Telephone Ringing Problem

[Chris.J]

I have an intermittent fault.
Sometimes an incoming call rings just once, if I hear it & pick up the Rx. the line is there an comms. ok.
Other times ringing is normal.
Can't find anything wrong with the house wiring, suspect the incoming line is intermittent high resistance (rural situation, long overhead run).
Never lose the line totally.
I wonder if I could test the loop resistance by connecting a DC meter across the incoming line & measuring the current from the 48volt exchange supply?
Tried putting on 4 REN 1 instruments, one rang continuously at low level, possible a faulty one?
Not on ADSL.
Any help appreciated.

 

[bathjobby]

For the sake of a few £'s try changing the primary socket which will give you a new ringer and line termination (loading to the exchange) circuit. You should also be able to get your provider to do a line test from their end for free.

 

[BenStiller]

Sounds like you have prior telecoms experience chris?
If you can get hold of a buttfone test the incoming line, at least this will tell you what side of the network your fault is on, then you can take it from there.

 

[Lectrician]

faults like this are usually D side.

 

[plugwash]

the problem is trying to convince them that an intermittent fault is 1: real and 2: not your fault.

btw if you do change the master socket keep the bt one around and put it back before calling thier engineers out. you wan't to cover yoruself if/when the blame game starts.

 

[Lectrician]

Disconnect all your wiring, leave the only the NTE in service. Then call them out if the problem persists.

I remember someone from BT making a post regarding ringing - phone would ring, go silent, then a few seconds later it would ring like normal. Search for it on this forum.

 

[Chris.J]

Thanks for your replies Guys (& Gals?).
Lectrician; regret I don't know what you mean by "D side", exchange ?
Plugwash;You've hit the nail on the head, don't want to call out BT until I'me fairly sure the fault is on their side; I've heard they charge if they cant find a problem?
Bathjobby; Good idea to change the master skt.,will try it.
Ben; regret don't have access to a buttfone.

I have searched this forum for "Ringing" , but have'nt found anything other than to test the line using 17070 option 1, have'nt done it yet, must the master skt. removable bit be in place for the test to work, or can it be done from the socket within, i.e. hard across the line?
Also, this "single ring" I get, no-one has come up with what fault this symptom points to? any ideas?
Also, my idea to test the line with a meter across it, is this a meaningfull test, what current from the 48Volt supply should I expect? It seemed to me this might show up a high line resistance?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Buy a dog.

 

[securespark]

?????

 

[Lectrician]

D side is distribution side, E side is exchange side.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

http://kzsu.stanford.edu/~dougm/Humor/96/March/UnusualTelephoneServiceCall.html