Telco Connections

Connecting Telco Lines

The Hx1 & Hx2 use standard RJ-11 type “modular” telephone connectors. Only the two center pins that carry the analog line’s “tip and ring” are used. Connect the telephone line using the rear panel “LINE” jack.

The Hx is designed to work with ordinary “loop start” analog phone lines, though it can operate on PBX extensions and VoIP Analog Terminal Adapters (ATA’s). Hybrid performance and system behavior on these kinds of lines may vary. If you plan to use your Hx on any of these types of lines or connect your unit to other legacy Telos systems such as the Direct Interface Module and others, please see the section on Connecting to Other Systems.

Lines that carry “Shared Line DSL” can be problematic. It’s suggested that you avoid using the Hx on lines that carry DSL, but if you must use one, be sure to use a “line splitter” or DSL filter in series with the “LINE” jack on the Hx.

DSL lines have data carriers above the voice band of the circuit, usually from 25 kHz to 1004 kHz. DSL filters strip away the high-frequency data carriers and pass on the 0-4 kHz voice band and signaling. Some filters are better than others and sometimes better results can be obtained by cascading several filters, each rolling off more of the high-frequency energy. On a line with DSL you might hear more “hiss” and “hash” than with a normal line.

An analog phone set may be plugged into the “PHONE” jack. The telephone can be used when the Hx is “off ”. You might want to disable the telephone’s ringer if you are in a studio environment. The Hx has a “line ringing” open collector output that you can use to light lamps or strobes. For details please see the section on Remote Control.

The Hx has a switchable “auto-answer”. For details, please see the section on Rear Panel DIP Switches.