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Unable to use dial phone |
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#1 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 636
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Unable to use dial phone
We have a old fashioned dial phone which was given as a present but now although we can take incoming calls we seem unable to dial a call and wondered if anyone had any ideas.Thank's
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#2 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Cambridgeshire
Posts: 1,276
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Long shot, but you haven't been cut off by your service provider have you? I don't know if they still do, but they used to just cut off outgoing calls, you could still receive them.
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#3 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 6,869
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If it's a pulse dialling device, which it sounds like it is, then your service provider may have disabled this option. The vast majority of people use tone dialling devices nowadays.
Do you have a tone dialling device you can try? |
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#4 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 10,892
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Quote:
We have a old fashioned dial phone which was given as a present but now although we can take incoming calls we seem unable to dial a call and wondered if anyone had any ideas.Thank's
You may well be able to get a penny whistle and a guidebook on what notes to play to dial your favourite £9.99-a-minute number - or there's probably a tone-dial plug-in keypad thing somewhere that would do the trick (on the basis that I would be surprised if there wasn't such a thing). |
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#5 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 14,637
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Is your phone line from someone like TalkTalk or Sky or Virgin? They may not allow for pulse dialing (which is what the dial on your phone does - it picks up and hangs up the phone really fast to send a number, unlike modern phones that send tones). You could try talking to your phone provider and ask if they can turn "pulse dialing" on, or if it's actually a vintage GPO phone (not a reproduction) you could fit something like this - http://www.rotatone.co.uk/ - which would still let you dial as normal but it converts the pulses to tones. Quote:
If your phone exchange is modern (i.e. re-fitted within the last 40 years or so) then it's never going to work with an old rotary pulse-dial electromechanical thingummybob so you will need to use a tone-dial; phone to call out, or use something to make those tones so the exchange can hear what number to connect.
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#6 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 10,892
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Quote:
... This is not strictly true. All of BT's exchanges support pulse dialing, as do lines provided on BT equipment. ...
There's also the possibility of using a smartphone app to generate the tones though this isn't as mad as it sounds, depending on what sort of billing deal one is on.
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#7 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 12,779
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Pulse dialling still works on many exchanges.
You could try something to see if it works. Use a short, but valid, free number like 155 (international operator). Don't use 111 or 112 as they are emergency services. When a pulse telephone dials, it actually opens and closes a circuit at, roughly, 0.1 second intervals. Dial one, and it will open and close the circuit once. Dial two and it will do it twice. That's the clicking you can hear. The same circuit is also opened and closed by the two black sticky-out bits that you put the receiver down on. So, to dial one, you can quickly press those down and release them instantly. Like tapping them. So, to dial 155, you tap it down once, wait a second, tap it five times quickly (like 0.1 sec apart but it isn't too critical), wait another second and then tap it another five times. If it then starts ringing the International Operator, put the phone down quickly and feel confident that you can still use pulse dialling (and that it is a phone problem, rather than an exchange problem) (If anyone else fancies trying that, you can all do it on the switch you put your receiver down onto. Remember to tap ten times for '0'. It can be a fun party trick) |
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#8 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 14,637
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Quote:
I didn't know that! I must have over-interpreted what I was being told about the modernisations, or perhaps even got the *intended* message because it was always about the pulse-dial being a thing of the past (etc). I had also been fairly convinced that pulse-dial would never work on a cable provider phone line based on assumptions due to the 'digital squawk' you hear when the other end hangs up.
There's also the possibility of using a smartphone app to generate the tones though this isn't as mad as it sounds, depending on what sort of billing deal one is on.You can try it for yourself if you have a corded (not cordless) phone, if you can press the hook switch very quickly and cause the dialtone to go away, pulse dialing would work. Even on digital exchanges (which in BT's case are all of them since about 20 years ago). Some modern cordless phones can also be set to use pulse dialing. Whether it would work with a cable company line would depend on the exact equipment in use. I understand Virgin's predecessors all bought either the exact same exchange equipment BT used, or models that had never seen use in the UK (but would still likely do pulse dialing). Where you're more likely to get trouble are on VoIP services provided by a box inside your home. These typically won't do pulse dialing. Of course on any phone there's nothing stopping you using an app or an actual tone dialer (they used to exist) held up to the handset. There are other solutions like the "rotatone" as I said, which are installed inside the phone and do it all for you |
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#9 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 10,892
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Quote:
... Don't use 111 or 112 as they are emergency services...
Quote:
... Where you're more likely to get trouble are on VoIP services provided by a box inside your home. These typically won't do pulse dialing.
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#10 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 636
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Sometimes when I ring I get through as have just rang my daughters number then a minute later tried again and got this message the number dialled is not recognised after dialing the first three digits I get the dialling tone again.Just tried my daughters number again it was fine.
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#11 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 636
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We have two cordless phones we use and they are ok and have not been cut off
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#12 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 636
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We use talktalk
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#13 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 636
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If pulse dialing is set to on will we still be able to use our cordless phones which are quite new
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#14 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 636
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The following is the phone we have found this on google
http://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/au...f-a43100a826aa |
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#15 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 3,449
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If it's a true vintage phone, some of them had a little switch on the bottom, that you could change from pulse to tone.
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#16 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 12,779
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Quote:
Sometimes when I ring I get through as have just rang my daughters number then a minute later tried again and got this message the number dialled is not recognised after dialing the first three digits I get the dialling tone again.Just tried my daughters number again it was fine.
Worst that can happen is that you end up with an interesting ornament, which seems to be where you're heading anyway. |
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#17 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 14,637
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Quote:
If pulse dialing is set to on will we still be able to use our cordless phones which are quite new
But yes, if pulse dialing needed to be switched on, you can use a normal phone. |
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#18 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 4,765
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Quote:
The following is the phone we have found this on google
http://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/au...f-a43100a826aa In spite of this, I believe there's a fair chance that installing one of those pulse to tone converters may-well do the trick. If you contact the chap who's making and selling these items he might be able to offer you some further advice. |
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#19 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 21,645
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It's possible that the timing tolerance of the pulses is on the limit of what the exchange will recognise. Does the accuracy improve if you help the dial round with your fingers?
On the subject of dialling by tapping the phone cradle - I occasionally used that to thwart mechanical dial locks! |
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#20 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 21,375
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Quote:
If your phone exchange is modern (i.e. re-fitted within the last 40 years or so) then it's never going to work with an old rotary pulse-dial electromechanical thingummybob
My grandparents used a pulse dial rotary phone up until about 10-15 years ago. It still worked fine until the day they got rid of it (they only upgraded as they wanted a cordless phone) so this can't be completely true. |
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#21 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Edinburgh
Posts: 8,946
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Pulse dialling also requires pin 3 to be connected. Tone dialling doesn't and most households now don't have pin 3 connected any more.
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#22 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 21,645
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Quote:
Pulse dialling also requires pin 3 to be connected. Tone dialling doesn't and most households now don't have pin 3 connected any more.
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#23 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 636
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I am going into town at the weekend and will call into a shop which sells all sorts of things old including old phones and will ask them and will take a photo of the phone with me and ask their advice.
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#24 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 21,645
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Quote:
I am going into town at the weekend and will call into a shop which sells all sorts of things old including old phones and will ask them and will take a photo of the phone with me and ask their advice.
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#25 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 636
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Quote:
We have a old fashioned dial phone which was given as a present but now although we can take incoming calls we seem unable to dial a call and wondered if anyone had any ideas.Thank's
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though this isn't as mad as it sounds, depending on what sort of billing deal one is on.