Telephony and telegraphy ⁽¹⁾

Slightly random... I have a Cisco SPA504G VoIP phone which I acquired ages ago and connected to Hamshack Hotline back when the UK still got 5 digit numbers. The phone isn a 4-line one and subsequently I got a Hams over IP number for line 2, then an extended freedom network number on line 3. After that the phone sat for ages with only the three lines in green, waiting for a fourth. I did consider buying a VoIP service to transfer our POTS number to once we upgraded to FTTP and lost the copper line. But then, all we used the landline phone for was ignoring junk calls, only ever making calls using my mobile phone which has free minutes and SMS, or using WhatsApp. So the landline went. And still that fourth line was dark, just sitting there. Along came CNet. I have had an interest in all things telephony and telegraphy from an early age. I always wanted a small mechanical PABX - I still don't have one but I do have an eye out for a couple of old dial phones from my childhood. And that's where the interest in CNet came from. Having investigated further…