Originally posted by ndt4u:
I went back and read your 1st remark. You went back to using 2 side by side phones. That is the ultimate test for the lines. If ok, it is the phone, or the cord. Some 2 liners use ac for intercom, and have a conference that ties lines together, or has a flat cord and needs a twisted, for noise and xtalk. They shouldn't interfere any more than 2 different phones. Pairs can be split and xsed with dead wires and pick up noise. Inbalance, and sounds like ground humm, but the 2 seperate phones would be noisy too.
Thanks for the input. You are right... there was NO hum when using two separate phones. But the problem was not with the phone cord. And it had nothing to do with the AC power supply hooked to the phone, as the problem still existed with the power supply disconnected.
I suspect it has something to do with the simple internal electronics of the consumer two-line phone like someone had mentioned earlier. It was just not meant to marry the wildly variable conditions of the archaic switched telephone network with the relative precision of even such a simple device as the VOIP unit I have.
I am sure I could have purchased a more expensive phone or a commercial phone system (I am partial to the old Inter-tel Axxess, having maintained and programmed one for 12 years), but since I am just a guy in an office in my home right now, I wanted to get this thing working as quickly and cheaply as possible.
And during a power failure, I won't be working in here anyway because I need my computer for all the work that I do.
