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Payphone in the Home

Payphone in the Home
This project probably started due to my odd obsession with quarters and coin operated devices.

I guess that the legends of the golden days of hacking and phreaking helped too. Added to the

fact that my cordless phones were never to be found when needed. So the decision was made I

needed a corded phone. After running a across a few look a like phones, I thought they looked

cheap. Then it hit me, why not buy a real one. I discovered that AT&T was removing a lot of these

phones, since it was not cost effective to maintain them. Once i learned this, off to ebay I ran.

With this being said

The legend begins....
 
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Step 1Obtaining the payphone

Obtaining the payphone
After a few minutes searching I came across someone selling a large quantity of phones for well

under market value. A few transactions later, my treasure was on its way. I suppose that there

are other ways although I won't recommend riping one off the wall of your local quicky-mart.
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39 comments
Jun 25, 2011. 10:35 AMtinker234 says:
wow wonder if i could charge my guest with this maybe a pay toilet next
Jul 17, 2010. 1:18 AMwhiplash says:
Would the keys fit any payphones still in use? hmmmm
Feb 17, 2010. 8:03 PMDimitrios says:
Hi, how did you program the payphone?
Also, I want to buy one, what do I need to look out for besides getting all keys?
I want one to hook up at home phoneline (I understood some are not able to do this), then the programming part, is this easy or are you obliged to call someone to program this for big bucks?
Mar 16, 2009. 10:02 AMchrisjx says:
I'm looking for info about how to hook up a Western Electric 317S wall phone. It's a design from the early 1900s. I'd like to be able to hook it up to answer calls in the house. No need to try to make it work to call out (no dial pad; it was from the days of party lines). Any clues?
Mar 15, 2008. 1:44 AMKeeter says:
If you're not interested in the coin slot actually being used to activate the phone, it would be insanely easy to just gut it and use the parts of a regular phone inside, using the handset and cradle of the payphone. It's not as cool, and kinda cheating, but for some of us, it's an acceptable workaround.
Dec 10, 2008. 11:00 PMsanel_sevilla says:
i am a 5th yr Computer ebgineering student and i am having a design of a payphone using a coin to be enserted to call, please help me on how to do it.
Mar 16, 2008. 7:01 AMmgarcia says:
Thanks, If I want to use the coin slot can I be able to do and how I do. thank you, again
Nov 24, 2008. 4:40 PMkd1s says:
I'm old school. I got hold of a Western Electric 1D2 pay phone. It has nearly everything intact except the coin relay which I have on order. I'm going to build an external controller for the phone that generates all the signals that Bell provided. I need a good engineering challenge like that.
Feb 22, 2008. 3:22 AMwasgij says:
Man i cant believe that you can buy a pay phone
Oct 4, 2008. 10:24 PMgoeon says:
Oct 4, 2008. 10:25 PMgoeon says:
srry I just noticed you posted that 5 months ago
Sep 15, 2008. 5:00 PMlager says:
Lol thats a good idea for the parents wich have sons that last long calling theyr friends hahaha
Aug 8, 2008. 3:19 PMjreiter says:
Hi Great tutorial! I recently purchased this model phone and am looking to heavily modify it. The problem is none of the cables where hooked up inside when I got it. I have learned a great deal on where everything goes from your page here but there where a few that I couldn't make out. What pins on the block the actual phone line connects to, Where the 24 volt power supply connects. In the long run, I'm trying to implant a Linksys SPA-941 (VOIP phone) into the payphone (gutting out the Intellistar board) and modifying Asterisk or FreeSwitch to acknowledge the redbox tones, but I need to grab a few things off of the Intellistar board first.
Feb 3, 2008. 7:12 PMiinstruct says:
Great instructable, but too focused on aesthetic and not so much on functionality... With no programming instructions, it's hard to make this one work... Only got the dial tone so far. Hint: for the power source, and assuming you have an Intellicall "Intelli*Star" (aka Ultratel) board, you can find a power supply at Radio Shack (18-24 VAC) for less than $30. Caution, it's AC power, not DC as many may think. Also, cabling inside is easy to connect, except for the handset, there are four wires and only three connectors behind the dial pad... Any idea which color goes where?
Jun 7, 2008. 4:03 AMquickfreeze says:
You have to get someone off the net to program it for around 25-75$$$$
Jun 4, 2008. 1:08 PMtoddkrein says:
Very cool, and I just recieved my payphone. $76 form ebay, delivered. Has the coin section and everything! A few initial question: On the pack of the keypad, mine has the BLK plugged in below the YELlow. Any ideas? Also, the wires to the on-hook microswitch are damaged. I have a blue wire going to the bottom tang, and a grey wire floating in air. But the microswitch looks like there were wires connected to both the middle and top tangs. Third: Where do the white and green wires go? I don't have any. Lastly, do you have the pin-out for the power/line connector on the main intellicall board? I've got nothing... Thanks!
Mar 14, 2008. 8:32 PMmgarcia says:
Can some one help me how I can wire AT&T payphone to my regular home wiring thank you
Jun 7, 2008. 4:01 AMquickfreeze says:
It is easy to wire it for home use. You just got to make sure your battery is charged and it will need to be programmed for the GTE model like the one in the picture. it just takes the two wires from your phone.
Mar 27, 2008. 10:46 PMCimorene says:
this is incredible! I love it!
Feb 19, 2008. 12:19 PMslash02 says:
Kerlin.. here's a link that may help a little bit

intellicall codes

I just got my phone And plan to do exactly what you're doing. Lets work together.

Here's a thought as well, I have a canadian Centurion phone which is just a 500 set with a control board.. If the intellicall board is not hackable,
a useable phone can be created by gutting the phone and sticking 500 set (or similar) guts inside.

Great work, glad to see the painting works out, mine needs it too.
Feb 13, 2008. 12:47 PMdigjam says:
I was inspired by your post and ordered one for my new house...question, though...how can I change the volume of the ringer? It's just sooo loud...
Feb 13, 2008. 1:52 AMMosif says:
Does the phone work as a normal house phone without programing?
Feb 10, 2008. 8:10 PMiinstruct says:
True kerlin313, the manufacturer charges $25 for programming the phone remotely (via the phone line assuming the payphone is on and working properly). Otherwise, it appears there is a way to program it via the dial keypad; I noticed the phone sends a voice warning over the handset that says "Service Entry" everytime the upper case is opened with the key and the dial pad remains active. Finally, regarding the power supply, IntelliCall sells one for $20, which is pretty reasonable. Thanks for posting the handset wiring scheme.
Jan 13, 2008. 10:41 PMDonQuijote says:
what this instructable is missing, is the instructions of programming the board. otherwise, cool idea.... man i hate living in romania..... there is no way anybody would sell a payphoen around here. and i am not willing to pay for the shipping from anywhere else. any chance of posting a video soon?
Jan 14, 2008. 1:06 PMRaisedByRobots says:
here here, please post how you did the programming of it, that is the crucial part.
Jan 14, 2008. 6:28 PMSWV1787 says:
now you need a nice British phone booth in red with plate glass
Jan 13, 2008. 3:27 PMgamer says:
very nice, although i would prefer making a payphone myself, this was really well done! i have future plans to make my own payphone, but that'll be in 2 or 3 years, haha. anyways, i really love the idea of wanting a payphone in your house. -gamer
Jan 14, 2008. 9:16 AMDonQuijote says:
how does one MAKE a payphone from scratch?
Jan 14, 2008. 11:32 AMgamer says:
im guessing it would be possible to make one out of wood and install a normal phone inside, and find a way to install coin collector guts, i think its possible -gamer
Jan 13, 2008. 10:55 PMDanAdamKOF says:
as a fellow person with an interest in phreaking, I salute you. For the ultimate in 1337 phreakness, hook up another phone with a beige box and some vampire alligator clips instead of a splitter. Use lots of electrical tape for max 1337ness
Jan 13, 2008. 6:51 PMTomtrocity says:
Where did you get the pay phone and how much did you spend on it? BTW Awesome instructable.
Jan 13, 2008. 4:23 PMmdmoose29 says:
thats pretty sweet. do u ever take out an old laptop and use an external modem just for the sake of memories?
Jan 13, 2008. 2:43 PMtiuk says:
That is so freaking cool. Nice job, man.
Jan 13, 2008. 2:24 PMGorillazMiko says:
Amazingly done Instructable! Great job, looks like a lot of work.

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Author:kerlin313