atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums General General Telephone & Systems Information Magic Jack with external CID

Not sure where to post this for best exposure, but:

I'm finding that the output from a Magic Jack is not sufficient to reliably drive external caller ID displays, phones or KSU ports. They claim that it does, but it often doesn't. I've tried to contact their "technical support" about this, but that was a joke.

Somehow, I came across someone selling an in-line gadget that supposedly fixes this shortcoming. In their illustration, it looks like a typical DSL filter. I tried using a filter to see if it would do anything. When hooked up correctly, it had no effect but when hooked up backwards, I did get distorted data on the connected system.

I figured that this device must be simple since whatever it is fits inside of what appears to be no larger than a cord coupler. I tried using diodes in various directions and combinations but that didn't do anything at all.

Does anybody have an idea as to what might be needed in order for this to work? I suppose I could just part with the few bucks that the guy wants for this thing, but this is more of a curiosity question than anything.

"Does anybody have an idea as to what might be needed in order for this to work?"

Just a wag, but a tiny step-up transformer?

Jack

Ed -

I'm guessing the problem is somehow related to the output voltage or current of your USB port.

Your USB ports are supposed to supply 5V @ 500 mA, but browsing the web led me to a number of posts where people had to replace their PC power supply to get the USB voltage up to 5V.

Do you have any other USB devices plugged in? If so, first thing I'd try is removing them and seeing what happens.

If you don't have any other USB devices, or if that doesn't fix it, do you have another PC you can try it on? Maybe the MJ itself is defective.

Have you tried it on other USB ports?

Are you using the MJ with an extension cable? If so, try removing it and plugging straight into the USB port.

If none of this works, the option I'd go with is to buy an AC powered USB hub. Looks like they go for around $45. Dunno if that cost is worth it to ya or not... but if it fixes the problem, maybe $45 isn't that much. If it doesn't fix it, you can always return the hub.

I found a powered USB hub at Micro Center (dunno if they have those in your neck of the woods) for $12: USB hub

You can also get them at Best Buy, or if you can wait a few days, through Newegg.

Finally, here's a link from sandman, which has a couple links (along with some real good info) in it that might help you out:

Sandman MJ bulletin


Hope any of this helps.

I laughed when I read this:
Sound familiar, Ed?

100K ohm resistor it is! I don't know why I didn't think of Sandman. Thanks for the suggestions.

No problem ... glad I could finally help you with something for a change!

One thing - looking through the forum link sandman provided ( MJ Forum ), it looks like the 100K resistor fix is only for CID problems (although I didn't look through all 25 or so pages in the thread).

Your post seemed to indicate you were having other problems as well... just out of curiosity, could you let me know if the 100K trick fixes all the issues you were having (just in case some day I decide to jump on the MJ bandwagon and try to hook the thing to my 1A2)?

Thanks -
Matt

Well after a stop at Radio Shack and $1.04 of hard-earned cash, it now works flawlessly. I can't believe the fix was so simple. Thanks again for the suggestion, Matt.

I'm still amazed at the fact that the MJ is so sensitive that a 100,000 ohm load would even be detected across tip and ring.

Wonderful!

Thanks for the update Ed, I can't really take credit for it though, I saw the 100K post w/respect to CID, but wasen't sure that would fix all the problems. Twas you who found it and fixed it.

But knowing this, I have an older PC that I might just dedicate to a MJ (so I don't have to deal with the pop ups) ... then I'll have 3 working lines on my 1A2 system. Of course I don't _need_ 3 lines, but that's way beside the point.....

Oh - one other thing, if you should be so inclined - a guy at work deals with micro electronics, so I can get you a 100K resistor you can mount inside the MJ, so's ya get something like this:



Lemme know, I'm guessing you won't want to do it as what you have is working fine, but just in case, the offer stands.

Thanks -
Matt

Well, not so fast. It worked great for about five calls, then I got garbage in the name field and it stopped completely. It turns out that the resistor got blown.

I replaced the resistor and it started working again for now. At five for a buck, I can afford to experiment a few more times.

As for the popups, I just dragged the management box down to the bottom and it stays in the tray. I have mine running on my home junkyard computer with everything else and the MJ doesn't interfere a bit.

I have found that my old Procomm Plus software kills the MJ when I use it though. Once I've used that program, I have to go and restart the MJ. I'm sure it has to do with the fact that Procomm seems to think it owns all of the computer's ports and IRQs, thus causing a conflict. I'm going to avoid using Procomm for a while to see if that truly is the problem.

I did like the idea of the thin clients that one of the guys on the MJ forum is selling. Take a look at the 19th page of the last link you provided and you'll see a link to his e-bay listing for them.

As for the micro-resistor, thanks but no thanks. At this point, I'm just trying to determine the ins and outs of the MJ. I seem to be getting quite a few requests to add them to existing systems and I want to learn now instead of through the school of hard knocks.

Ed what wattage resistor do you have? I can send you a higher wattage to try if you want it.