The purpose of this Instructable is to use an old corded phone to talk on Skype! In this Instructable I will show you how to build a connector that will convert a phone jack to a male sound and mic jack that can plug into your computer!!! This way your can use ANY corded phone with your connector. Also the connector is so small it will fit in your pocket!!!

Step 1: Gathering the Parts

You will need:

1: Corded phone (MUST BE WORKING!!!!!!!)
2: Corded phone base
3: Phone wire (preferably the one that came with the corded phone) (must have 4 wires)
4: Old head phone (it doesn’t matter if the ear buds are gone, you only need the plug in)
5: Old mic wire with plug
6: Screw driver (duh)
7: Soldering iron
8: Solder
9: Wall plug-in for phone base (optional, used in step four)
10: Glue gun
11: Solder sucker (for removing solder, this is not needed but it helps)

Step 2: Disassembling the Corded Phone Base

Remove all the screws from the corded phone base and pry it apart. Next, locate the jack where the corded phone plugs in. If you look in the front of the jack, there should be 4 wires NOT 2 (only a 4 wire jack will work). Use the soldering iron to remove that jack without damaging it.

Step 3: Soldering Wires

Solder both the head phone wire and mic wire to the jack (location of wires shown below). Make sure that the solder is secure and that the wires are only touching the terminals they are meant to. It helps to hold the plug-in in a vise for the soldering.

Step 4: Converter Case (optional)

In this step I will be showing you how to make a case for the converter. This will not change the functionality, it will only make it look better and make it harder to damage.

To make a case for the converter, simply take the plug in for the corded phone base and open it up as shown in the image below. You may need to use a screw driver to pry it apart. Next, remove all loose components and snap or cut the wires connected to the wall plug-in. De-solder the plug prongs from the case and remove them. Then cut, burn, drill or grind a hole in the side of the case so that the phone jack plug-in can be glued behind the hole to allow the phone wire to be plugged in from the outside of the case. Finally, run the wires that go to the mic and sound jack plug-ins through the plug prong holes. You may need to further cut, burn, drill or grind to enlarge the holes so the wires will fit.

Step 5: Testing the Phone

WOW! Done already!!! Plug the phone into the jack and the wires coming from the jack into the speaker output (or headphone output) on your computer and into the mic input. Log onto Skype and then simply mouse over tools and click on options. On the side bar of the box that pops up click on audio settings. Try speaking into the mic, the volume bar at the top of the box should register the sound; if not; change the source for the mic in Skype. Test out the speaker on the phone by playing some music on your computer. If either the microphone or speaker does not work, then work through the trouble shooting in the next step.

Step 6: Trouble Shooting

Problem: The mic is not working.

Solution: Open up the phone try and wiring directly from the mic to the computer; without the converter in between. You don’t have to solder the wires to the mic, just hold them on to test it. If the mic works then the problem is elsewhere. So you should try using a different wire to connect the phone to the jack (although it still has to have 4 wires). If it is still not working, check all your soldering and make sure that no wires are touching and that all wires are secure.

Problem: The speaker is not working.

Solution: Same as above, where it says mic replace with speaker.

Problem: The mic and speaker work but they are not good quality.

Solution: Open up the phone and replace the mic and or speaker with new better ones.

Problem: None of the above.

Solution: Leave a comment with your problem and I will try to post the solution.