The Telephone Door Bell

[Greg G.]

...I am now curious if I can make some of my phones sound like the "UK" ring they demonstrate in the video?

I think I asked about that one time several years ago, and if I remember correctly, the answer was next to impossible because the ring sequence is determined by the phone company.  However, when I dial a phone as an extension on my PBX, it gets the 2-shorts ring by default.  Also, our modern cordless phone has an option for the 2-shorts which I set it to, but it doesn't impact the vintage phones on the same line, only the cordless. 

Now, instead of the doorbell gadget, I would like to see a plug-and-play device that would let you select the ring type on your landline.

[benkeys]

Darn. That would be so neat, and different. I figured there would be a simple modification or a device you could build to attach to the phone you want to do that. It would have to be something that interrupts the voltage momentarily to cut off the ring halfway through each ring. I imagine it could be done, but may not be easy. 

[Greg G.]

... I imagine it could be done, but may not be easy.

Exactly.

[Owain]

On the reverse principle, I have acquired a telephone ringer that plays a selection of American tunes when the phone rings (Yellow Rose of Texas, Yankee Doodle etc). It runs off 2 x PP3 batteries.

It has a 'test' button and I'm considering wiring it up to the front door door-bell. It's astonishingly loud when fed through a 30 watt horn speaker.