Re: ACNC Doorbell Fon question

["Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx>]

"BruceR" <brNOSPAM@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message

> I use the DoorbellFon at both my homes and on other jobs.  At one house
> I have 2 doors plus a front gate covered. The front gate uses one ring
> and the 2 doors share the other ring.  I have two gate controllers
> hooked up to the front gate input. '#' operates the motor gate and '*'
> operates the pedestrian gate. I also have the dry contact module
> installed to interface to the Stargate.  At my other house I just have
> one door and no modules.

Great!  That answers some of my other questions, too.

>  At the larger home I have about 20 phones and I found that the
> DoorbellFon unit didn't have enough juice to ring all those phones.  I
> solved that by adding a Viking Ring Booster to the output which solved
> the problem.  I had to do the same thing at another home that has about
> 10 phones but NOT at my other house that has 12!  So, depending on how
> many and what type of phones you have, you might need the booster if you
> have a lot of phones.

I'll bet I am borderline with the number of phones since I have problems
with the CID signal strength reaching all CID capable phones.  If I
understand the manual correctly, the unit must be attached to the phone line
just after it enters the house and ahead of all other telephone devices.
Does your setup also include a phone dialer for your alarm system?  I
assume, as RLB discussed, the DoorFon must be installed downstream of a line
seizure type alarm autodialer.

>  The units are reliable and the owner, Paul, is very helpful and
> accommodating in dealing with any special requests.  One unit that was
> located in a hot Houston attic failed but was promptly replaced under
> warranty. The new unit was installed in a closet where the temperature
> is more moderate.

Good to know that they are reliable.  These are the details that make
newsgroups invaluable.

>  On the door units themselves I've had no problem with the ones in
> plastic housings. The two I have that are brass flushmounts tarnished
> badly but they now ship an upgraded anodized finish which, after a year
> by the ocean, still looks like new. On the flushmount that's exposed
> with no overhang to protect it, I did have a microphone go bad. I bought
> a replacement mike at Radio Shack for about $2 and used a piece of Saran
> Wrap to waterproof it. Sound is still fine and no problem after a year.

Simple to repair is good.

>  If you buy a flushmont from Mike Sandman it'll have a standard
> mechanical doorbell button which you will have to replace from time to
> time. All other dealers sell it with the factory standard electronic
> touch button that is waterproof and has no moving parts. When I replaced
> the tarnished plates I got the touch buttons too and have been very >
pleased with them.

Gonna go cheap the first time around.  Might look at the brass boxes later.
I'd probably spray them with some sort of clear coating to inhibit
corrosion.

>  I never got an outside call while on a doorbell call so I just tried it
> and found that indeed, there is a call waiting beep to let you know a
> call is coming in.

Thanks for checking into that for me.  It sounded as if that was the
behavior to be expected, but it's nice to know for sure.

> If you are on an outside call when the doorbell
> rings you get a call waiting tone as well.

>  While it's been delayed, Paul is working on an add-on unit that will
> transfer doorbell calls to your cellphone when you're not home.

Neat.  Any ETA?  As the landline charges continued to mount, I'm more and
more tempted to go totally wireless and switch to a cellphone that allows me
to connect it the whole house phone system when I am home.  Ideally, I'd
like to have multiline phones at home and to set up one line as the
cellphone.  The problem is that the place I'd like to set up the cradle has
a very weak signal

> They used to have one but withdrew it for redesign. Touch 'n Talk has that
> feature but I don't like the fact that their product ins simplex rather
> than full duplex like the DoorbellFon.  In fact, the full duplex
> operation is probably the most important feature.  It's difficult to
> converse without repeating yourself without it.

That's good to know.  Once you've becoming used to full duplex operation,
it's hard to go back to the more primitive.  I make a lot of calls to Oz and
every once in a while I get a connection where I can hear my own voice about
1 or 2 seconds after I've said something.  It's almost impossible to
concentrate on what you are saying if you hear your own voice echoing back
on a time delay.

> Summation:
>
>  Pros:  Full Duplex operation
>             Uses existing doorbell wiring for easy retrofits
>             Simple installation with good instructions
>             Variety of add-on modules for gate control and other uses
>             Excellent support
>             Very reasonable pricing
>
> Cons:
>             Ring Booster required for larger installations

I can live with those features, I think.  While I figure I could cobble
something like DoorFon together with HomeSeer and some old intercom parts,
it would take way too long and probably not work as reliably as the DoorFon.
It also looks like something that would be easy to "undo" if I move.

One more question, if I may.  Any ideas how long it will run on a 12V 20AH
gel cell?  We're approaching spring storm season around here, and that
sometimes means the power goes out for four days or more, depending on the
severity of the storm.  In our area, the power company has decided to shift
tree trimming costs to the local government, who in turn has tried to "shed"
the cost onto local residents.  The end result is that far fewer trees than
should be are trimmed, and when there's a bad storm, those untrimmed trees
drag down the powerlines.

Thanks for the report, Bruce.  I really appreciate it!

--
Bobby G.