Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!seismo!lll-lcc!mordor!styx!ames!ucbcad!ucbvax!WISCVM.WISC.EDU!S.D-REUBEN%KLA.WESLYN%Wesleyan.BITNET From: S.D-REUBEN%KLA.WESLYN%Wesleyan.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU (Doug Reuben) Newsgroups: mod.telecom Subject: More Hold Circuit Message-ID: <8612310112.AA02289@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> Date: Sun, 28-Dec-86 17:22:12 EST Article-I.D.: ucbvax.8612310112.AA02289 Posted: Sun Dec 28 17:22:12 1986 Date-Received: Wed, 31-Dec-86 00:47:07 EST Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Organization: The ARPA Internet Lines: 41 Approved: telecom@xx.lcs.mit.edu Recently there have been a few posts about how to build an inexpensive "hold" circuit for home extensions so that you can place one extension on hold, hang up, and then pick up some other extension phone and continue the conversation. However, it occurred to me, rather than get a whole lot of devices to do this, why not get just one, and use the extra wiring in the phone lines to "connect" the device to all the phones. Lets say you have 4 extensions. If you were to get a hold circuit for each one of them it would get pretty expensive. However, if have the 3 or 4 wire phone lines in your house, you could install just ONE hold circuit. The red and green wires (on 4 wire systems) are the only ones that are usually used. (The black and yellow might be used to light up the dials of phones like Trimlines and Princesses so if you want the keep the light this wont work well). This leaves the black and yellow wires completely free, and these are the wires to use. On three wire systems, there is only one free wire, and the other two are used for the phone circuit. Therefore, one of the active phone circuit wires would have to be used, but this shouldn't create much of a problem. Install the hold circuit anywhere along the phone line to the red and green wires. Then, instead of connecting a toggle switch to the hold unit itself, connect the two wires for the toggle switch to the black and yellow wires. Now, at every location that you want a hold feature, connect a toggle switch between the black and yellow wires. This should be a lot cheaper than purchasing individual units for each phone, and is probably more convenient to install as well. Personally, if you have Touch Tone phones, I strongly favor the Tone Hold device, but this is a good alternative if you have rotary or mixed Tone/rotary service. -Doug REUBEN@WESLYN.BITNET S.D-REUBEN%KLA.WESLYN@WESLEYAN.BITNET S.D-REUBEN%KLA.WESLYN%WESLEYAN.BITNET@WISCVM.ARPA (and probably a lot of other ways too...!!) -------