Protel TEC-10. Repair Or Toss. 2

[Dexman]

About 2 years ago, my boss was throwing away some old unneeded equipment and asked me if I wanted to take an old Protel TEC-10 Terminal Equipment Tester. Having worked with the unit since joining the company back in 1990, I was glad to adopt it.

At home, I've used the unit to check telephone numbers stored in the speed dial memories in all our telephones, provide dialtone to allow me to program numbers in speed dial without tying up the telephone line, test handset cords, handsets and check digits that the telephones outpulse.

Lately, telephones connected to the "Test Telephone" RJ-11 jack will not be able to break the unit's dialtone while in Touchtone mode. If I switch the telephone being tested to DialPulse mode, the dialtone breaks without any problems. The unit will right itself after being powered down for a while (mostly overnight).

I know that the Protel TEC-10 is an old unit and the Internet yields very little information about it.

If it were cost effective, are there any companies that can troubleshoot and repair the device? Are there any modern equivalent devices out in the marketplace today and if so, how much money do the devices usually cost?

 

[ISDNman]

Keep watching ebay and you should be able to find a TEC-10 or TEC-20 at a reasonable price.

I have not looked inside mine. If the chips are socketed you may be able to try swaping the DTMF decoder chip (if there is one) between this one and your "new" one and see if it follows.

good luck

 

[Dexman]

Hi ISDNMan,

I'll be looking around eBay to see if anything surfaces. Do you know if there are any devices similar to the TEC-10 currently on the market? If so, what is the going price for the devices?

Dexman

 

[ISDNman]

There are a few units that would be relevant.

B&K Precision made two different models of Telephone Testers. These seem very nice but I have never owned either.

Proctor made a big giant thing, but again I have no first hand knowlege.

I have an AT&T box that is quite nice. Sorry, but it is in storage so I don't have the model info available. It looks like it was made for AT&T's internal use.

Finally Radio Shack made a large countertop display that was meant for consumers to test their own phones.

The radio shack and the basic B&K units both show up on Ebay periodically, though they typically go for quite a bit. Keep watching and you may get a good deal.

Good luck

 

[Dexman]

Thank you for the info ISDNman! I hope I can find something.

 

[Dexman]

B&K has a model listed on their website. Their local distributor is an electronics place I frequent. At about $650.00 it's a bit pricey, but I think I'll bite. I'll also hold on to the TEC-10.

 

[skip555]

you could get a partner 206 module for about 150 to give you dial tone

another 150-250 would get you a digit grabber

then you would have the same functionality with items with other uses

 

[Dexman]

Hey Skip,

That arrangement using a 206 & digit grabber combo is something I wish we had in the office. (I work for a CLEC/IXC and I used to program and install Teltronics equal access dialer equipment and Newbridge 3624's).

I have taken the TEC-10 help out with friends & relatives phone programming (speed dials in consumer telephones) and I don't know how well a 206 would take to being moved around from place to place.

Dexman

 

[skip555]

Dexman

I have two digit grabbers

this one

http://www.metrotelcorp.com/vna70a.html

if the only function you need is digit grabbing they have this

http://www.metrotelcorp.com/tpm32.html

I also use one of these

http://www.telephonestuff.com/Catal...sid=C4UJLPELM3GK9KG4J28XEC8DH0EW10E7&PID=3464

I would be more concerned about the tec being moved than a 206 card , I usually have a couple of 206 cards loose in the back of the truck in case I need them

never had one go bad nor have I been concerned about it

 

[Dexman]

Skip

I've seen a few of those digit grabbers here at work. I'll try to talk my boss into letting one of them go (we don't use them much anymore). I'll then check out a 206 and see if the combo works well for me.

Thanks for the suggestion!

Dexman

 

[ISDNman]

Dexman (TechnicalUser) writes:
>6 Jul 05 22:16
>B&K has a model listed on their website. Their local >distributor is an electronics place I frequent. At about >$650.00 it's a bit pricey, but I think I'll bite.

Don't spend that much!

Set up an Ebay search for the B&K model number (if you search past auctions you can get an idea of what it goes for. If you save the search you have the option of being notified wen one goes on the auciton block. You'll probably eventually find the chance to get one in the $100 to 150 range.

In the meanwhile play around with other options.

have fun

 

[Dexman]

I'll give eBay a whirl too.