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Hardware Hacking Communications The Internet Hardware

Chat Online with Cordless Phone 132

Posted by Zonk from the who-doesn't-like-a-rainy-day-project? dept.
buckymatters writes "Christoffer Järnåker has converted an old home phone to be used with Skype, MSN voice chat or other similar software. Using the 'highly scientific method Trial and Error' he uncovered the input and output of the phone, wired it up and began talking 300 meters away from his computer on MSN."
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Chat Online with Cordless Phone More

Chat Online with Cordless Phone

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  • Steal the kids' toy...!? (Score:5, Funny)

    by bergeron76 ( 176351 ) * on Saturday May 28, 2005 @12:14AM (#12662237) Homepage
    From the article:

    But hey, I have an old Siemens Gigaset 3010 phone laying around that my children play with ('cause the 2 key was a bit broken), I wonder if I can use that one? So I did.

    You're a bad, bad man.

    • Why hack it? (Score:3, Informative)

      by Gentlewhisper ( 759800 )
      Siemens already has a USB attachment that lets you use VoIP (skype) from your Cordless Phone.

      M34 USB [siemens.com]

      I'm using it now, and it works really well. One thing about using the hack in the article is your phone won't ring when you get a VoIP call... with the adapter it works just like a normal phone.

      • Re:Why hack it? (Score:4, Informative)

        by Eunuchswear ( 210685 ) on Saturday May 28, 2005 @03:19AM (#12662808) Journal
        From the article:
        Then I read in a local magazine (Veronica magazine here in the Netherlands) about Siemens making a DECT USB adapter so that you can connect your DECT phone to the computer - and I though Wow! that's what I need. Well, €119 for another toy that I'll use like not that often? I don't think so.
        Does that answer your question?
    • Just turn on voice chat.. stick a phone up to the speakers or wire it, either way, grab a cordless and start talking.. it works. It doesn't take a genious to figure this stuff out.
  • I thought that the guy had come up with some sort of text/speech conversion facility, until I read that MSN has a voice chat capability.

  • I use my cordless with VOIP, too (Score:4, Informative)

    by artemis67 ( 93453 ) on Saturday May 28, 2005 @12:18AM (#12662256)
    ...I just plug it into the back of the VOIP adapter that Vonage sent me.

    • Re:I use my cordless with VOIP, too (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Just don't try calling 911 on that.

      • Re:I use my cordless with VOIP, too (Score:2, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward
        911 on vonage works fine now, you just have to set it up on their website with your physical location...

        but it takes like a day for it to take effect...

      • Just don't try calling 911 on that.

        Uh-huh. You must not keep up on VoIP. Vonage, as well as a few other VoIP providers, do provide this for a fee, much like cell phone companies do.

        Those providers that still don't provide this in the US will be required to within 120 days.

        And if you've been following Skype at all, you know that they will probably wiggle out of that requirement by saying they're not really a telephone replacement. They've already done this in Norway. Norway's trying to d

      • As others have pointed out, 911 on Vonage "works fine". Well, as long as your physical location does not change.

        E911 is still too much in its infancy for me to trust it with my life, as reassuring as it is to have it. I want backup.

        That means keeping a POTS line that I hardly ever use. There's a hardwired single line phone on each floor of our house on that line (that does not require power to get dialtone -- an increasingly rare thing in these days of phones with integrated digital answering machines)

    • I just plug it into the back of the VOIP adapter that Vonage sent me.

      Oh, that is soooo much like cheating.

    • I have just bought two Olympia Du@lphone 9211IPs (in the UK) for a trial - they are regular DECT phones with Skype capabilities. You plug the base station into the phone line as normal and also into a PC running Skype, via a USB connector. The phone has an extra 'Skype' button and the LCD display can (allegedly - I haven't even opened the box yet) show you which of your Skype contacts are online. More info here: Dualphone [dualphone.net]

  • Pioneer USB chordless phone (Japan) (Score:5, Informative)

    by blankoboy ( 719577 ) on Saturday May 28, 2005 @12:18AM (#12662260)
    Noble effort indeed but here in Japan we Pioneer has a USB Chordless phone that I can use with Skype. Great quality! http://tinyurl.com/9ahkw/ [tinyurl.com] http://tinyurl.com/ckveb/ [tinyurl.com] Are these available in North America/EU? Not sure.

  • Okay, so not 300 feet but ... (Score:3, Informative)

    by 0x000000 ( 841725 ) on Saturday May 28, 2005 @12:24AM (#12662270)
    I have a bluetooth headset, i just paired it with my iBook, and now i can walk anywhere within approx. 50 feet and hear my music, or talk in Skype.

    Next up, get Bluetooth 2.0 which has a further reach.

  • You've got to be kidding me... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Che Guevarra ( 85906 ) on Saturday May 28, 2005 @12:24AM (#12662273)
    When the article said "old phone" I pictured one of those 12 pounders from 1976. You know, the black or beige kind that would allow you to unscrew the mouth piece and pull out the unwired (not wireless) audio receiver so you could listen to your parents conversation downstairs without them hearing you while you hid in their bedroom... Imagine my shock when I saw a cordless handheld like the one in my kitchen right now. I'm super old.

  • Awesome... well.... not very (Score:3, Informative)

    by guyfromindia ( 812078 ) on Saturday May 28, 2005 @12:29AM (#12662298) Homepage
    I just bought a VOIP to PSTN box on EBay for approx $50 and am using it to connect a cordless phone with skype.. Works very well.. But, I am not saying what this dude did is not worth it.. I like tinkering with stuff.. but they seldom work after I have torn them apart ;-)

  • Just in case (Score:3, Informative)

    by ian rogers ( 760349 ) on Saturday May 28, 2005 @12:30AM (#12662303)
    Coral Cache [nyud.net]
  • Thats really neat! perhaps he can make one more modification to it. Make it so he can use it with any wifi router and then he can make calls from anywhere in the city where there is free wifi! It's almost be like a cell phone, only free.
  • 'Using the highly scientific method Trial and Error'

    While reading K. Popper my then wife asked me what I was studying. I replied that I was studying the hypothetical-deductive method [philosophy.hku.hk], being a smart assed lawyer she replied: "You mean trail and error." I'm not sure, even now, that in its bare essentials they aren't one in the same.

  • Article Text (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 28, 2005 @12:41AM (#12662355)
    Cost $0.
    Material used: one wireless phone, and one 3.5mm to 3.5mm plug (cut in half).
    Tools used: screwdriver, knife, soldering iron.

    So, the problem. You have a computer, your friend has a computer, you both have a broadband connection, and you make use of Skype or like the voice chat in MSN or something like this - And - you're sick and tired to sit by the computer all the time when you talk. And you might even sit with one of these ridiculous headset (hmm, yes I also have one) on your head just because the echo cancellation feature isn't that great in reality.

    So, the solution. A year ago or so I tried to connect a professional headset from Plantronics to my computer just because they're so damn good and fit perfect. Well, I did get it to work after having a couple of boxes in-between the computer and the headset, but I was still tied to the computer. Now, I've seen some other devices around that basically give you an handset to connect to the USB port and then you can use that. Well, you're still tied to the computer huh? No fun. Then I read in a local magazine (Veronica magazine here in the Netherlands) about Siemens making a DECT USB adapter so that you can connect your DECT phone to the computer - and I though Wow! that's what I need. Well, 119 for another toy that I'll use like not that often? I don't think so. But hey, I have an old Siemens Gigaset 3010 phone laying around that my children play with ('cause the 2 key was a bit broken), I wonder if I can use that one? So I did.

    The victim

    So, how did I do it? Not that simple at first, but very much simpler at the end. I started with opening the base station (Duh!) to see what chipsets were in it. I was hoping for like an RF part a couple of lines on the circuit board and then a telephone circuit. Tji fick jag! No of course not. As any standard electronics they make use of a whole bunch of circuits, so I started looking up on the internet what they did and again - nothing to be found. Then I decided to make use of the highly scientific method Trial and Error and hoping for a bit of good luck.

    By having the phone off hook I carefully inserted my little screwdriver here and there until a heard a click in the handset. And when I found that click I injected a signal from my MP3 player - and it worked! Then reverse, by blowing in the handsets microphone I used the regular headphone for my MP3 player to see where I could 'hear' the phone. By grounding on wire and using the other as a probe I quickly found the spot next to the first spot.

    Note the red (sound to the phone) and green (sound from the phone) circles on the board.

    Then taking an 3.5mm to 3.5mm plug cut in half connecting L+R and then attaching it or respective place (for in and out) making use of the downside of the RF part as ground plane I ended up with this.

    As you can see I've used an unshielded cable, but it works perfect anyway!

    So how did it work? Outstanding!!! Incoming sound in the handset is perfect. Outgoing sound is a bit on the loud side but that's easy to adjust on the computer. It really feels like you're talking on the phone and I have a 300m radius from the house that I can use. While chatting on MSN! Perfect!!!

    So, what are my tips to you? Do you want to try it, but you don't have an Gigaset 3010? The tips I can give you is the following:

    *

    Look at the picture above and you'll see two big capacitors (silver can with a black line on it) and a voltage controller (black small box with five legs) in the lower right corner. Avoid this area! If you connect your headphones or MP3 player here you will most likely fry them. In any other base station you should find a similar area close to the power input (red on mine).
    *

    Be prepared that if you connect anything in the wrong place, even when trying to figure out where the signals are, you can damage the phone, MP3 player or whatever you connect. That is a -might-, and my experience is that it usually turns out fine

  • Or just buy the chat-cord! (Score:5, Informative)

    by Sri Ramkrishna ( 1856 ) <sriram.ramkrishna@gmail. c o m> on Saturday May 28, 2005 @12:43AM (#12662366)
    If you don't want to do all that, get yourself a chat-cord (http://www.chatcord.com/ [chatcord.com] and just connect your soundcard to your phone using regular pots line. No need to do any modifications. If you buy it through fwd (fwd.pulver.com) it'll only cost you 19.99 (plus 10 bucks shipping unfortunatly)

    I've been using this product and it rocks. My wife and I were just talking to our relatives and if you're phone has a sattelite the two of you can talk at the same time!

    It comes with free software (on XP) that will allow you to dial a number from the phone as well. Not possible yet in linux, but if you know how to decode the DTMF signals, one could easily write something to do the calling for you through the SKYPE API.

    The quality has been great, and you can also use it for free world dialup or whatever. The only disadvantage is that it's not like a real phone, it won't ring if someone calls you. You have to rely on perhaps your computer ringing through the speakers.

    sri
  • [...] wired it up and began talking 300 meters away from his computer on MSN.

    Waht, was he talking to his computer 300 meters away, or was he talking to someone hundreds or thousands of miles away?
  • ...if you connect anything in the wrong place... you can damage the phone, MP3 player or whatever you connect. That is a -might-...


    I'd figure any number of different shorts could cause the phone to stop functioning/lose function

  • He should have used DC blocking capacitors.... (Score:5, Informative)

    by Newer Guy ( 520108 ) on Saturday May 28, 2005 @01:12AM (#12662463)
    He should have used DC blocking capacitors to couple audio in and out of the phone. He's lucky he didn't blow out something in either the phone or his computer.
    • > He should have used DC blocking capacitors to couple audio in and out of the phone

      Care to provide a ~10-word description for the masses? [e.g. "10pf capacitor in series with signal; bonded grounds"]

      I've always used audio transformers when doing this sort of hack, but then again, my AC theory is pretty much non-existant (damned lousy highschool).
  • I've got a question -- why can't he just clip off the plug end of an old phone cord, pick the two center wires and then just plug that in to the socket on his cordless base station and use those to feed the voice signal in just as if it were coming direct from the line? Not trolling, this is a serious question. Perhaps it wouldn't work for some odd reason.

    I remember in the old days I used a tape record on a phone line somewhat like that and it was even good enough to record the 300 baud line connection.

    • He wants in and out. In order to get that on a POTS (standard phone line) connection you need a circuit (known as a "hybrid") to separate the local and caller audio (they are mixed together). Rather than go to the work of building or buying a circuit, he is using the phone base's existing circuit to do it for him.
  • See the following link for a DECT Cordless phone that has a base station with both a USB connector for Skype calls and a regular PSTN connection.

    You can browse your Skype contact list from the handset too.

    http://www.dualphone.net/ [dualphone.net]

    Skype bashing aside that's still pretty neat!

    • acompanying software (usb driver, dialer) is windows only. specs are closed. no other os support is planned. doh!
      that's actually pretty stupid - they specifically market this product for skype users and the later is supported on 3 major platforms.

  • Translation (Score:5, Funny)

    by DaCool42 ( 525559 ) on Saturday May 28, 2005 @01:49AM (#12662573) Homepage
    "Christoffer Järnåker, who knows just enough about electronics to be dangerous, has somehow managed to kludge a new-ish cordless POTS phone to be used with *insert popular MS-based proprietary VOIP software*. Using the 'oh jeez I hope I didn't fry my phone, computer, and mp3 player method' he uncovered a spot on the circuit board which didn't immediately destroy everything, soldered three wires, and somehow got on slashdot for it.

  • Hold on (Score:4, Insightful)

    by ramzak2k ( 596734 ) on Saturday May 28, 2005 @02:12AM (#12662629)
    Isnt the article just about providing for a head phone and mic wire from an existing phone?

    It doesnt allow you to punch numbers and call to skype directly.

    Nice hack but the story title is misleading.
  • Finally got it working and said....
    "Mr. Watson come here"

  • I did just about the same thing (Score:5, Interesting)

    by pair-a-noyd ( 594371 ) on Saturday May 28, 2005 @03:40AM (#12662846)
    with a Rolm phone 240. I have quite a few of them so what the hell. Matter of fact, I have a full 12 node Rolm CBX II 9000. And I don't have a POTS line to my name.. Long story..

    Anyway, I took the Rolm phone and on the main board in the base unit I soldered two cables to the connection for the handset and speaker. So the handset runs straight into the soundcard of a machine that does Sykpe.

    When the phone is on hook, the magnet in the handset cause a reed relay to pass audio from the soundcard to the speakerphone speaker in the base unit so you can hear it ring and hear normal sound events through it. When you lift the handset the sound re-routes to the handset and you use it like a normal phone.

    You can't dial from it, none of the buttons or lights work, but the sound quality is excellent and you can rest it on your shoulder because it's a full sized handset, unlike the dinky cell phones of today.

    To use it, you would SWEAR you are talking on a standard POTS phone. My friends are amazed and befuddled by it, so I have been building them for all my friends.

    Next project is to go buy a cheapo cordless, my local grocery has them on the imported crap isle for $14 for a 2.4ghz.. It's probably crap but it's cheap enough to experiment on. I have a $300 Vtech 2 line cordless that I don't want to experiment on, I'll save it for when I get an adapter..

  • It actually is possible to extract audio off of a phone line directly, anyway. That's why I don't understand how this is so impressive.

    You just build a special rj11 cable, and done.

    I used the same trick to build a speakerphone into my stereo with a microphone. I didn't even have a normal handset in the loop, just an on/off switch.
    • > It actually is possible to extract audio off of a phone line directly, anyway. That's why I don't understand how this is so impressive.

      Care to explain yourself? The consensus is that the POTS RJ11 only uses 2 wires, and the sound is mixed on them (both in and out, together). You would need some sort of circuit that separates them in order to prepare for use on computer. The phone has his circuit built in, so he spliced himself into that. I guess that's why it's impressive. But if you know a be
      • It's an audio loop -- you run a set of speakers off the 'hot' wire, and a microphone bridged to the negative lead off of an audio cable back into the 'return' wire. You get better results using an amplified source, such as a sound card or stereo with a microphone jack and seperate microphone output. You don't really need a circuit to seperate them so much as you need to match the output level of the microphone to make it audible over the line. This is exactally how old analog phones work, basically. I figur

  • I did this too (Score:3, Interesting)

    by enosys ( 705759 ) on Saturday May 28, 2005 @09:48AM (#12663674) Homepage
    I also modified a cordless phone for use with online voice conversations. It's a Sanyo CLT-9171, one of the early 900 MHz spread spectrum digital ones. Using an oscilloscope it was easy to find where to connect. The phone still works for standard phone conversations, and I can even use one of the connections I added to record conversations.
    • I have a Sanyo CLT-9819, post diagrams where to hook it up!
      • I just opened up the phone and took a photo [enosys.ath.cx]. The connection labelled mic is the audio output (connected to computer line in) and spkr is the input (connenected to computer line or headphone out). The connection with two wires connecting to it is ground. Note how I decoupled the mic connection with a 0.1 microfarad capacitor.

        I decided to have short cables dangling out of the phone to avoid doing permanent modifications to the case. I unplug the phone when using the phone with my computer and I unplug t

  • I once converted a cordless phone into a wireless internet connection using modems.
  • I'm thinking that a voltimeter would help with the trial and error. Like if you use it to try to find where you can connect the wires. I don't think that would damage anything either.

    Would it work? I don't have much electrical experience so I don't know.
  • in 1999 when Dialpad was the rage, we went out and bought a telephone handset. It was packaged with a cable that had RJ-11 on one end and mic/speaker miniplugs on the other. What's the big deal here?

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