cell as home phone

[iamdsk]

I saw an ad in an electronic sales mago.. It allowed you to put your phone in a cradle similar to a charger, and have it actually run thru your home phone system. It was a startac phone, I have a v60 and 2 startacs. Has anyone built one of these or know how to?
tanks,
dsk

[bodgy]

Are you sure it wasn't a DECT phone?<p>although in theory these can be connected to a GSM network via connection box, I think only General Motors in South Australia ever tried it out.<p>
Colin

[iamdsk]

The unit was a simple antenna, with a holder that stated that you could throw away your home swrvice and get all the benifits of a home and travel phone. I remember that the antenna looked very much like a Fire stick antenna. If you do come across anything likethis setup please let me know.
thanks,
dsk

[brian121]

My friend, as long as I know a StarTAC phone contains three printed circuit boards which are packaged in a tight 3D assembly and placed into the base portion of the phone. and the main board provides the keypad on the top side and supports the logic circuitry on the bottom side. It is a four layer, thin glass epoxy construction measuring 1.875" x 1.750" with fine lines and many filled blind vias. So how is it possible?

[haklesup]

I've heard of this but not actually seen any or bothered to google it but I can see how such a system would need to work.

First start with the basic hands free functions. Many phones can be dialed, answered, powered etc through a PC interface cable (newest phones now just have USB but older used a variety of protocols and propriatary cable connectors.) The key is in using a phone which can be dialed from a remote hands free something. You may even find what you want by surveying available hands free sets.

Add to that a dial tone generator, ring generator and telephone biasing circuit (discussed in other threads and as projects here and there on the web). The kind of project you build to turn some phones into an intercom.

Finally add a controller to manage the dialing functions. Not sure how complex this needs to be. To do this I would first study the protocol used by the cell phone cable (how does a fully featured hands free device work) and I would study on how to make a private telephone network. Then I would know what functions a controller would need to do. (what inputs are available to trigger events and how to execute those events on the cell phone).

Such a device would not need to be very big, a few square inches of board space, easily conceiled in an antenna base (for better reception presumably not necessary)

There are many hacker sites dedicated to cell phones. most are segregated by brand. I've used Bitpim for my LG phone and I think the code is still open source http://www.bitpim.org/ Interface protocols for most phones should be on the net if you look deep enough.

Aside from the hardware, what makes a good home phone is every bit as much the service you buy as the handset you use. While cellular plans are better at providing long distance at no extra charge, they are often minute limited during the daytime. Most people see their home phone as the one they can talk on for hours without worrring about running out of minutes. Whether it would be suitable for you depends largely on your calling habits and your cellular calling plan.

If what you wanted was the convenience of having one phone to answer (rather than saving money) then you can solve that with call forwarding which is usually included in cellular plans.

[dyarker]

Like this one: http://www.cellantenna.com/Dockingstati ... kntalk.htm ?

[jollyrgr]

Thanks for this posting. I used to see these things all over and even recommended them to people. At one time even Wal-Mart sold these. Stopping at phone stores produced zero results over the past couple years.

If I'd seen this about a month ago my brothers would be getting them for Christmas. Both have elected to go CELL ONLY for home phones. Both live in spotty coverage areas. (Sometimes moving the phone from the right to left ear is enough to drop bits.) They could dock their phone in the upstairs bedroom where service is better and take regular calls througout the house. And for only $5 more a month they could leave one phone in the dock and carry the other one and have two numbers!

[peter121]

My friend for the ultimate in signal improvement, try the Wilson Direct Connect Power Booster. The Wilson Cellular Direct Connect connects directly to your cell phone. This 3 Watt Power Booster can boost cell phone signals and increase your cellular phone coverage up to 50 miles with up to 3 watts of power. It will greatly reduce disconnects, drop outs and noise as well as eliminating all microwave energy radiating into your head.

[Dean Huster]

Hmmmm. Judging by all the "1-" and "2-posts" posters, I'd say that a lot of these comments are coming from sales folks. Chris, you're observations about the other thread are likely correct. I think this is another one just like it.

Dean

[Dave Dixon]

"My Friend"... I think you are right!
Dave121