> I know I can short the line but I believe the accepted
> practice is to use a resistor and capacitor in parallel.
> I'm sure that modern telco switches limit current but
> I'd like to account for the cases where we may be hooked
> to older equipment.
This topic has really been beaten to death many times. Regardless of the
age of the equipment, a "make-busy" is a simple short-circuit. No harm
will be done to the equipment, wiring, etc., although in some offices a
"permanent signal" alarm will be generated. This same alarm would be
generated if a Bell System standard telephone were simply left off-hook,
it just means that the line is permanently busy (which is your intent).
The resistor-capacitor combination you're probably thinking of is for a
hybrid balance network, and is a nominal 600 ohm resistor in series with
a 2 microfarad or thereabouts (I've also seen 2.14) capacitor. This
combination will _not_ serve the purpose you intend of making the line
busy, as the capacitor will block DC current flow.
Short the line. Really. Nothing bad will happen. I've done it for days
and weeks on end, and am about to do it again in spades, as GTE is
waiving install charges on Centrex lines ordered before September 12.
I know I'll need more lines within the next couple of months, and the
break-even is about 3 months out.
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