VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Joe Whistler · Guest

I'm trying to get a Symetrix TI-101 phone patch working. My biggest problem...

I use a line splitter to take the phone line into the Symetrix. The other side of the splitter goes to the telephone. To open the phone line, I have to take the handset off the telephone base.

The problem is that the telephone handset also pics up the room sound being routed through the Symetrix and mixer.

There must be an easy solution to this, but I sure can't figure it out.

Thanks for any help!

Gp · Guest

Joe,

I use the ti 101 and like you I have remove the handset to make it work. I have a cordless phone and just take the handset into the other room or put it on a chair and fold a blanket over it. The other option is to have a mute switch on the handset itself....many even inexpensive phones have that feature. Or you can also pick up an inline mute switch. Here's a phone from radio shack with a mute switch. http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&product%5Fid=43-3596

Good Luck. Let me know if you find any other good solution.

Joe Whistler · Guest

Thanks GP...

I've thought of the cordless phone trick, but as you'll no doubt agree, it's an inconvenient solution, at best.

I currently have an ATT phone that has a mute button, but it mutes the main signal...not just the signal to the handset. I'm guessing most phone mute switches work this way?

These units were designed for studio use, so there must be a simple and elegant solution, but I'll be damned if I can find it!

I'll keep looking for a solution and will let you know if/when I find one!

Anyone else??

Andy · Guest

I had similar set-up. I got one of these:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=985&item=6154322030&rd=1

Found it on Ebay. You can unscrew the handset and pull out the little speaker that serves as the phone mic.

Guest · Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2005 11:07 pm Post subject:

Joe, any reason you decided to go w/the Symetrix? I'm looking to buy a phone patch, and have been looking at a JT Audio telephone interface. I hope you get your problem straightened out!

Joe Whistler · Guest

kitstern · Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2005 11:02 pm Post subject:

Joe, actually that was me who asked (Kitzie), I don't know why I showed up as a guest. I've seen the Symetrix on ebay, and I have to get some kind of a patch for a job I'm doing next week. I've also heard you can use AudioTx as a phone patch, but I don't know how to do it.
_________________
Enjoy life, this is not a rehearsal.

http://www.kitziestern.com/

Joe Whistler · Guest

I think I solved my own problem regarding muting the phone when patching in an outside line. After several sleepless nights worrying about this (I know...life is good if this is what keeps me up at nights!), I remembered I had an old Plantronic phone headset. This is about vintage 1988 and had been sitting in a box of useless gear. The unit plugs in between the base unit and the handset and routes the audio to a headset. The cool thing about it is that it has a mute button!

I just have the thing plugged into the phone, without the headset. When a phone call comes in, pick up the handset and hit the mute.. voila! Another problem solved!

Kitzie: What are your thoughts on AudioTX? I've been thinking that's the best all around solution to the ISDN problem.

Jim Barton · Guest

kitstern · Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 8:18 pm Post subject:

Joe, I think AudioTx is great. And if I can figure out how to make it work as a phone patch it will be an even better solution. However, that thingee that connects ProTools systems is pretty cool too. Did you see that thread?

Anyhoo, a friend on another board told me how to use AudioTx as a phone patch. Here's what he said to do:

Guest

[/quote]

When I need to do an analog phone patch with my Microtel, I just take the handset off the hook, unplug the cord from the handset, and plug it into the Microtel. Voila! Just the signal from the other end of the phone hookup, with no room noise.

Isn't this what you were trying to accomplish?

Jim[/quote]

Microtel has made it easy for you by giving you a handset jack on the unit. The Symetrix uses screw terminals in the back. But.... you just gave me an idea. It shouldn't be too difficult clip one plug off a handset cord and terminate the wires onto the terminals of the Symetrix. Hmmmm.. wonder if this will work? More sleepless nights!

I thought I had all this worked out, but I'm not getting my mic channel through now. Oh, the humanity!

Joe Whistler · Guest

AKA Guest

Latech70 · Guest

WW · Guest

It's somewhat of an old thread, but I'll give it a go anyway.

I've been trying to get my TI-101 to work, but can't for a different problem.

Concerning the mute/other room solution, you should be able to hang up the phone entirely and the TI-101 hold the line open. If it doesn't, its becuase the phone line no longer has a load on it that the unit wants to see, like the old phone system used to have. (remember bell ringers?)

My solution was to add a 600 ohm to 600 ohm transformer to the line. It's easy really. Since I had one laying around, I used a Sescom IL-19. Instead of a raw transformer it comes housed in an xlr barrel and is meant to be used to isolate audio gear.

Because the TI-101 has just two terminals, use only pins 2 and 3 of the IL-19, like this:

phone line connectorized with a xlr connector (male or female, doesn't matter) wired to pin 2 and pin 3 (again, doesn't matter which is which. there is no ground). Plug this into the IL-19. Make a pig tail (connector on one end, raw exposed wire on the other) using the opposite sex connector you used on the phone line using only pin 2 and pin 3. Plug this connector to other side of the IL-19. You now have in your hand the other end of the pig tail, which is two bare wires just like your phone line was. Connect these to your TI-101 terminals.

Now you can hang up the phone and the TI-101 will hold the line open. Of course, to hang up you will have to detach the IL-19, but it is made for this, so no problem. Plug and unplug at will. Oh, and you will have to dial out before connecting the IL-19 to the TI-101. It works.

My problem is I can't get the 60 cycle hum to go away, and I have no gain on the voice from the caller. It might be a loading problem, but I haven't been able to suss it yet. I'm going directly to a MOTU digital interface. Ground lifts have no effect on the hum whatsoever. And yes, I know the audio in/outs on the TI-101 are pin three hot, unlike most of the world.

Oh well. I'll keep picking away at it.

Good luck.

wwagonist at gmail.com