Controlling phone ringing with ELK-M1XOVR ...

[electron]

Currently I turn my phones on / off with appliance modules, but I am wondering now if it would be possible to run one of the phone wire leads through a ELK-M1XOVR relay, so I can turn on / off the phone ringing for the entire house?

specs of the onboard relays:
SPDT rated for 7 Amps @ 28VDC,
10 Amps @ 125 VDC

Is there any reason I shouldn't be doing this?

 

[upstatemike]

I am not a fan of disbling phones to stop the ring because the phones are then not available to dial out in an emergency situation. I would look into finding a device that just disables the ringer by blocking the 20Hz ring signal. You could then use an elk relay to activate the device.

A better solution would be to buy the old Panasonic phone system sitting in my basement (for a very cheap price) and use that to manage ringing. It will work with single line phones and will give you a lot of other cool phone options.

 

[tbully]

Currently I turn my phones on / off with appliance modules, but I am wondering now if it would be possible to run one of the phone wire leads through a ELK-M1XOVR relay, so I can turn on / off the phone ringing for the entire house?

specs of the onboard relays:
SPDT rated for 7 Amps @ 28VDC,
10 Amps @ 125 VDC

Is there any reason I shouldn't be doing this?

I don't see why not.

The best would be to use a DPST or DPDT and disconnect both TIP and RING (red and green) but disconnecting just one should give you the net effect of turning off the phone by disconnecting it from the line.

The relay contacts should easily suffice. I can't remember the current rating but I think "ring" voltage is somewhere around 90 VAC but really low current.

 

[tbully]

I am not a fan of disbling phones to stop the ring because the phones are then not available to dial out in an emergency situation. I would look into finding a device that just disables the ringer by blocking the 20Hz ring signal. You could then use an elk relay to activate the device.

A better solution would be to buy the old Panasonic phone system sitting in my basement (for a very cheap price) and use that to manage ringing. It will work with single line phones and will give you a lot of other cool phone options.

upstatemike's idea is even better!

 

[upstatemike]

From www.sandman.com under "Wizards Toolbox"...

******************************************

AUTOMATIC RINGER CUT-OFF SWITCH

Turn the ringer off automatically - especially convenient at night!

Automatic Ringer Cut-off Switch

It's not safe to turn the whole phone off, since you couldn't reach 911 in an emergency.

Controlled through a regular AC outlet. Includes an AC Adapter (Power Cube) that you can plug into a lamp timer (available at hardware stores).

*** OR AN APPLIANCE MODULE ***

IMPORTANT NOTE: There is a trace you can cut under either the Manual or Automatic Ringer Cut-Off Switch that will disconnect the phone(s) connected in-series with it entirely (not just shut off the ringer). Remember that it's not safe to do this if no other phones are available to make emergency calls!

Cutting the trace works great for factory phones that need to be shut-off entirely after 5PM.

Part Number: MIS9F Price: $36.95

 

[IVB]

I'm going to accomplish the same outcome but for more $$. That must mean the answer is better, right

Once all my HA/elk speakers are mounted, I was planning on always leaving the ringers off, but downloading a ringing sound from the PC via the Elk-129 to the Elk-120 sound module, then playing a ringing sound if the Elk-930 Doorbell ring detector detects an inbound call.

 

[Steve]

If you have an M1 I don't think you need to use the telephone ring detector (ELK-930). Ring is detected thru the M1 phone port and there is a telephone ring detect in the rule. Right now my system just says 'telephone' in the beautiful M1 voice when the phone rings. The rule is tripped on each ring but I'm sure you can write fancier rules to only act on the first one.

 

[upstatemike]

If you're going to do that you might as well use the CID info to say "Telephone call from xxx" while you are at it.

 

[Steve]

Well it was just a quick test I haven't changed. I still don't have speakers all over and the M1 can't do CID. My plan eventually is to have the CID thru a nice TTS engine on CQC anyway, just haven't gotten around to it yet.

 

[briankelly63]

Currently I turn my phones on / off with appliance modules, but I am wondering now if it would be possible to run one of the phone wire leads through a ELK-M1XOVR relay, so I can turn on / off the phone ringing for the entire house?

specs of the onboard relays:
SPDT rated for 7 Amps @ 28VDC,
10 Amps @ 125 VDC

Is there any reason I shouldn't be doing this?

Depending on the phone... often you can put a diode in series with either side of the phone line which will stop the appropriate ringing voltage from getting through but still allow you to USE the phones for outgoing calls. The relay could be used to short the diode when you want normal operation... If the single diode doesn't work use 4 diodes in a full wave bridge configuration.