Seek device to close switch when phone line in use

I'm in the UK.

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Can anyone help? I'm looking for a device I can attach to my ordinary landline (Virgin Media) which closes a switch when the line is in use.

Has anyone seen such a device on sale? Alternativly, maybe someone knows a circuit to make one?

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This is to activate a tape recorder when I make or receive calls.

Reply to
Paul B
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Do you guys still have analog service, or is it ISDN?

And what you suggest may be illegal from several aspects, and may not be nice. Who are you proposing to snoop?

John

Reply to
John Larkin

UK law permits the recording of a telephone call without notification of the other party by individuals. There are some restrictions on the use of such recordings, but the making of them, as described, is not per se illegal.

Reply to
_

Better check applicable STATE laws (re: Linda Tripp). Illegal wiretaps are legal only for DemonicRats.

Reply to
krw

You seemd to have missed this part:

Reply to
_

How about not notifying either party?

John

Reply to
John Larkin

Perhaps you missed this part:

Reply to
_

I did indeed.

Reply to
krw

Yeah, right. If one is recording ones own calls, why use an automatic system? Why not hit the "record" button for those calls you really want to record?

John

Reply to
John Larkin

Yes, I've made a couple of devices to simply light a LED showing when another extension is in use. It would be very easy to modify the circuit to operate a relay, but think carefully about the safety and regulatory issues, which should be obvious. My device is self-contained and battery powered - perfectly safe.

Circuit diagram:

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Board (sorry it's out of focus but it's the only photo I've got):
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Whole thing:
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I can't remember exactly where I got the circuit diagram from. I modified it slightly for my own purposes and my modifications are shown in italics. As you can see it's pretty simple. I used semiconductors that I had lying around rather than those specified. The same battery has been in use for six years now and it's still going strong.

--
Mike Barnes
Reply to
Mike Barnes

We arent going to read about an IED detonated in the UK by a phone using a similiar circuit are we.

I never trust anyone looking to activate a device by phone.To many crazies out there.

Reply to
Hammy

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Has a fully automatic mode

Reply to
SJP

Yup. I'd suggest replacing the LED with an optoisolator, and using the isolator output to switch a relay or whatever...

I've seen some commercial designs (both pre-made and kitted) which are line-powered... probably OK as long as the current drawn to light up the off-hook LED is quite low.

There's one schematic floating around on the Net which I would definitely *not* recommend, as it's line-powered *and* has both "on-hook" and "off-hook" LEDs. Drawing enough current from the phone line to light up a LED, when the phone is on-hook, is a definite no-no, at least here in the US - the telco has strict limits on how much current you're allowed to pull, and it's down in the microampere range. Any more than that, and you may cause the phone to jump off-hook, or may trigger a "phone line is leaky, may require service" alert in the central phone switch.

--
Dave Platt                                    AE6EO
Friends of Jade Warrior home page:  http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior
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Reply to
Dave Platt

In news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com, Hammy typed, for some strange, unexplained reason:

[snip]

: We arent going to read about an IED detonated in the UK by a phone : using a similiar circuit are we. : : I never trust anyone looking to activate a device by phone.To many : crazies out there.

Most of them spouting crap on usenet.

Ivor

Reply to
Ivor Jones

Domestic lines in the UK are almost always analogue, many of the ones that were ISDN have been converted to POTS so they can carry DSL. We use Annex A ADSL which is not compatable with BRI

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Graham.

%Profound_observation%
Reply to
Graham.

Analogue. And some of them may be DACSd which pretty much destroys all HF bandwidth to get two voice grade signals down one piece of copper. This is increasingly common in rural areas. New copper is not cheap to install. Basic analogue modems struggle on DACSd lines.

I can't imagine going back to ISDN with a poxy 128kb on a bonded line at twice the price per minute after multimegabits per second fixed price.

A fair number of the cognescenti are on VOIP via cable or ADSL on real copper these days. There are even consumer grade packages for it.

Maplin probably has something off the shelf to meet the OPs needs.

Just about every "customer care" ""service"" I call these days has a "your calls may be recorded for training porpoises" in the annoying Dalek preamble long before you get to talk to a human.

Regards, Martin Brown

Reply to
Martin Brown

I think you miss the point. This device is activated by someone locally picking up a phone, not by someone dialling in remotely. I guess it could be used as a pointless embellishment to the detonation of a suicide bomb, but that's about it.

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Mike Barnes
Reply to
Mike Barnes

Sometimes the other way around;))

Enjoy!....

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Tony Sayer
Reply to
tony sayer

Because you can then just pick up the phone when it rings, without having to arse around with a tape recorder. Especially if the phone is a cordless and the tape recorder is at the other end of the house to the phone.

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-- Michael "Soruk" McConnell         Eridani Star System
   MailStripper - http://www.MailStripper.eu/ - SMTP spam filter
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Reply to
Soruk

:On Fri, 20 Feb 2009 10:27:03 -0800, John Larkin wrote: : :> On Fri, 20 Feb 2009 17:23:46 GMT, _ :> wrote: :> :>>On Fri, 20 Feb 2009 09:16:33 -0800, John Larkin wrote: :>>

:>>> On Fri, 20 Feb 2009 17:08:08 GMT, Paul B wrote: :>>> :>>>>I'm in the UK. :>>>>

:>>>>--------------------- :>>>>

:>>>>Can anyone help? I'm looking for a device I can attach to my ordinary :>>>>landline (Virgin Media) which closes a switch when the line is in use. :>>>>

:>>>>Has anyone seen such a device on sale? :>>>>Alternativly, maybe someone knows a circuit to make one? :>>>>

:>>>>--------------------- :>>>>

:>>>>This is to activate a tape recorder when I make or receive calls. :>>> :>>> Do you guys still have analog service, or is it ISDN? :>>> :>>> And what you suggest may be illegal from several aspects, and may not :>>> be nice. Who are you proposing to snoop? :>>> :>>

:>>UK law permits the recording of a telephone call without notification of :>>the other party by individuals. :> :> :> How about not notifying either party? :> :> John : :Perhaps you missed this part: : :>>>>...when I make or receive calls.

This ofcom FAQ outolines the general rules applying in the UK.

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Reply to
Ross Herbert

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