amphichon

I was digging through one of my boxes o’ stuff the other day. If you’re a tech geek, you probably already have a pretty good idea of what I mean by boxes o’ stuff, but for the uninitiated, I should explain a bit.

Tech geeks (by this I mean computer and other hardware geeks, hackers, ham radio geeks and miscellaneous electronics enthusiasts and hobbyists of all stripes) tend to collect “stuff” related to their areas of interest. Usually this stuff ends up piled in cardboard boxes or laundry bins, and when we’re in need of a particular component, or just feel like tinkering, off we go to the boxes o’ stuff. These are the boxes that girlfriends always shake their heads about and say things like “What on earth do you keep all this junk for?” They are probably most recognizable to non-geeks as “that box with all the power adapters in it,” since those are typically the most recognizable denizens of these boxes, but the actual contents will vary with the flavor of geek who owns the box. For example, I’m primarily a computer geek with a minor in electronics, and here’s a random selection from one of my boxes o’ stuff:

• a broken 13” LCD from an old Compaq laptop
• a couple of CueCats
• an original (Connectix) QuickCam
• a 1.3Ghz Celeron chip
• an FC-GPA2 to PC-PGA converter for Tualatin-core CPUs
• a Zip drive and a number of Zip disks and Jaz tapes
• an antique 56k external modem, missing the original power plug but with a patched up replacement cord
• a HSF for a Via C3 chip (the model that didn’t really need a HSF but came with it anyway)

• any number of old SIMMs and DIMMs, PCI cards, jumpers, ribbon cables, and assorted adapters

  So you get the idea. Anyway among the miscellaneous stuff in the box I was going through was no less than three old Nokia candy-bar cell phones. And it made me wish I could find some use for these things – I mean, a cell phone is an awfully sexy little piece of technology, it’s a shame to just let it go to waste. So I’ve been giving some thought to how one might use one of these things as some sort of appliance. You know, you read about terrorists using cell phones as triggers for bombs, and by extension, it shouldn’t be terribly hard to use a cell phone as a remote trigger for all manner of electronic signals, right?

  So here’s my plan. I’m going to take an old cell phone and see if I can set it up to buzz me in to my apartment building. If any of you have the standard intercom-type security systems on your apartments, you know how the panel works – you’ve got a talk button, a listen button, and a buzz-somebody-in button. Those are all pretty simple mechanical switches – you press the button, a circuit closes. What I’m thinking is, I take one of these old Nokias, set it up with a pay-as-you-go SIM card, open it up and poke around until I find the contacts that trigger (say) the ring or vibrate functions, and then wire those contacts in parallel with the buzz-somebody-in button on my security panel. So – let’s say I’ve locked myself out of my building but I have my cell phone handy. I call the hacked phone number, and as soon as it starts ringing, buzz goes the door, and I’m in. As soon as I hang up, the buzz stops.

  Sounds like it should work, right? Well, I’ll try it and let you know. I’ll make a page on the sidebar over there for Projects and I’ll document the process there, in case anyone is interested.

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