Anyone else mess with non USA phones? Most work ok on the USA POTS, but there are a few interesting differences.
The Russian ZEF TA-D phone works well, comes in "red", and has a kind of creepy ring, but the audio volume is low. Anyone know what BAT-S is in Russia?
A couple notes about Belgian phones:
1. BAT-S (supervisory voltage requirement) is lower, only about 40V, so if your Belgian phone is a newer type with active circuitry for the mic and earpiece (rather than the old fashioned hybrid), it may feedback and torment the caller with a loud squeal when you are on a call and momentarily lay the handset down on a hard flat surface. Good for telemarketers.. "Excuse me, let me go get this on the *other* phone.."
2. BAT-R (ringing voltage) is much lower too, only about 40VAC is needed. I have one of these types mounted to the wall, and you hear the thing beating the wall as much as ringing.