I have to admit, I'm a bit humbled. Thank you guys for the compliments. The truth is, I have you guys to thank. Before I found this forum 3 years ago I didn't even own a punch down tool, let alone know how to use it. If I'd never had a problem with the stupid batteries of that first processor, I would never had found this board. My partner would probably be hanging on the wall with the station cables plugged in directly with 8p8c plugs crimped on the ends of the cables. I probably would have zip-tied them all together and thought that was neat and pretty. Then uncle Arthur got me interested in TCI and I've never looked back.
I had the 410 going out in my workshop. I had an epiphany not too long ago about my phone systems. All those old relics are really cool, but the partner is still modern enough to be relevant. I've made a little extra cash the past few months, in addition to quitting smoking, so I've decided it's time to invest in my little partner system. I'm gradually replacing all of the old MLS sets with Euro sets, mostly series 1 because they're a little cheaper and they are essentially the same as the series 2 with the big backlit displays and such. Many of the phones were non display sets, so it's been nice upgrading those especially. I have one MLS set I'll hang on to because it has a macabre past and it's a neat story to tell people and watch their faces wrinkle in horror. Incidentally, it's the only MLS set I've ever seen with a backlit display.
Jeff, the power fail relay is really simple. It's a 24 volt relay powered off the 1A2 power supply. It's on all the time, except of course with the power goes out. It has four sets of contacts. One pair of contacts has the kitchen cordless phone pair on the common terminals, with the comcast line on the normally open contacts, and the copper Fairpoint line on the normally closed set of contacts. When the relay is energized the comcast line is connected to the cordless and when the relay drops out the fairpoint line goes to the cordless. The cordless phone is on a circuit that is covered by the backup generator, otherwise I would have used a corded phone. The fairpoint pair also jumps over to the other pair of normally closed points. The matching normally open points go to the common audible output of the 1A2 KSU. The matching common points go to the ringers in the 1A2 sets. I only have three 1A2 sets wired to ring now, so no danger of too many ringers on the line. I also have my fairpoint line in one of the power fail transfer ports on the partner so a single line phone in my kitchen is connected in the event of a power outage. The circuit going to my equipment can be switched to the generator, but I never will. Not without some power conditioning equipment that I currently can't afford. I'm not putting all that stuff in the hands of a harbor freight generator... no, no, no.
Paul, I like the 2 pair cable because it's smaller and I can route it through the guides on the modules much easier. Once you fill a module with three CO lines and eight extensions, that gets really tight with 4 pair cabling. As it is, you can see where I split a couple of four pair cables for CO connections. I hate it. One I covered in heat shrink so it's less ugly, but still... no.
One thing you'll also notice is a little box sitting on the mushrooms just under the partner. That's the head of a little gizmo that's plugged into the wall and everything is plugged into that. It's essentially a power meter. I'm trying to keep an eye on efficiency because our light bill has been ridiculous lately. When I had the POE switch, that meter was around 250 watts 24 hours a day. Without the POE, its been holding just under 100. I only had 4 or 5 things that were POE so in the long run it didn't make any sense to really have it. I gave up on my lone IP phone, and the raspberry pi, web cam and IP clock can run off wall warts far more efficiently than that. I have a WIFI AP in my shed out back to cover the yard in warmer weather, but there's power out there anyway.
