The Telephone Door Bell

[WesternElectricBen]

My aunt showed me this kickstart campaign that she thought I would find interesting because of what they are doing. (I don't care if you donste or not.)And I agree, the concept of using your phone as a doorbell is a good idea if you want to still hear it ring. Although, what they have going is quite expensive, but I thought it would be interesting. At least, they didn't hack up the phone wiring.

Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/713401305/doorbell-phone-a-rotary-phone-doorbell

Ben

[Phonesrfun]

I can think of many ways to make a phone ring when the doorbell button is pushed.  $95 for this basic package not including the phone is a lot of money!  Why not just use the phone the way it was intended and the doorbell the way it was intended?  All this system does is ring a phone to some preprogrammed cadence and doesn't even allow you to talk on the phone.  Seems like a silly idea to me.   

[WesternElectricBen]

I can think of many ways to make a phone ring when the doorbell button is pushed.  $95 for this basic package not including the phone is a lot of money!  Why not just use the phone the way it was intended and the doorbell the way it was intended?  All this system does is ring a phone to some preprogrammed cadence and doesn't even allow you to talk on the phone.  Seems like a silly idea to me.   

I agree, it is expensive. But, you must have not watched the video where he personally explained his idea.

Ben

[Fabius]

I read with great interest the telephone doorbell story. My concern would be what demand for this product exists? The Kickstart web site is very interesting.

[WesternElectricBen]

I read with great interest the telephone doorbell story. My concern would be what demand for this product exists? The Kickstart web site is very interesting.

I had the same thought, I haven't a clue who would want it.

Ben

[Fabius]

I read with great interest the telephone doorbell story. My concern would be what demand for this product exists? The Kickstart web site is very interesting.

I had the same thought, I haven't a clue who would want it.

Ben

Probably most of us fanatics on this forum but after that not many.

[dsk]

The x-mas gift for those who have everything?
My doorbell is already a telephone ringer at 20Hz :-)
(not that expensive)

dsk

[Owain]

What would actually be useful would be a unit that incorporates speech as well. This would have a mass market appeal as it would allow people to use a cordless phone for door intercom. There are a few intercom-to-phone interface units but they tend to be very expensive.
http://safelink.co.uk/shop/bstl/bstl-belltone-door-entry-system-bt901/

[Fabius]

What would actually be useful would be a unit that incorporates speech as well. This would have a mass market appeal as it would allow people to use a cordless phone for door intercom. There are a few intercom-to-phone interface units but they tend to be very expensive.
http://safelink.co.uk/shop/bstl/bstl-belltone-door-entry-system-bt901/

Put your idea on KickStart and get funding to start production.

[Greg G.]

We would very much like an intercom system that used vintage phones.  It just occurred to me that I could use my TT payphone as the outside unit.  There must be a fairly easy way to rig it up. 

[Fabius]

We would very much like an intercom system that used vintage phones.  It just occurred to me that I could use my TT payphone as the outside unit.  There must be a fairly easy way to rig it up.

Have the payphone require 50 cents for it to work and ring the classic phone in the house. Make a few bucks.

[Greg G.]

We would very much like an intercom system that used vintage phones.  It just occurred to me that I could use my TT payphone as the outside unit.  There must be a fairly easy way to rig it up.

Have the payphone require 50 cents for it to work and ring the classic phone in the house. Make a few bucks.

Wouldn't work, they would just knock instead, just like they do now even though we have a doorbell in plain site!  Actually, I nixed the idea of using the TT payphone for the reason that people would think it was an actual payphone to get an outside line.  I could rig the whole thing through my PBX, the only problem is figuring out a way to run the wires with a minimum of invasive drilling of holes and a way to theft-proof the outside phone.  We have a covered porch, but I would still want an enclosure for the outside phone, like one of those call-boxes.  There were some at the last Seattle show, I should have grabbed one.

[Owain]

We would very much like an intercom system that used vintage phones. 

You can build something using a couple of relays (circuit attached),

Item Qty Notes
Mains Transformer 18-0-18 V
Bridge Rectifier 35 V ac 2 A
Cap Elect 1000u Radial 35 V
Cap Poly 2u2 x2 Metal Poly 100 V
Res 180 Ω Carbon 1 W
Res 820 Ω Carbon 1 W
Inductances 100 x 2 Maplin HW27E
Relay DPDT coil see note
Mains inlet and fuse
Tag strip
Enclosure
Telephone connectors
Note: 12 V relays do not operate on Teles 746. Voltage across coil
off-hook is approx 3 V.

or use a VoIP box

http://www.instructables.com/id/Hack-a-VOIP-Box-Into-a-Telephone-Intercom/

[WesternElectricBen]

We would very much like an intercom system that used vintage phones.  It just occurred to me that I could use my TT payphone as the outside unit.  There must be a fairly easy way to rig it up.

Have the payphone require 50 cents for it to work and ring the classic phone in the house. Make a few bucks.

That's a good idea, now I don't have to pretend like the house is vacant when a door to door salesman comes around.

Ben

[benkeys]

Very cool invention, but I wouldn't buy it. After seeing this video, I am now curious if I can make some of my phones sound like the "UK" ring they demonstrate in the video?