1970's telephone conversion

[tomatofish1]

Hi I was wondering if there was anyone out there that might be able to convert a 1970's telephone to go in side a Tardis where when you pick up the handset a message plays and when you put the receiver down the message stops and also can be linked to a wireless remote so I can make it ring. and can run of 12volt DC power Thank you

[Senseidale]

Galactic probe aka Dino is a wiz at Electronics.
I will be interested to find out how it turns out.
Regards

[tomatofish1]

Hi Thank you for replying how do i find Galactic probe Thank you

[davidnagel]

Oh don't worry about finding Dino, he'll find you...

[tomatofish1]

OK Thank you ill wait for them to reply

[galacticprobe]

Ah, Dale, David, thanks for the vote of confidence. (And nice one, David... I've found you, tomatofish1! )

Unfortunately I'm not much when it comes to telephones. While they share some aspects of electronics, they're animals unto themselves. That's why the military has a separate group (Rate) that deals with telephones and phone systems.

The best suggestion I can give on this would be to gut the phone, but keep the switch-hook intact so it works when the receiver is picked up and put back. That would let the switch make and break the connection. (This would serve as the ON/OFF switch.)

It could be made to run off of 12 volts DC via one of those wall adapters that you can get from an electronics supply store, though you may need a separate, larger 12-volt supply to power a light. If your Old Girl is going to be outside with no power running to her, I could suggest using one of the sealed maintenance-free car batteries. That would give you your 12 volts DC, and enough available current to run everything, including the light. (And you could just disconnect it to bring it to a place where you can charge the batter when needed.)

What little I do know of phones is that the ring bell is normally triggered via a 90-volt AC ring voltage that pulses through the line anytime a call comes in, so you'll need to replace the bell. I would suggest a doorbell, which should come with an adapter or transformer to bring the mains voltage down to 12 volts, if you've got mains power running to your Old Girl. (If it's a transformer doorbell, it will take the mains down to 12 volts AC; if it's an adapter doorbell, the adapter will take the mains down to 12 volts and convert the output to 12 volts DC.)

Operating the rest of it - starting and stopping the message going to the earpiece of the receiver handset, triggering it remotely, etc. - sounds like a job for one of our Arduino or Raspberry PI programmers. (A little help here, please, guys?)

So, beyond all of the above, this is one time I'm not going to be able to provide much help at all. (Sorry about that.)

I hope at least some of this is helpful.

Dino.