Ring voltage measurment question [telecom]

I have a traditional rural land line with two 2500 sets [1] attached.
Recently I've been getting intermittent weak ringing: sometimes a
ring, sometimes a weak chatter (no gong), sometimes nothing audible.
Moving the clapper spring to the low-voltage position seems to have
fixed it for now.

But I'd like to figure what's going on and call the telco service guys
if the voltage is low or there's a potential for further
deterioration. (Voice and (tone) dialing work as expected.)

Can I get a meaningful ring voltage reading using an inexpensive
analog multimeter on the "AC Volts" setting? Or do I need a different
(or better) meter for (AIUI) 22 hz measurements?

And do I measure the voltage across the two wires while both phones
are attached to the line? At the demarc? Or should I try to do it
with both phones disconnected?


[1] Yes, real ones with two gongs. I think they're both Nortel. Not
recent Chinese knock-offs.

--
Mike Spencer Nova Scotia, Canada

mspenbellscer@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
(remove bells and whistles)
.

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