I'm hoping to get a Partner ACS for an insurance agency within the next few months, and I would like to use the existing 2-pair wiring already in place from the old Vodavi. On the station side, this 2 pair wiring terminates into an RJ-14 jack (same size as RJ-11 with 2 pairs??, NOT RJ-45 with 8 pairs), and on the KSU side, the 16 stations are divided up evenly into two Amphenol connectors that connect directly to the old Vodavi. I really don't want to take off the Amphenol connectors and attach modular plugs to all 16 extentions. I saw this thing called a "Hydra" at this link:
https://www.phonegeeks.com/hydra.html , and I was wondering if I could connect that to the exsisting Amphenol (I realize I may need gender changers) and plug the modular ends of the Hydra directly into the ACS. However, the Amphenols only have 8 stations wired to each, and the Hydra terminates the Amphenol into 12 2-pair modular plugs. Should I just ignore the last 4 plugs on each Hydra and plug the first 8 modulars of each Hydra into the ACS in numerical order of extensions? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Please email me if you need anything clarified as to our current wiring setup.
Thanks again!
Matthew
$112.00........HOLY MOLY...........
I'll stay home all day and make em if I could sell them for that price....
Just cut down 2 pair cables and terminate onto 14c plugs.....wont take long....
If you want an octopus cable, they are a whole lot cheaper on
www.pimfg.com around 25 bucks.
Bill
Are you saying that the individual I/W's from the jacks go directly into the amphenols on the Vodavi? If so, that's a pretty unconvential way to do it.
If the I/W's are terminated on 66-blocks, the amplenol ended 25-pair cables from the Vodavi are terminated on other 66-blocks, and there is 2-pair jumper wire between the blocks, (which is the "normal" way to do it), you just need 4 conductor SOLID wire cords. Plug into the station port on the Partner, route to the block, remove the jacket and punch down the 4 conductors.
Sandman sell them, but since his catalog isn't really "online" but a bunch of .pdf's I couldn't find a link for you.
Or we use cables made by Hubbell, I can get you a part number and/or comcode if you want.
Thanks for the info so far. I'm going to take a picture of our setup this afternoon, because I'm not really sure ;-). I'll take a picture of the 66 punch down block which routes to the amphenol connectors. Thanks again!
- Matthew
I thought he was saying he wanted to unplug the amp connector from the Vodavi and plug the octopus cable into the amp which would than plug into the Partner. The "arm" ends of the octopus cable come in 4pin, 6pin, and 8pin. I've never used one but don't know why it wouldn't work if that's how you wanted to go. He would probably need to re punch his stations to match the pairs in the octopus cable that plug into the Partner.
Bill
Bill,
Thats exactly what I want to do. How many pairs does the Partner need from the KSU to the sets? The Vodavi used 2 pair wiring from the KSU to the sets. If I get an octopus that has 8 modular plugs with 4 conductors (2 pairs each), why would I need to re-punch?
Thanks
Matthew
The partner uses 2 pair also.
Just depends where the pairs fall out on the Vodavi vs the Partner. Your octopus cable if you get 4pin is going to go right down the row, pair one and two 1st station right down the list, I don't know if your stations on the 25pr cable on your Vodavi are punched down this way, could only look to see.
Bill
IF I recall corretly, the Vodavi 616 terminated stations on two blocks. Both with 8 stations each. So, yes, you should be able to just ignore the last 4 on each Hydra cable.
Having said that, I agree with the others. Make your own connectors and pocket the rest.
I took a hard look at the wiring closet at the office this afternoon. Seems that the wiring from the sets punches down into 2 66 blocks, one for the first 8 extensions and another for the last 8. There are bridging clips on the center two connectors on each block, and the 2 blocks terminate to male amphenol connectors which connect directly to the two female amphenols on the vodavi. I could either buy an octopus to connect each exisitng amphenol to terminate to 8 2-pair rj-11 modular plugs, or just cut the amphenol connector and crimp on the modular plugs. However, the amphenol cable from the blocks is pretty short, so I'm thinking about the octopus. Any additonal advice is appreciated, but I think i've got this one figured out. Thanks a bunch to those who posted.
- Matthew
Your second method would be your cheapest. Better yet, as others have suggested,just remove the cable with the amp and make some connectors to go to the Partner, just use IW or cat 5 or 3 4pair and do two at a time. Octopus cables will work, but why go to the added expense? Looks like you have it figured out, how you do it is up to you. You can buy IW with a 4pin mod on one end if you make them cheaper yet and just punch down the other, in place of the 25pr.
Bill
Would the Hydra/Octopus need to be a straight through cable? I believe that standard telephone wire is crossover, and 2 crossovers (one from the station to amphenol, and another from amphenol connector to modulars) make a straight through connection. I understand that all telephone connections must be crossover. Therefore, are the Hydra/Octopus assemblies straight through to maintain the crossover connection? Thanks again
Matthew
Won't matter for a Partner. You can reverse the polarity of the individual pairs and stil operate.
Hate to keep asking questions, but I noticed today when looking at the 66-cross connect, that all of the exisitng wiring from the extentions to the patch block is the old 4-pair "quad" (4 solid colors),(NOT cat-3 UTP). Is this going to work with the Partner? I've heard that the UTP stuff is preferred for new installations. Thanks again!
Matthew
Will work fine unless you have an extremely long run. Only difference is quad isn't twisted, which cuts down on x-talk. That's why all the new network stuff is going CAT 6 more twist, less interference. Nothing wrong with questions.
Bill
Thanks for the info, Bill. Yeah, all of our voice runs are less than 100 ft, so that should be fine. I'm really looking forward to the new Partner system. As mentioned in another post, its replacing a 1982 Vodavi Starplus 616 Flex. I'm sure we'll notice only a "slight improvement" adding VM and AA, (lol). Thanks again for everyone's help!
- Matthew
Nick: all of us at one time or another in our lives have asked questions similar to yours....this is how we learned our trade....ask away....its our pleasure to help.
Mitch Taylor
www.GetwiredByMitch.com
Thanks again for the responses so far. For cost savings, i'm thinking of buying some 4-pair cable (eg. https://www.cablestogo.com/product.asp?cat%5Fid=707&sku=02969 ) cutting it in half, and punching down the end without the connector (obviously) to the 66 x-connect. Of course, I'll take out the cabling from the amp first. However, being in IT, without much cabling experience, I've never used a punch down tool before. Is it as simple as stripping the covering, and putting each wire in the teeth in the x-connect and pressing down? I've been looking on the net for a short tutorial on punching down, but haven't found one. Secondly, are the pairs colored within the wire so I can identify them? Is this the striped coloring scheme (white/blue, etc)? Any other advice would be appreciated.
- Matthew
[This message has been edited by nickamat (edited February 19, 2004).]
Well depends on what your supplier is using, if quad pair one green tip red ring, pair 2 black tip yellow ring. If cat3 w/b tip b ring, w/o tip o ring, pair one and two respectively. As far as punching down with the tool yes just strip off the jacket and put the pairs in the connector on the block and punch down. Make sure the cable you remove leaves the block clean, check for any insulation that may not let the blocks
"teeth" close. Just in case tip 1 ring 2.
Bill