a dialtone
to call out, nor answer an incoming call. Error message
sometimes comes up on the handset display, saying I'm
out of range.

Well, there's your problem.

The most-likely cause is that the output of the base station is down. Make
sure its antenna isn't dirty (!!!) or broken, and position the base station
where the handsets can easily "see" it (RF-wise).

Well, I started to hammer out a chiding reply to what I interpreted as
your overly-simplistic suggestions. I was getting the "out of range"
message or other non-operative condition even when I was standing right
next to the base.

But just to humor you, I wiped a layer of dust off the 4" long
plastic-covered base antenna and rotated it to an upright position. I'm
sure it's completely unrelated, but my intermittent issues are currently
in remission. Can RF really not punch through a bit of dust?

To those who suggested battery issues, agree that I'm pushing lifespan
but they seem to be charging up fully and giving me good battery charge
life still. FWIW, they're Ni-MH.

Thank you.

On Mon, 21 Feb 2011 10:05:15 -0800, Smitty Two

But just to humor you, I wiped a layer of dust off the 4" long
plastic-covered base antenna and rotated it to an upright position. I'm
sure it's completely unrelated, but my intermittent issues are currently
in remission. Can RF really not punch through a bit of dust?

I doubt the dust affects it, but rotating it to an upright position
will. And, if there is a loose connection, perhaps rotating it fixed
that, too.

In article ,
Smitty Two wrote:
To those who suggested battery issues, agree that I'm pushing lifespan
but they seem to be charging up fully and giving me good battery charge
life still. FWIW, they're Ni-MH.

Thought you said two of the handsets no longer worked reliably - so how
can you be sure the battery life is normal?

--
*It's this dirty because I washed it with your wife's knickers*

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

The most-likely cause is that the output of the base
station is down. Make sure its antenna isn't dirty (!!!)
or broken, and position the base station where the
handsets can easily "see" it (RF-wise).

Well, I started to hammer out a chiding reply to what I
interpreted as your overly-simplistic suggestions. I was
getting the "out of range" message or other non-operative
condition even when I was standing right next to the base.

But just to humor you, I wiped a layer of dust off the 4"
plastic-covered base antenna and rotated it to an upright
position. I'm sure it's completely unrelated, but my intermittent
issues are currently in remission. Can RF really not punch
through a bit of dust?

If the dust is conductive (and some is), it might conceivably have an
effect -- "It couldn't hurt!" to clean the antenna. But I suspect it was
mostly that the antenna was misadjusted, or possibly loose.

It usually makes sense to start with the obvious. If you're "out of range"
on /two/ (or more) handsets, that suggests low output from the base station,
not defective handsets. And the fact they operate at all -- and well enough
to display an "out of range" message is likewise suggestive.

On 2/21/2011 1:05 PM, Smitty Two wrote:

But just to humor you, I wiped a layer of dust off the 4" long
plastic-covered base antenna and rotated it to an upright position. I'm
sure it's completely unrelated, but my intermittent issues are currently
in remission. Can RF really not punch through a bit of dust?

To those who suggested battery issues, agree that I'm pushing lifespan
but they seem to be charging up fully and giving me good battery charge
life still. FWIW, they're Ni-MH.

Thank you.

Well, perhaps not the dust, but consider that there may have been some
oxidization on the 'swivel' part which got cleaned up when you swiveled
it. The end result may well have been a better connection, and more signal.

--
I'm never going to grow up.

On 2/21/2011 9:56 AM, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In ,
Smitty wrote:
I have a cordless phone / answering machine system at home that's
started giving trouble of late. It's a Panasonic, model KX-TG5433. 5.8
gHz. It came with 3 handsets, which I like because I can always find one
of them and at least one always has a full battery charge. I'd guess
it's about 5-8 years old.

Problem is, two of the handsets have stopped reliably communicating with
the base. I often can't get a dialtone to call out, nor answer an
incoming call. Error message sometimes comes up on the handset display,
saying I'm out of range.

First thing I'd check is the batteries. 8 years is a very good life for
rechargeable types. Swap from the good handset to a faulty one to prove
this hypothesis.

+1

And, if each handset tends to be charged in a *particular*
charging base, try changing those as well (i.e., charge
handset #1 in cradle #2, etc.). We have four interchangeable
handsets that routinely get circulated among the 4 charging
stations (just as a consequence of our usage patterns).
I rarely see a *particular* handset giving me problems.

I've found many mysterious cordless phone problems
are battery related (low state of charge, etc.). The
phones themselves tend to be pretty lousy at reporting
their real "state".

"Smitty Two" wrote in message
news
In article ,
"William Sommerwerck" wrote:

Problem is, two of the handsets have stopped reliably
communicating with the base. I often can't get a dialtone
to call out, nor answer an incoming call. Error message
sometimes comes up on the handset display, saying I'm
out of range.

Well, there's your problem.

The most-likely cause is that the output of the base station is down.
Make
sure its antenna isn't dirty (!!!) or broken, and position the base
station
where the handsets can easily "see" it (RF-wise).

Well, I started to hammer out a chiding reply to what I interpreted as
your overly-simplistic suggestions. I was getting the "out of range"
message or other non-operative condition even when I was standing right
next to the base.

But just to humor you, I wiped a layer of dust off the 4" long
plastic-covered base antenna and rotated it to an upright position. I'm
sure it's completely unrelated, but my intermittent issues are currently
in remission. Can RF really not punch through a bit of dust?

To those who suggested battery issues, agree that I'm pushing lifespan
but they seem to be charging up fully and giving me good battery charge
life still. FWIW, they're Ni-MH.

Thank you.

It was probably the rotating of the antenna that did it. 'Cleaned' the oxide
off the contacting faces of the rotating joint maybe. Doesn't take much to
stop those sorts of frequencies ...

Arfa

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Smitty Two wrote:
I have a cordless phone / answering machine system at home that's
started giving trouble of late. It's a Panasonic, model KX-TG5433. 5.8
gHz. It came with 3 handsets, which I like because I can always find one
of them and at least one always has a full battery charge. I'd guess
it's about 5-8 years old.

Problem is, two of the handsets have stopped reliably communicating with
the base. I often can't get a dialtone to call out, nor answer an
incoming call. Error message sometimes comes up on the handset display,
saying I'm out of range.

First thing I'd check is the batteries. 8 years is a very good life for
rechargeable types. Swap from the good handset to a faulty one to prove
this hypothesis.

--
*He has Van Gogh's ear for music.

Dave Plowman

Considering that with most cordless phone handsets, the manufacturers pay
little if any attention to 'correct' charging schemes for the type of
battery being used, they are remarkably long-lived. I used to do a lot of
work on first, second and third generation cordlesses, and almost all,
irrespective of the manufacturer or cost, charged the batteries via a simple
single current limiting resistor.

My household cordless has two handsets, and I would guess that they are
probably getting on for 10 years old now, and they are both on their
original sets of batteries, and are both still going strong. Sometimes, the
handset in the bedroom, can sit on its charging base for days, undisturbed,
with the batteries just cooking away gently, but doesn't seem to have done
them any harm.

Arfa

In article ,
"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote:

In article ,
Smitty Two wrote:
To those who suggested battery issues, agree that I'm pushing lifespan
but they seem to be charging up fully and giving me good battery charge
life still. FWIW, they're Ni-MH.

Thought you said two of the handsets no longer worked reliably - so how
can you be sure the battery life is normal?

Good point. Truth is I really wasn't keeping track of which handsets
worked and which ones didn't, just had to try more than one and
sometimes more than two handsets before getting one to work. Never kept
track of whether it was always the same handset(s) giving trouble. But
charge indicators on each handset show discharging and charging is going
on, and when the handsets did work, they worked well and appeared to
keep a charge for several days.

Consensus is clearly the base antenna issue, which surprises me, but for
now all of the handsets work. I actually took a closer look at the base
and found that it has *two* identical antennas, one on each side, so I
gave the second one a twist, two. It was hiding under something and I
had forgotten about it.

In article ,
Smitty Two wrote:
Consensus is clearly the base antenna issue, which surprises me, but for
now all of the handsets work. I actually took a closer look at the base
and found that it has *two* identical antennas, one on each side, so I
gave the second one a twist, two. It was hiding under something and I
had forgotten about it.

Likely a form of diversity reception. If one aerial is in a null, the
other hopefully isn't. However, it usually only stops signal interruption
when moving etc rather than the overall sensitivity.

--
*If you think nobody cares about you, try missing a couple of payments *

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