OBi 202 will only handle one phone at a time.

[idahowayne]

We live in a remote area with no land lines, poor cell service and only solar power. Bought the OBi 202 so we could both be on at once when the kids call. If both phones are off hook the second one continuously disconnects and  reconnects at about 5 second intervals.
Is there some settings I can change to correct this, or is the 202 only able to handle one phone at a time?

[drgeoff]

A 202 should be able to handle two simultaneous calls.

What phones do you have and are they plugged directly into the 202's PHONE sockets?

Which of these combinations exhibit the problem:

1.  2 outgoing calls.

2.  2 incoming calls.

3.  1 outgoing and 1 incoming.

[idahowayne]

drgeoff, I have 2 DAK phones from the 80's.
They are both connected directly to the 202.
The only combination that is a problem is using both phones on the same call. It doesn't matter if it's incoming or outgoing.

[BigJim_McD]

We live in a remote area with no land lines, poor cell service and only solar power. Bought the OBi 202 so we could both be on at once when the kids call. If both phones are off hook the second one continuously disconnects and  reconnects at about 5 second intervals.
Is there some settings I can change to correct this, or is the 202 only able to handle one phone at a time?

idahowayne,

We connected a VTech DS6151 DECT 6.0 Two-line Cordless Phone System with DS6101 Cordless Handsets to our OBi202.  We are able to have two calls at once without any issues other than an occasional odd sounding ring sequence.

I have my OBi202 configured with Google Voice, Vestalink and two voip.ms services. 

I disabled "Call Waiting" and configured the calls to ring ph1. 
If ph1 is busy, "Call Forwarding Busy Line" is enabled to ring ph2.

We have no issues making or receiving two calls at once or having one outgoing and one incoming call at the same time.  When one of two calls ends, we are able to receive or make a new call.

[idahowayne]

azrobert, I first tried it using a splitter so both phones were connected to the "phone 1" connection. I have since tried other combinations, all with the same results, continuous disconnect and reconnect. It does not drop the line, as the other phone is still connected. It's just that the person on the second phone cannot be part of the conversation.

[idahowayne]

BigJim McD, The problem is not with 2 call at the same time. It is with using 2 phones on the same call. When our son and daughter-in -law call they are both on at the same time and my wife and I would like to both be on at the same time on this end.
Sounds like a pretty simple request but I can't figure how to do it with the OBi.

[BigJim_McD]

idahowayne, 

I haven't attempted to use two phones on the same call via an OBi.  I'm not sure if the OBi phone port's output is strong enough to power more than one phone at a time. 

Our solution to sharing calls is to use the Speaker on our VTech Cordless Handset.

[idahowayne]

BigJim, I suspect you are right about the OBi's port not putting out a strong enough signal for 2 phones.  The solution could be to set it up where 1 call could go to 2 ports. There should be some experts in this forum that know what to do.

[drgeoff]

On the 202 the sockets are wired as follows:

Phone 1 socket. Centre two contacts are ph1. Outer two contacts are ph2.
Phone 2 socket. Centre two contacts are ph2. Outer two contacts are not connected to anything.

So if you have two ordinary 1-line phones plugged in two the two sockets you should never be able to have the two on the same call.

I would fully expect the 202 to be "strong" enough to handle two phones in parallel on either of its sockets. A 2-line phone in socket 1 and a 1- or 2-line phone in socket 2 should permit:

1. Independent calls using Line-1 of each phone.

2.  Both phone instruments taking part in a call on ph2.  Instrument #1 set to Line-2 and instrument #2, if a 2-line phone, set to Line-1.

[SteveInWA]

Your 40-year old (?!?) telephones may be the culprit.  Most phones manufactured within the past 20 or so years should work just fine, using two to four hardwired telephones per line, wired in parallel (via a 1-->2 jack plugged into the OBi, or via plugging the OBi into the house wiring).  Phones have an internal impedance, that, when added together, collectively consume the power applied to the line by the phone company, or in this case, the OBi device.  If that total impedance is too high, you'll overload the OBi and results will be unpredictable.  Get some new phones.  In fact, get any decent DECT 6.0 cordless phone system with a couple of handsets, and you only have one hardwired connection to the OBi.  Panasonic or Uniden would be my first two choices.

Are you the guy who was discussing running the hardware off of a 12V solar system?  If so, you may also not be supplying enough current to the device, with the side effect of making it unreliable.

[drgeoff]

Phones have an internal impedance, that, when added together, collectively consume the power applied to the line by the phone company, or in this case, the OBi device.  If that total impedance is too high, you'll overload the OBi and results will be unpredictable. 

The phones are in parallel so the impedances do not add; will be halved for two identical phones.  Too low can be a problem, not too high.

[idahowayne]

Thanks for the help everyone. Turns out the problem was in one of my phones not the OBi. Everything is working fine now.
SteveInWA, At this point I am still using the power supply shipped with the OBi, but am about to order a DC to DC converter. The one I picked is 1 amp max, in your opinion is that adequate?

[SteveInWA]

Phones have an internal impedance, that, when added together, collectively consume the power applied to the line by the phone company, or in this case, the OBi device.  If that total impedance is too high, you'll overload the OBi and results will be unpredictable. 

The phones are in parallel so the impedances do not add; will be halved for two identical phones.  Too low can be a problem, not too high.

Sorry, that's right.  What I meant was, when both phones are off-hook and on the call, their total consumed power load on the line could have been too much for the OBi to handle, although any properly-operating phone made in the past 20 or so years should be able to work.  The issue would be the power required, determined by the voltage supplied by the OBi times the resulting impedance of the two phones.  It was a defective phone, as the OP pointed out.

[SteveInWA]

Thanks for the help everyone. Turns out the problem was in one of my phones not the OBi. Everything is working fine now.
SteveInWA, At this point I am still using the power supply shipped with the OBi, but am about to order a DC to DC converter. The one I picked is 1 amp max, in your opinion is that adequate?

That should be plenty, although all bets are off if you're still using one of those old phones.

[idahowayne]

Steve, Just checked my phones current draw. 20.45 mA off hook and 20.47 mA in conversation on an incomming call.

[SteveInWA]

Steve, Just checked my phones current draw. 20.45 mA off hook and 20.47 mA in conversation on an incomming call.

Is there some sentimental reason you are using 40-year old phones?  You previously said "Turns out the problem was in one of my phones not the OBi."  So, did you mean that when that phone was plugged in, calls disconnected, and, after removing that phone, calls don't disconnect?  If so, I'd just throw away that phone and join the 20th century, get a DECT 6.0 cordless phone, and use as many cordless handsets as you wish, with one hardwired RJ-11 connection to your OBi.

[drgeoff]

Getting two DECT handsets on the same call is a lot more involved than with two wired phones. AIUI two handsets on a call was a key factor in the OP's purchasing decision. (Though the availability of two phone sockets on the 202 is actually irrelevant to what he wants to do.)

[SteveInWA]

Getting two DECT handsets on the same call is a lot more involved than with two wired phones. AIUI two handsets on a call was a key factor in the OP's purchasing decision. (Though the availability of two phone sockets on the 202 is actually irrelevant to what he wants to do.)

I'm talking about a typical DECT 6.0 cordless phone system with one base station and two or more handsets.  I am not talking about IP phones.

I don't know about the kind of DECT phones you have in the UK, but anyone with a fifth-grade education could use two handsets at once on a call; for Panasonic models, it's as simple as pressing the off-hook button on the second handset, although it is possible to configure phones in "privacy" mode to prevent this.

In any case, there is a lot of irrelevant information in this discussion.  The OP, Wayne, wasn't asking about using the two different PHONE ports on the OBi 202, just asking how to connect two analog phones to one of the OBi's phone ports.  Assuming that he does know how to do that, using either a 1-->2 jack adapter, or by wiring the OBi into his house phone wiring, then the OBi will easily support two, or even four properly-working analog phones, hardwired or otherwise.

The only information that is relevant here is:

Calls with his two old phones failed.  There is probably something wrong with one of the phones.  Solution:  get new phones, either corded or cordless.

[idahowayne]

Since fixing the problem with one of my phones they are working fine with both of them on the same call.

On my doctors advice I have no wireless devices of any kind in my home.

As you can see from my last post these phones have a very low current draw and they have most of the features of the newer phones. 2 lines, hold button, conference calling, flash, mute, call timer, excellent sound quality and they remember 99 names and numbers.

I would purchase new phones if I could see some advantage, but so far I don't see it.
Thanks for the help.

[dircom]

...

...  If so, I'd just throw away that phone and ....
[/quote]

I think Steve meant to say, " If so, I would just take those phones to your local electronics recycler, when they wear out