> When a modem goes bad, or one of our Livingston Portmasters :) is
> offline and we need to busy a line, what do we use, and where can we
> buy them? (Would an Appletalk "terminator" work for instance?). If
> they can not be purchased is there a way to make such an item?
Get yourself an RJ11 crimper, a handful of 4-contact modular line plugs and
a length of solid-core 24-gauge telephone wire. Snip the wire into 1"
lengths, loop it, insert the ends into contact positions 2 & 3 (the middle
two) in the plugs and crimp.
Don't let the silly official-like terms above worry you -- it's just like
those little LocalTalk resistor plugs, except you use a piece of wire
instead. Alternatively, clip the ends off an existing phone cable, strip
the middle two wires and twist together -- voila!, cheesy but functional
short plugs.
I'd recommend the first route, the tool is bound to come in handy -- a cheap
but usable crimper can be had for $6 or so, a good one will run you $30 and
up.
William Sommers
San Francisco Online
Televolve, Inc.
sommers@sfo.com