Bluetooth Portable Rotary Phone - Red

Replacement: None. We have unfortunately retired this product but you can always read about how we built it! This page is for reference only.

In a time when everyone is obsessed with making Bluetooth headsets smaller and lighter, SparkFun is bringing chunky back with two pounds of vintage style. A long, long time ago in the era of dial-tones and party-lines, there used to be something called a rotary phone. The original "click and drag," operating a rotary phone requires that you press the number you intend to dial and pull the dial back from there (Ask someone older than you). Now you can dial your friends the 'old school' way from your cell phone with our Bluetooth Portable Rotary Phone.

The Bluetooth Portable Rotary Phone (Or Blue Rotary, for short) is a Bluetooth device that you can pair with your Bluetooth-capable phone and then use just like 'the real thing'. Simply turn on the Blue Rotary, pair it with your phone (make sure Bluetooth is enabled) and pick up the handset. Not only does this phone have a dial-tone, but you can dial it using the original rotary dial and when you get a call it will let you know with the original, very loud, metal bells (the original 'ring' tone).

Each Blue Rotary was once a real-life rotary phone that we've specially modified. Because these rotary phones had past lives, there may be small scratches and such on the exterior (We like to think of it as 'character'). The included battery can run the phone for 30 hours and is charged by an external jack on the rear of the phone using the included charger.

**Note: **We've recently encountered issues with this phone not completely working with Blackberry cell phones. It will not dial out via the rotary dial or hang-up properly. This has proven to be true with a Blackberry Storm, and may be the case with other Blackberries. Also older Iphones are compatible, however the Iphone4s has been found to not be compatible. Please be aware of this if you're planning on using the phone with a Blackberry or Iphone 4s. It seems to work great with most other Bluetooth enabled phones.

Weight: ~2lbs

  • Main controller board based on ATmega328
  • Ringer module drives the original metal bells!
  • Bluetooth Module allows you to pair the phone with any bluetooth-capable device!
  • 1100mAh Lithium-Polymer battery can run the phone for 30 hours
  • Built-in fast battery charger (2 hour max charge time)
  • Wall adapter (US spades but is 110-240V rated)
  • About the size of a rotary phone.

Comments

Looking for answers to technical questions?

We welcome your comments and suggestions below. However, if you are looking for solutions to technical questions please see our Technical Assistance page.

  • Ganryu / about 12 years ago / 2

    are there any plans to release a fix/version that supports iPhone 4S?

  • thefug / about 11 years ago / 1

    Please don't place PDF's with japanese fonts in it .......

  • Pavel2 / about 11 years ago / 1

    just simple question is possible to connect phones betwen?

  • frustin / about 12 years ago / 1

    Why is red so much more expensive than black phone

    • It is actually harder to find old red rotary phones than black ones, thus the price difference.

  • Andrew17 / about 12 years ago * / 1

    Any plans to make a kit for this? BYO Rotary phone. Maybe an option without the battery section.

  • Does not work nearly as advertised! Neither android nor old nokia phone cause it to ring on call. I indeed cna dial out from it, on both though. Nokia phone does not end call when you hang this up, instead audio keeps coming if you re-lift the horn. Android phone works for one call, and refuses to work afterwards. Both phones will NOT auto connect, insisting that "bluetooth re-authenticatin needed" and make me re-enter the 1234 passcode. This is entirely broken!

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