fourlightyears.blogspot.com
Hardware
retro phone conversion
SHOW HN2021
Legend
fourlightyears.blogspot.com
Mum's 80th birthday present- a rotary phone from the 1970's
fourlightyears.blogspot.comHow HN took it
11 positive, 26 neutral or asking, 1 mixed, 10 critical, out of 48 comments about the project. Thread score +0.07.
Idea: 7 for, 1 againstDesign: 0 for, 3 againstExecution: 0 for, 1 againstPerformance: 0 for, 1 againstDocs: 1 for, 0 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Thoughtful, creative gift.
From 3 comments
That's pretty great. Well done, I'm sure your mom is going to be thrilled. I'm always amazed at what people are able to build when they set their minds to it
wonderwonder on HNThats such an insanely cool and thoughtful gift.
squeaky-clean on HNThis is such a thoughtful idea--I'm sure she really enjoyed it. I'll bet there are some people who would enjoy being able to buy a "modern" rotary phone for purely aesthetic…
abalaji on HN
Nostalgic for rotary phones.
From 2 comments
A blast from the past. You're a great son. At home, I still use a W48 [0], I bought somewhere in the mid-90s on a flea market. Just have to change the carbon capsule microphone…
Borrible on HNI grew up on rotary phones in the 80s. Though I havent touched one in over 30 years, I still remember the distinctive feel of the rotary dial, it certainly had its own character…
tartoran on HN
Objections
Cannot call 911, risky for elderly users.
From 1 comment
Something that looks and acts like a phone that can't call 911 might not be a super idea in a home with elderly.
floam on HN
Rotary dials are tedious and can hurt fingers.
From 2 comments
Why does he hate his mum so much? Rotary phone for an 80yo is like having a guillotine for fingers. I am still in my 40s and I DO NOT WANT to use a rotary phone ever again.
dmz73 on HNMy parents still have two working rotary phones on their landline. And not one of those fancy, newfangled plastic ones, theirs are metal that hurt my fingers. They are hard wired…
thinkcontext on HN
Requests
Write-up on driving the ringer.
From 1 comment
The thing I want to see written up in one of these conversion projects: how to drive the ringer.
endgame on HN
Technical details and photos.
From 2 comments
Do you have any photos of the inside, and how you replaced the parts? I think some additional technical details and photos may help to get traction here.
gus_massa on HNThis is great. I love how the write up didn’t go into technical details (“a computer”) but focused on the important part. But I do want to know to know the technical details…. :)
rubidium on HN
Questions
Does the phone still work as a real phone?
From 1 comment
Any plans to make the phone work?
loonster on HN
Alternatives named
Phone conversion using SIP client or VoIP ATA.
From 2 comments
Before reading the article I was sure you installed a SIP client on Raspberry Pi and wired the speaker/mic to the headset so she could actually make calls with it. Still awesome.
Aspos on HNI have and sometimes use a 1935 Western Electric phone and it's associated "subscriber set" with my Google Voice account. The phone itself is completely unaltered, as is the…
LVDOVICVS on HN
Solenoid-based ringing rotary phone project.
From 1 comment
I did something similar years ago and used two selenoids to make it ring: https://www.hackster.io/ulrich-pech/iot-red-phone-083cfe
mixmasteru on HN