RSS
Redbluefire posted some photos on Flickr of his experiences riding out hurricane Wilma - his power went out and with the phones only working he used the phone line to charge up the Walkie Talkie watch gadgets "...the two lines in the phone that supply power, Red was positive, but to my suprise the ground was not black, but GREEN! After that, it was all a matter of opening the watch, checking the pinout, and twisting the wires to hold onto the jack inside. I need to communicate, and sometimes a laptop just isnt worth wasting for idle communication." Link.
Charge a Walkie Talkie Watch on a phone line...(in a hurricane)
Redbluefire posted some photos on Flickr of his experiences riding out hurricane Wilma - his power went out and with the phones only working he used the phone line to charge up the Walkie Talkie watch gadgets "...the two lines in the phone that supply power, Red was positive, but to my suprise the ground was not black, but GREEN! After that, it was all a matter of opening the watch, checking the pinout, and twisting the wires to hold onto the jack inside. I need to communicate, and sometimes a laptop just isnt worth wasting for idle communication." Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Oct 25, 2005 06:57 AM
DIY Projects, Electronics |
Permalink
| Comments (2)
| Email This |
| Digg this!
Recent Entries
- 3D renderings of the Mandelbrot set
- New in the Maker Shed: Microbe Motel kit
- Science through graphic novels
- Tiny solar-powered brass engine in a wineglass
- Maker Shed kiosks at Fry's
- New hackerspace in Chicagoland: Workshop 88
- Mint tin electronics dev kit packs the essentials
- Olympus BioScapes competition winners
- Mac mailbox
- LHC tweets its first circulating beam of 2009
Comments
Oldest comments listed first.
Leave a comment
Subscribe to MAKE Magazine!
Subscribe today, save 42% and get web access to MAKE free. MAKE Digital Edition is available only to subscribers.
$34.95 / 1 year
(4 Quarterly Issues)
Finding two wires that just happen to spark when you touch them together doesn't really mean you could just hook anything electical you have up to them.
I think a standard phone line is 40VDC. If the phone rings it might have 100VAC.
If it was really usable for much, I'd expect cordless phones wouldn't need their separate power bricks.
That said, I had a modem way back when that was powered by the phone line. If you could get away with it, a small LED light powered by the phone line might be handy if your power is out and the phone line still works.
Reply to this comment
This gave me a great idea. Phillip, each time you send out a new issue of MAKE, you should give a free subscription away to whoever submitted the best blog material in the previous few months. Call it the "MacGyver award" :)
Reply to this comment