Vintage handset ergonomics are actually superior because the speaker and mic are separated by a distance appropriate to the human head. Being used to both I find the surprise of one who rarely or never held one amusing. Old phone mics and speakers are extremely durable so there's that. They were highly refined products rightly expected to last over half a century without malfunction. I was born in 1959 and despite being into electronic NEVER encountered a malfunctioning phone that had not been vandalized.
Thanks for making this video. I found it while searching to see if anyone had done this yet because I want to do this myself with an old phone I have. Part of me would like to get it working with a USB-C dock and have a functional call answer/end button hooked up to the handset’s cradle to make it even more realistic.
There was a guy a few years ago who got a kit that let you connect to the mobile phone network, a sort-of phone on a circuit board, with wires for various functions. He connected that up to a small computer, then stuck the whole thing inside a phone like that. It runs off a big battery, so you have an old-style phone you can put on your desk, then take with you wherever you go. Doesn't need a cord, cos it's really a cellphone.
is the best so far. hard wired, no bluetooth non sense. Than again... what i did with my touch tone telephone is got one of those bluetooth adapters which are powered by USB. So I did my best to put this adapter, small usb battery power bank inside the good old vintage touch tone phone. I do have the short usb cable (to charge the power bank) sticking out from where you put your fingers to hold the phone, so it is hidden fairly well. Now to go out side and use it... suprise a lot of people on how it works :D
hi 😊 thanks for this video. can u plz tell me how you took the cover off the center circle? i wanna change the little circle of paper thats in mine. please help! 🙏🏽
Omg! I am a huge vintage lover and found this by chance while ironically shopping for one. I was hoping to find a bluetooth one an I came across this! 2 questions for you or anyone who knows. 1. Does the phone ring when being called? 2. Also, can it also be done to even older looking rotary phones or actual vintage ones? Would the wires be the same color? If not, what's a good way to test it? So I guess technically 4 questions lol
It does not ring. Any phone will work as you are just rewiring the speaker and mic. All phones have different coloured wires but there is no danger in playing with the wires until you find the ones that work. Good luck.
it wouldn't be very hard at all. all you need is a relay and a power source to power the bell. the reason these old phones were able to ring is because telephone lines carry not just the signal but some voltage
The landline telephone used in this video is an Automatic Electric Model 80. Automatic Electric was the manufacturing arm of GTE (much the way AT&T had Western Electric); AE phones were used, until the 80's by GTE and a few other independent (non-Bell) phone companies.
Great video! I was curious on how this could be applied to using the landline to play pre recorded messages. Is this possible using the same techniques?
Rather than destroying the insides, you could just use the phone's own wires it comes with at the plug end. Without destroying anything, get a look at a diagram for how these things work. It's not complicated. The bell rings when you feed the phone AC at so-many Hz, so-many volts (about 60 - 90 IIRC). Lower voltages are just speech. And fortunately, carbon microphones have an amplifying factor of their own. Originally the first phones came before the invention of the thermionic valve ("vacuum tube"), so no other amplification was possible. The answer to the question, then - you just wire 2 phones up to each other, wire to wire. Stick a battery in the circuit with them. Experiment with the voltage but even 3V will produce something audible in the handsets. Both of them at once, the sound from both parties is mixed together. Working phones. For the ringer you'll need a way of generating the right voltage, you're on your own there. But you can do without and just play the ring through a speaker if you want. You'd have a working phone line without hacking and clipping some respect.
I'm keen to do this for my mobile phone and old 60s phone I have. This lroc looked a little complex so is there a sure proof way and much more easier way I could get this connected with my mobile?
I've seen someone change the 60v ac coil with 12v dc motors to make it ring. I'm thinking about doing the same with a bluetooth micro controller to trigger the motors when a call comes in.
Silly question time. Since you have bought a new handset, would it not be easier to modify and repaint it rather than rewiring the old handset since you are not using the rotary dial anyway? It is a nice clear tutorial.
Do you have a etsy or do you take orders? I would seriously pay you to do this for me on a vintage style rotary phone I found. I don't know why these aren't being sold online. I can find them anywhere.
The retro phone doesn't make calls or receive. It is just using the speaker and microphone to connect to your cell phone via headphone jack so that you can look cool walking around with a retro phone.
@@TheGeektrick the demonstration in this video should work the same way for any phone. Just solder the wires from the handset to the headphone jack and plug it in.
I just pług the phone jack of the rotary to a cell2jack bluetooth cellphone calling box. Your build doesnt allow any phone ring which could be a problem.
You are correct. My build is a hardwire as it is intended for use onset. Adding a device like a bluetooth calling box is one more element which could fail while we are trying to shoot a movie.
Who would I hire to do something like this as I do not have the tools or knowledge to fulfill this task trying to make a present for my bf. He was wanting one of those cheap phones to do skits with & I wanted to do this and wow him :(
Hi~ I watch your tutorial and do it on my retro phone, but I didn't successfully connect the microphone , it connect to the cell phone's mic not the handset's mic, so the farther I get from the cell phone, the smaller the sound, is this condition normal?
I was able to connect the microphone so that the mic in the retro phone was used instead of the cell phone microphone. Maybe your connection is bad or you have the wrong wire connected. It did take a bit of playing around to get it to work for me.
In fact, I connect it to a notebook instead of a cell phone before. Now I just connected it to a cell phone and found that it works!! but I didn't know why it cannot be used on a notebook, I really want to use it on notebook......
WOW! Im going to throw out all my wireless bluetooth headphones and get me an old school phone to carry around and listen to my new Lawrence Welk albums!
You just need conect your mobile to the land line phone with rj 11 to rca aux cable without doing any change like the connection he has . I conect mobile with radio using aux cable
I certainly wish you hadn't done that. I think the thing that made me kringe the worst was when you forced a sheet metal screw through the dial wheel and almost destroyed the dials ability to rotate. There are certainly far better ways to accomplish what you wanted without destroying an irreplaceable vintage telephone. OUCH!
You did a whole lot of unnecessary work. There are many low priced bluetooth gateways that you could have used and made ZERO alterations to the telephone. You would have even been able to place a call by dialing the number.
Pretty cool idea though when are you going to get back to the proper content instead of the recent filler stuff? I mean no offence but the content seems to have drifted somewhat from amazing medieval props and armory stuff to more... well not probs and armoury stuff.
I think you will enjoy my next video: ancient bronze shackles for the TV show Lucifer. March 4th release. Also upcoming builds that I will shoot are a Blood Bowl Football and a LOTR Orc Helm. Any specific requests?
![[UA] NAVI vs MOUZ | BO5 | IEM Rio 2024](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/CMBYk0cbGoA/mqdefault.jpg)
Wow just did this for an escape room prop and it worked great thank you!
So glad that worked for you!
Vintage handset ergonomics are actually superior because the speaker and mic are separated by a distance appropriate to the human head. Being used to both I find the surprise of one who rarely or never held one amusing. Old phone mics and speakers are extremely durable so there's that. They were highly refined products rightly expected to last over half a century without malfunction. I was born in 1959 and despite being into electronic NEVER encountered a malfunctioning phone that had not been vandalized.
I love this. I thought of doing something like this but as a bluetooth headset and just keeping it by my computer. Great as always!
Thank you!!
Did you do it in the end ?
Thanks for making this video. I found it while searching to see if anyone had done this yet because I want to do this myself with an old phone I have. Part of me would like to get it working with a USB-C dock and have a functional call answer/end button hooked up to the handset’s cradle to make it even more realistic.
gonna try it, plus add a dock for the phone. thanks for the inspiration.
Nice:)
There was a guy a few years ago who got a kit that let you connect to the mobile phone network, a sort-of phone on a circuit board, with wires for various functions. He connected that up to a small computer, then stuck the whole thing inside a phone like that. It runs off a big battery, so you have an old-style phone you can put on your desk, then take with you wherever you go. Doesn't need a cord, cos it's really a cellphone.
Omg you’ve just made my day
Glad I could:)
Cool and funny project:)
Thanks
is the best so far. hard wired, no bluetooth non sense.
Than again... what i did with my touch tone telephone is got one of those bluetooth adapters which are powered by USB. So I did my best to put this adapter, small usb battery power bank inside the good old vintage touch tone phone.
I do have the short usb cable (to charge the power bank) sticking out from where you put your fingers to hold the phone, so it is hidden fairly well.
Now to go out side and use it... suprise a lot of people on how it works :D
Yes!! Thanks for this vid! I want to make one of these for an event I am doing, so happy you made the video! 🕺🏻🕺🏻🕺🏻
+Samantha Francis have fun with it!!
Drawbridge Props & Armoury We did it!!! The sound was just suuuuper soft 😅 But it worked!
Great work mate, its awesome.
Thanks!
hi 😊 thanks for this video. can u plz tell me how you took the cover off the center circle? i wanna change the little circle of paper thats in mine. please help! 🙏🏽
Mine was a sticker on the outside.
Omg! I am a huge vintage lover and found this by chance while ironically shopping for one. I was hoping to find a bluetooth one an I came across this!
2 questions for you or anyone who knows.
1. Does the phone ring when being called?
2. Also, can it also be done to even older looking rotary phones or actual vintage ones? Would the wires be the same color?
If not, what's a good way to test it?
So I guess technically 4 questions lol
It does not ring. Any phone will work as you are just rewiring the speaker and mic. All phones have different coloured wires but there is no danger in playing with the wires until you find the ones that work. Good luck.
This is a great DIY. The only thing missing is the "real" classic ring from this phone for a received call. If it could do this I'll try it.
it wouldn't be very hard at all. all you need is a relay and a power source to power the bell. the reason these old phones were able to ring is because telephone lines carry not just the signal but some voltage
This is what i want and also charge phone at the same time
Fantastic
The landline telephone used in this video is an Automatic Electric Model 80. Automatic Electric was the manufacturing arm of GTE (much the way AT&T had Western Electric); AE phones were used, until the 80's by GTE and a few other independent (non-Bell) phone companies.
Great video! I was curious on how this could be applied to using the landline to play pre recorded messages. Is this possible using the same techniques?
Figure this out?
Very fun! Well done:)
That’s really cool!
I was thinking of using the modern desk phone that a compatable to use a GSM sims on my vintage to receive and make calls bring ideas
Rather than destroying the insides, you could just use the phone's own wires it comes with at the plug end. Without destroying anything, get a look at a diagram for how these things work. It's not complicated. The bell rings when you feed the phone AC at so-many Hz, so-many volts (about 60 - 90 IIRC). Lower voltages are just speech. And fortunately, carbon microphones have an amplifying factor of their own. Originally the first phones came before the invention of the thermionic valve ("vacuum tube"), so no other amplification was possible.
The answer to the question, then - you just wire 2 phones up to each other, wire to wire. Stick a battery in the circuit with them. Experiment with the voltage but even 3V will produce something audible in the handsets. Both of them at once, the sound from both parties is mixed together. Working phones.
For the ringer you'll need a way of generating the right voltage, you're on your own there. But you can do without and just play the ring through a speaker if you want. You'd have a working phone line without hacking and clipping some respect.
Thanks for that!
I'm keen to do this for my mobile phone and old 60s phone I have. This lroc looked a little complex so is there a sure proof way and much more easier way I could get this connected with my mobile?
I've seen someone change the 60v ac coil with 12v dc motors to make it ring. I'm thinking about doing the same with a bluetooth micro controller to trigger the motors when a call comes in.
I’m listening to this on my S-C 554B
Silly question time. Since you have bought a new handset, would it not be easier to modify and repaint it rather than rewiring the old handset since you are not using the rotary dial anyway? It is a nice clear tutorial.
Faster to rewire than even think about matching the paint and finish.
It's not harder to hold a vintage handset. You can't hold a cell phone with just your head and shoulder, either.
OMG! Loreena McKennitt in the iPod 😱
Love Loreena. She is my shop inspirational hammer music
Totally surprised me too😂 mummers dance was my favorite song when I was like 12
Do you have a list of the tools and materials you need for this?
I looked in the show notes but it looks like it's for some other projects as well
Wow cool stuff! But unfortunately a bit too complex for me, I think I need to order a land line for amonth to complete a scene I need to do!
Great.....
Do you have a etsy or do you take orders? I would seriously pay you to do this for me on a vintage style rotary phone I found. I don't know why these aren't being sold online. I can find them anywhere.
awsome bulid
thanks so much!!
+Gavin Walsh thanks so much.
I want to do the same for my mom. Trying to source a Bell telephone currently.
Check thrift stores
genius, this is an awesome idea. I'm totally subscribing to this channel. it would be cool to see you do this with a hamburger phone.
also is it working compatible with PC?
This is amazing. I was wondering if it only receives calls or if it can also make calls?
The retro phone doesn't make calls or receive. It is just using the speaker and microphone to connect to your cell phone via headphone jack so that you can look cool walking around with a retro phone.
@@TheGeektrick I don't know what you mean by landline receiver. You can easily use this same wiring to connect any non powered handset. Retro or new.
@@TheGeektrick the demonstration in this video should work the same way for any phone. Just solder the wires from the handset to the headphone jack and plug it in.
I just pług the phone jack of the rotary to a cell2jack bluetooth cellphone calling box. Your build doesnt allow any phone ring which could be a problem.
You are correct. My build is a hardwire as it is intended for use onset. Adding a device like a bluetooth calling box is one more element which could fail while we are trying to shoot a movie.
Drawbridge Props & Armoury Good point there
Who would I hire to do something like this as I do not have the tools or knowledge to fulfill this task trying to make a present for my bf. He was wanting one of those cheap phones to do skits with & I wanted to do this and wow him :(
do yk where i can get one of these? or anybody
Got to antique stores
Can I make a call with the rotary phone though?
lol yep cool
Hi~ I watch your tutorial and do it on my retro phone, but I didn't successfully connect the microphone , it connect to the cell phone's mic not the handset's mic, so the farther I get from the cell phone, the smaller the sound, is this condition normal?
I was able to connect the microphone so that the mic in the retro phone was used instead of the cell phone microphone. Maybe your connection is bad or you have the wrong wire connected. It did take a bit of playing around to get it to work for me.
In fact, I connect it to a notebook instead of a cell phone before. Now I just connected it to a cell phone and found that it works!! but I didn't know why it cannot be used on a notebook, I really want to use it on notebook......
id like to do something like this too. except I want to add a charging dock as well. can anyone give me ideas?
Ya me too. Did you find out?
We have same task contact me buweis77@gmail.com
i just want to buy a bluetooth one with the rotary thing but i guess thats to hard to ask
would love to see you walk around but suddenly you pick up this gismo and call someone all outside in the city just to see how the people react
I have thought many times about doing that. On a city bus etc. Would be funny for sure.
WOW! Im going to throw out all my wireless bluetooth headphones and get me an old school phone to carry around and listen to my new Lawrence Welk albums!
You just need conect your mobile to the land line phone with rj 11 to rca aux cable without doing any change like the connection he has . I conect mobile with radio using aux cable
I certainly wish you hadn't done that. I think the thing that made me kringe the worst was when you forced a sheet metal screw through the dial wheel and almost destroyed the dials ability to rotate. There are certainly far better ways to accomplish what you wanted without destroying an irreplaceable vintage telephone. OUCH!
These get thrown in the trash all the time. I made it something to keep.
I’m gonna play phone guy calls from fnaf
...wait... if someone called HIM... which phone would actually ring?...
When the phone rings????????
We can if qe have the conection
cell2jack
It was been easier just to use your call forwarding
Cell2wire,, Jack just plug it in...
You did a whole lot of unnecessary work. There are many low priced bluetooth gateways that you could have used and made ZERO alterations to the telephone. You would have even been able to place a call by dialing the number.
🇦🇫🇦🇫🇦🇫🇦🇫🇦🇫🇦🇫
This is so sad how could you do this to a great phone.
I improved it!
Tld
yea this is not as phone anymore, waste of vintage phone
Pretty cool idea though when are you going to get back to the proper content instead of the recent filler stuff? I mean no offence but the content seems to have drifted somewhat from amazing medieval props and armory stuff to more... well not probs and armoury stuff.
I think you will enjoy my next video: ancient bronze shackles for the TV show Lucifer. March 4th release. Also upcoming builds that I will shoot are a Blood Bowl Football and a LOTR Orc Helm. Any specific requests?
Drawbridge Props & Armoury awesome :) I'm really glad to hear that. And Blood Bowl? That takes me back a few years.