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request help configuring obi110 line port for DR POTS line

Started by LPDR, June 01, 2015, 06:27:52 AM

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LPDR

Hi,

I'm new to writing in this forum but have been reading it for quite a while. I'm hoping someone can help with the problem I'm having.

I'm in the Dominican Republic and am using an OBi110 2.8 1.3.0-2824. I have a cordless phone from the US plugged into the phone port and have SP1 and SP2 configured. VoIP calls work fine, in and out. When we needed to make or receive a POTS call, I would plug the phone into the Claro DSL wall jack with a filter.

Everything worked fine like that. But now we're using both VoIP and the POTS so I've been trying to configure the OBi110's line port. I've experimented with many setting but I can't make or receive a call with the line port. Here are some details after putting the line port back to default settings and connecting the line port to the wall jack with a DSL filter:

1) Line Port Status shows State is Ringing even though there's no incoming call.

2) Line Port Status shows TipRingVoltage fluctuating between -71 and +74 V every fraction of a second.

3) dialing straight out results in a busy signal.

4) dialing #results in silence and then a disconnect sound following by a dial tone. Further dialing just results in a dial tone.

5) calls to the POTS number do not ring the ATA. The caller hears several rings and then voicemail.

6) Upon powering off the ATA but leaving all other connections as is, both incoming and outgoing POTS calls are handled as expected.

I haven't tried the line port of this ATA in other countries so the only reference point I have is that #6 indicates that the phone-ATA-filter-wall connection is correct and all components are functional aside from the ATA.

Any suggestions on how to configure the line port or determine if it is defective?

Thanks.

drgeoff

OBi110 hardware version 2.8 has a relay which mechanically connects the LINE and PHONE ports when the device is unpowered. Therefore your #6 doesn't really test any of the OBi's internals except for the connections between that relay and the jacks.

If you look at the TipRingVoltage with the telco line unplugged do you see the expected zero?

LPDR

Yes, with the telco line unplugged, the Line Port Status shows expected values:

Line Port Status -> State : On Hook
Line Port Status -> TipRingVoltage : 0 V

Timon

Quote from: drgeoff on June 01, 2015, 09:25:20 AM
OBi110 hardware version 2.8 has a relay which mechanically connects the LINE and PHONE ports when the device is unpowered.
Did they take this out of later hardware versions? I have version 3.4 and when I pull the power the line jack doesn't passthrough to the Phone jack.

SteveInWA

It sounds to me like a POTS telephone wiring error of some sort, that could likely fry your OBi if you can't diagnose it. 

Do you have access to a voltmeter and / or a telephone line tester (a dongle with red and green LEDs)?

If so, then unplug the POTS/DSL line from the OBi.  Either open up the RJ=11 wall jack, or use a RJ-11 cord that can be cut and the wires stripped for testing.  With no equipment plugged into the the circuit, it should read about 48 volts, plus or minus a few volts.  If a phone on that circuit is plugged in and off-hook, then the voltage should drop to around 12V.  The only time it should ever read in the 70V-100VAC range would be if it is ringing.  If it consistently reads above the 48VDC range with nothing connected other than a voltmeter, then contact your telephone company (Claro), as something's wrong.  Plug a DSL filter into the wall jack.  Plug your cordless phone into the DSL filter.  Does it work normally (dial tone, places and receives calls, rings)?

RE:  phone line relay, yes, the relay was removed from later versions as a cost-cutting measure.

LPDR

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm not in the DR now to do the tests but will try the next time. Are those voltages standard regardless of country or at least throughout the Americas?

The US-bought cordless phone did work when connected to the wall jack with the DSL filter. That's what I intended to convey with observation #6 in my original post.

I'll try it with a US POTS line when I find one to see if the OBi110 is working.  Meanwhile, do you know of a way to do a loopback test of the OBi110?

SteveInWA

Voltages:  yes, those are the Americas standards.  The nominal value of the on-hook voltage should be around -48VDC.  If your on-hook voltage is up in the -70 VDC range, then you need to contact Claro and complain -- it's out of spec.

Ringing voltage is an AC waveform, approximately 90 VAC, around 20Hz.

Loopback test:  dial **9 222 222 222

This will call Obihai's echo test line.  If it works, then it's a good sign that your OBi is properly configured and the attached telephone is working.  If it fails when you have the POTS/DSL line plugged in, then that is further evidence of a problem with the POTS line.

LPDR

That's good to know about the voltages. I had searched for specs in the DR and other parts of Latin America but didn't find any. Do you happen to know where they're documented?

By loop-back test, I meant connecting the line and phone ports to each other and then make the phone port simulate the wall jack and the line port simulate the telephone.

SteveInWA

Quote from: LPDR on July 24, 2015, 03:32:25 PM
That's good to know about the voltages. I had searched for specs in the DR and other parts of Latin America but didn't find any. Do you happen to know where they're documented?

No, I don't.  It just seems to be "generally known" that most of the Americas use the USA (former Bell System) standard.

Quote
By loop-back test, I meant connecting the line and phone ports to each other and then make the phone port simulate the wall jack and the line port simulate the telephone.

Nope.  As long as these tests pass, then it should all work:

  • POTS line is operating within voltage parameters and has proper lightening protection at the point of demarcation (where it enters the building)
  • A known-good telephone can make and receive calls on that POTS circuit.
  • You can plug that same telephone into the LINE jack on the OBi and make a call to the OBi echo test line.

LPDR

Quote from: SteveInWA on July 24, 2015, 03:46:11 PM
You can plug that same telephone into the LINE jack on the OBi and make a call to the OBi echo test line.

Would you please confirm you in fact mean the Line jack? It never occurred to me that that would accomplish something.

drgeoff

Quote from: LPDR on July 24, 2015, 10:22:53 PM
Quote from: SteveInWA on July 24, 2015, 03:46:11 PM
You can plug that same telephone into the LINE jack on the OBi and make a call to the OBi echo test line.

Would you please confirm you in fact mean the Line jack? It never occurred to me that that would accomplish something.

No, he meant the PHONE jack on the OBi.

SteveInWA

"Phonelexia"   ::)  Yah, I meant the PHONE jack.  Of course, the POTS line would plug into the LINE jack on the OBi.  Sorry.

LPDR

OK. Got it. Thanks for the clarification.

I'll try these tests once I'm at a place with a POTS line.