Orchid V4, V4+ Programing Tool Support

johnniegif

btuv, as you have found, the clock on the Orchid box isn't always accurate. In the event of a lack or loss of power to the telephone line, the Orchid will lose & reset it's time. I have no idea what date & time it resets to, but it will be wrong, hence mis-routing will occur.

Events which can cause loss of power could be: an engineer working in the local exchange, a temporary or intermittent fault on your line or more common, knocking or unplugging the Orchid by mistake.

Orchid did bring out a power supply for the V4+ (I think) perhaps someone else will know more details about that. Personally, I've never needed it but do check my bills and those of my family & friends using Orchids on a regular 1-3 month basis to check that calls aren't being mis-routed.

I used to use the CWClient program from Orchid to do the programming and that was usually fine. Since then I have largely used Kevin Lawry's spreadsheet to program major changes via a modem. Minor changes like time/date and routing of 03xxxx calls, I've done by hand using several different DECT 'phones and all have worked fine.

I prefer to us a laptop to program the Orchid in situ as I can get everything done in one go, but it is fine to program it connected to a PC with the Orchid connected to an extension. Once finished, you can return the Orchid to its normal place, then reset the time/date with a DECT 'phone.

I hear what you are saying about your 'phone not coping with 21 characters. What to do? If you have a laptop and a modem + Microsoft Office, try reprogramming using Kevin's spreadsheet. Needs will vary according to who supplies your telephone line and if you are on Local Loop Unbundled (LLU) etc.

It is best to reset & reprogram the Orchid from scratch.

You could also use schilcor's method ... but you'd need to borrow or buy a new 'phone for that, which can cope with longer strings of digits.

Sorry I can't be more helpful than that.

Quentin

btuv wrote: »

johnniegif

I have just tried to manually reset the V4 clock (first time for n years!) following a misdirected and expensive, routing experience.
However when entering the characters into my handset found it would only accept 20 and not the full 21 required.

I naturally wonder whether others have experienced this and how it is overcome. You appear to have been successful

Many thanks in anticipation

btuv

Can't you enter the 21 digits if you first get a dialling tone?

johnniegif

RatAtAt, Just a quick update that weekend calls starting 6pm Friday to 6am Monday are working as expected - based on a call on Friday evening and one today. Both calls went straight over the Post Office line instead of 18185.

Thanks again.

btuv

Quentin wrote: »

Can't you enter the 21 digits if you first get a dialling tone?

Thanks for your suggestion sounded a possibility so tried it.
Sadly got the same result when I reached the 21st digit. just a
"descending" dying sound. Non the less, I will also try a second 'non display' telephone handset.

Your help along with johnniegif's has been a great help. I don't feel alone anymore.

Cheers

btuv

btuv

btuv wrote: »

Thanks for your suggestion sounded a possibility so tried it.
Sadly got the same result when I reached the 21st digit. just a
"descending" dying sound. Non the less, I will also try a second 'non display' telephone handset.

Your help along with johnniegif's has been a great help. I don't feel alone anymore.

Cheers

btuv

Just tried no display phone. Put all digits in (as far as I could tell) and got "replace receiver" message Tried local no. and overseas. Seems OK. I will do some prime time calling tests tomorrow.

Thanks again

btuv

johnniegif

That is positive news btuv. I've never had an issue programming the Orchid from any handset, but I don't trust it until I can prove it is working as expected - just the same as when I use a modem to program it. I certainly wouldn't want to re-program the Orchid from scratch using a telephone handset only as the opportunity for mistakes is high. With call CONnection fees and then high charges per minute via your telecoms provider, the cost will quickly add up at the wrong time of the day if calls are being mis-directed.


I'm with TalkTalk Simplybroadband and pay for all my calls. If I accidentally made a 40 minute daytime landline call with them, it would cost me 40 * 11.5p plus 16p CONnection = £4.76. FOUR POUNDS SEVENTY SIX PENCE ... sorry to shout! The price is ridiculous and all suppliers want you to buy their unlimited calls package each and every month. This is currently £5/month with PlusNet, £5.75/month with the Post Office, £7.50/month with TalkTalk and £7.50 a month with BT - to name a few off the top of my head. At least the Post Office include mobile calls at the weekend & TalkTalk include mobiles at any time in their £5.75/£7.50 packages respectively. I'm still not tempted and I make plenty of calls each month. If I can't make calls more cheaply without too much fiddling, I would, eventually succumb to monthly anytime calls. But armed with our Orchid diallers and 18185 working at 0p/minute and 5p connection fee on some telephone providers, all is not lost. With TalkTalk, I can't dial 18185 directly because they block it. Hence landline calls via 18185 would cost 5p connection fee + 1p per minute. Sounds fine, but it rapidly adds up. If you can use 18185 directly, as many can, go for it and achieve massive savings. I do believe that direct access will stop from BT at some time in the future though and those who haven't block them will then swiftly do the same.

The whole point for light/savvy users is that as long as our monthly call charges don't exceed our provider's anytime call package, we don't need or want to pay for a monthly call package ... but we need to be clinically careful that our calls go through the correct route. IF you are a heavy user, "anytime" calls is a must and will save you money & time, while giving you reassurance that your bill won't be massive. But we are on the moneysavingexpert forum, so do what makes best sense for your call usage. I'm happy not paying the monthly charge for anytime calls. Since last May, my average call bill, including mobiles is 54p per month. For that I use VoIP over my telephones with no connection fee and approximately 0.37p per minute calls. I had to invest in hardware & a lot of frustration in programming it and it is not for everyone. I use my Orchid dialler to deal with calls in the event of internet failure or calls which are cheaper than VoIP. I have some friends and relatives who only use their Orchid/landline as appropriate and it stills works very well indeed.

Best of luck with your Orchid. You'll find plenty of help here but monitor your calls like a hawk when re-programming until you know it is working fine and then check the bills monthly for anomalies. As you have found, they can rapidly add up.

btuv

johnniegif
Thank you for your comments we obviously think alike. My testing today on the same weekday and time as the rogue calls revealed those comforting words "zero pence per minute".
As I have another landline in the house it's a simple matter to test calls to it. I am hopeful that resetting the date using a 'non display' handset did the trick.
As a matter of interest my son has a BT display handset which accepts 24 characters unlike my 20.
Thanks for the interest
btuv

charlieheard

johnniegif wrote: »

RatAtAt, Just a quick update that weekend calls starting 6pm Friday to 6am Monday are working as expected - based on a call on Friday evening and one today. Both calls went straight over the Post Office line instead of 18185.

Thanks again.

Maybe it's a silly question, but what happens to calls on Friday morning and Monday evening "off-peak"?

johnniegif

charlieheard, calls on Friday morning are fine with my programming above because the weekend doesn't start until 6pm on Friday. The same with Monday evening calls, because with my programming, the weekend stops at 6am on Monday.


As you'll see, it took me a little time to get my mind around this but it is working just fine. I have tested it for all the different time slots and am happy with it. I will of course monitor my mother's bill in case something slips through.

Ed_Jogg

johnniegif wrote: »

Orchid did bring out a power supply for the V4+ (I think) perhaps someone else will know more details about that.

The adapter supplied with my V4+ is a Csec CSD1200200G
The output is 12.0V 200mA
The power plug is 12mm long, 5mm dia, suitable for a 2mm dia power pin -- sleeve is negative, 'pin' is positive.

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I have just found the Orchid V4+ I bought many years ago, and never got round to using.
(Not very Money-Saving!)

As I have since moved to Virgin Cable, there is now an unused Orchid V4+ being sold on eBay!!
(This has recouped most of the purchase price, which is rather better Money Saving.)

Incidentally, I never use the expensive Virgin landline for outgoing calls: my mobile deal has plenty of inclusive minutes.