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- Path: sparky!uunet!dtix!oasys!curt
- From: curt@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Curt Welch)
- Newsgroups: sci.electronics
- Subject: Re: Adding a Second Phone Line
- Message-ID: <27262@oasys.dt.navy.mil>
- Date: 6 Nov 92 15:59:44 GMT
- References: <Bx9Frv.4Hw@mtholyoke.edu>
- Reply-To: curt@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Curt Welch)
- Organization: Carderock Division, NSWC, Bethesda, MD
- Lines: 49
-
- In sci.electronics, kharstin@MtHolyoke.edu (Ken Harstine) writes:
- >By the way 2 line panasonic phones assume that the second line is on the
- >yellow and black wires, and so will work with existing single line sockets
- >for two line operation.
-
- This isn't just a Panasonic feature. It's one of the many phone
- company standard type of jacks (I don't know who makes up these
- standards). Your normal single line phone jack is called an RJ11C. It
- uses a 6 pin modular connector with RING connected to pin 3 and TIP
- connected to pin 4. The wall phone version of the jack is called an
- RJ11W.
-
- If you put a second phone line on the black and yellow lines (pins
- 2 and 5), then the jack is called an RJ14C. If you put three lines
- on the jack, then it's an RJ25C.
-
- Every two-line phone I've seen supports the RJ14 style jack.
-
- Radio Shack sells a bunch of RJ14 stuff. For example, they have an
- RJ14 to RJ11 addaptor. It plugs into an RJ14 jack, and provides
- two RJ11 jacks (one for each line) and one RJ14 jack (with both
- lines on it.) If you use one of these, then you don't have to install
- a second jack for the second line. And if your home has all 4 wires
- running to all the jacks in the house, then you can use this
- type of adaptor to access the second line from any jack without
- having to install new jacks.
-
- Also, as long as we are talking about wire. Every home I've seen
- built in the last 20 years has a multiple conductor (something
- like 12 wire) cable running between all the phone jacks in the
- house. It starts at the point where the phone lines come from
- the phone company (either outside or inside the house) and runs
- to each outlet in the home in sequence.
-
- Most homes will only have two of these wires used. To add a second
- line, you just pick two of the wires and use these for the second
- line. Connect them to the new incomming line at the terminal provied
- by the phone company, and then go to the wall jack, and connect these
- two lines to the screew terminals for the black and yellow wires if you
- want to use the RJ14 type jack. The cable will make a loop at each
- outlet. Don't just cut the new wires and connect them. Just strip
- about 1/2" of insulation off the wire and loop it over the screw lug.
- If the wire breaks will you are trying to do this - don't worry - just
- twist the ends together and then connect them to the terminal.
-
- Radio Shack (and others) also sells a dual-jack wall plate that works
- nicely for two lines.
-
- Curt Welch
-