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|   October  1, 2008 at 3:37 PM

How about adding caller ID? Love the idea of having one of these, but would still want to screen calls.

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|   October  6, 2008 at 12:36 AM

We could add a lot of features like a screen for caller ID, some buttons for a phone book, and maybe a belt clip. But then it wouldn't be a good old rotary phone anymore.

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|   October 24, 2008 at 3:09 PM

Hey Nobody:

This is SparkFun ... you're supposed to build those features yourself!

Soon as I get my Port-o-rotary I'm going to see what I can do about sending and recieving SMS messages, a phone book, and caller ID. But I want to keep the classic phone with no buttons or wires, so maybe transfer the messages to a separate blue-tooth device on which I can script Python (or something easy). There is a real-time clock, alarms, even GPS!

I have butterflies just thinking about all the possibilities!

I love you guys. Do you give tours?

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|   December 26, 2008 at 4:16 PM

Part1-
Well, after a year of looking at it, I finally bought one. Due to a shipping error. I recieved the bluetooth one by accident! HUGE kudos to Dana (and others behind the scenes) for shipping the replacement overnight, on a saturday(!) so it could be the star of the party sunday.

Turned out to be a blessing that two phones were here. On opening the new, correct phone to insert the sim card, I was surprised to find the battery and electronics disconnected, and in disarray. (The bluetooth also was disconnected, but at least had some double sided tape keeping the battery and electronics secure.)(The TRIPLE battery in the bluetooth was coveted, but left in there.....) Inserting the SIM card, and plugging in the wires,turn it on and reassemble, all easy. Single boot ring, double boot ring...cool! Had the dial tone, and on the second try, connected with my other cell phone. YeeeHaw! I then dialed the P-O-R and... nothing. Damn.

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|   December 26, 2008 at 4:17 PM

Part2-
Damn. Spent the next hour trying to get it to ring, then discovered it would when I took off the cover and held the 'hook' down...ended up the assembly was bent, and didnt hang up. Sure enough, when checked, I could faintly hear the dial tone through the earpiece while hung up. A careful adjustment (bend the metal support ass'y) the phone hung up when assembled. Finally. Now to test....Huh. One or two strong dings, then the rest of the ring a pathetic clacking. Thinking maybe it was a low battery I left it to charge for a few hours. Same result.
This would not do. I ended up disassembling both phones, and using the BT body and SIM guts. (Resisted the urge to keep that bigger battery...) After it was all together, it worked. Oh boy did it. The ring still makes me jump each time, then smile.:)

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|   December 26, 2008 at 4:18 PM

Part3-
Then I actually tried to carry on a conversation with a friend. The voice quality was so poor...taking the mouthpiece apart, clean the contacts with an eraser...nope. Sounds like I am under a few towels. Lucky for the spare phone..its mic was much better, allowing my words to be understood. Still kinda fuzzy, but that is vintage for ya...

Still trying to figure out how to remove the dial so I can change the insert. Figured out that the blue light on the board means battery charging. (not in instructions..)"wrong" power supply according to directions, but tech support said it was a recent change. This phone also does not have a modular handset cord, but a wired in one. Makes replacement a pain.

Build quality and testing both scored low. Service? A++!!

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|   December 26, 2008 at 4:27 PM

part4-
(almost over...)
I too would LOVE to add some more features, but searched the forum here with "port o rotary" with no meaningful matches. I am also going to rebuild this using an american phone to allow a modular cord and handset. And figure out a better mic, so I dont have to repeat myself to the other party all the time.

All in all, a cool product, but still in the beta phase IMO. Rarely connects with the first dial attempt after boot, but always thereafter. Anyone out there want to share ideas?

Thanks!! And again- Sparkfun's customer service is the BEST. Thanks again for that.

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|   January 18, 2009 at 8:32 PM

Well...Thanks and Kudos to Sparkfun for not pulling these comments....:)

Still...No reply? Nobody out there playing with these phones?

Well, it was a gamble. From all the plugs on MAKEblog I was hoping for a more vibrant community.

FYI to those considering purchase.

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|   February 12, 2009 at 12:54 AM

Good, fair reviews. Thanks! As for the delayed response - we're uh, busy. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

All batteries are shipped disconnect for safety reasons.

The ringer should ring like bloody hell. If not, charge the bat.

I created the Portable Rotary Phone for mere shock factor. I am sorry the audio is not what you had hoped.

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|   January 26, 2009 at 5:52 PM

What a cool product! The best feature is the call quality. On the unit I received, the audio on both ends was much better than I expected, better than my iPhone (maybe because of the speaker and mic size).

It did take a couple of tries to connect to the network but once it connected, both dialing out and receiving calls went smoothly and as advertised. Thanks for the great product!

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|   February 11, 2009 at 11:11 AM

I just ordered my Port-o-Rotary for my Luddite friend. I plan on adding some sort of phone book (at worse a DTMF dialer key chain).
I would also like to add encryption to make a secure crypto phone....

Well some of these comments are new and scary. I hope I don't have similar problems as Volkemon. My Luddite friend will freak out.

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|   February 17, 2009 at 2:52 PM

Regarding removing the dial: If it's like the classic rotary phone, there's a small hole in the dial just inside the radius of the finger holes. Poke a paper clip in there to push the spring latch down a bit to disengage it, then turn the dial counter-clockwise a fraction of a turn until it comes off.

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|   February 22, 2009 at 7:11 AM

@wd6cmu- Yeah, thats how I have removed dials in the past- but this one has two (2) holes, and I cant seem to find the 'magic' combo to remove the dial.

@zGhost- please keep in mind I was in a severe time crunch!! I had no chance to contact customer support, so I had to go on my own.

@Nate- indeed, I agree the phone should ring like bloody hell:). I did charge the battery on that phone, still a no go. The new one startles the &^$@* out of me every time it rings now...cooooooool.....And the audio? Well, that's for us MAKErs to figure out now, isnt it. You only did 99% of the work for us :)

Note to all-
My previous connection problems have been traced to Unicel (Unis*ck!) network services. I got the phone for use in Vermont, and hoped to use the # down here in FL. Their service in VT s*cked, and it does here too. Using an ATT/cingular acct, the phone connects first try EVERY time on outgoing calls. No 3-5 ring (caller end) delay before the P.O.R. rings now either. MUUUUCH better. That problem solved!!

@ MyBuddy- how are your mods going?

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|   February 22, 2009 at 7:58 AM

Ok- finally got my act together and started a thread in the forum.

It is in wireless/RF. search "port-o-rotary" or "POR".

Let's MAKE this happen!!

Note- even though you are logged in/registered to the comments here, you must do another register for the forum. Same username and password, but you have to activate again via email. Click on register up top.

Took me a few failed login attempts at the forum to figure this out...D'Oh!