Salvage It!
BY JULIAN EDGAR
The multi-purpose tape machine
Old tape-based answering machines can
now be picked up for next to nothing or
perhaps you’ve got one stashed away in the
cupboard. Here are few ideas to put it to use.
Tape-based telephone answering machines are now available free where ever
electrical junk is discarded. So what can you do with them? As described in
the text, there are plenty of novel messaging applications.
84 Silicon Chip
L
OOK AT THESE PICTURES – seen
one of these before? If you said,
“Yeah, of course I have – it’s just an
old telephone answering machine”
then think again. What you have in
front of you is really a multi-purpose
tape machine – one that’s able to leap
tall buildings, etc . . .
Well, not quite but it’s certainly
capable of forming the basis for some
interesting “no-cost” projects.
Want some examples? OK, you live
on a main road where there’s a constant
stream of charity collectors and fervent
religious followers continually coming
to your door. You’re not against giving to charities but you’d prefer to do
it on your terms not theirs and your
religious beliefs are already firmly
held. Here’s where that old answering
machine comes in – you can use it to
get rid of them.
Imagine this: you’re just settling
down to build a brand new electronic
kit and the doorbell rings. You just
know it’s not anyone you want to talk
to so you just press a button that’s
linked to the answering machine.
One press is all that’s needed and the
message is clearly and loudly played
to those door squatters: “Thank you
but I am not interested in anything
that you have to sell or collect. Please
leave my property forthwith. This is
a recording so don’t bother answering
back. The guard dog will be automatically released in 30 seconds”!
And if you want to really want to
drive the message home, you can have
a harangue lasting up to a minute! Ha!
– that’ll show ’em.
Well, you get the idea, although in
practice you might want the message
to be a bit more restrained than that.
In short, anywhere that a recorded
message is needed at the push of a
button, this machine can be used for
it. And if you’re thinking, “why use a
siliconchip.com.au
Introducing the new
and exciting range of
Hot Devil Soldering Irons
and Gas Torches
BONUS PACK
2 FOR 1
UNDER
$36.00
R.R.P.
The unit we used was the Shimasu F-7010. It was listed in the Dick Smith
Electronics 1996-97 catalog for $59.95 but can now be picked up at garage
sales, secondhand stores and the like for a dollar or two. We got ours from
a municipal tip, so it cost nothing at all.
tape machine in this day and age?”,
just consider the available message
length and the cost. First, the machine
costs nothing (or almost nothing)
because you already had it stashed
away in a cupboard or you scrounged
it. And second, some tape answering
machines can run a 3-minute message!
Our answering machine
The unit we used was the Shimasu
F-7010. It was listed in the Dick Smith
Electronics 1996 catalog for $59.95 and
can now be picked up at garage sales,
secondhand stores and the like for a
dollar or two. The unit shown here
came from a municipal tip, so it cost
nothing at all.
Recording & playing a message
After you’ve made sure that there’s a
tape inside the machine and it’s powered up, follow these steps. To record
the message, press the OGM (out-going
message) button until the LED flashes.
Record your message and release the
button. To play what you have just
recorded, simply momentarily press
the OGM button – it really can’t get
much easier than that.
Temp to 1300 oC
Supplied with
Bonus Pocket
Torch valued at
$12.95 R.R.P.
Model No.
MT6000SB
MICRO TORCH
The smallest ever
Butane Gas MicroTorch
and Soldering Iron
with Auto Ignition
UNDER
$25.00
R.R.P.
GAS TRIGGER TORCH
& SOLDERING IRON
Rat It Before You Chuck It!
Whenever you throw away an old TV (or
VCR or washing machine or dishwasher
or printer) do you always think that surely
there must be some good salvageable
components inside? Well, this column is
for you! (And it’s also for people without a
lot of dough.) Each month we’ll use bits
and pieces sourced from discards, sometimes in mini-projects and other times as
an ideas smorgasbord.
And you can contribute as well. If you
have a use for specific parts which can
siliconchip.com.au
easily be salvaged from goods commonly
being thrown away, we’d love to hear from
you. Perhaps you use the pressure switch
from a washing machine to control a pump.
Or maybe you have a use for the highquality bearings from VCR heads. Or
perhaps you’ve found how the guts of a
cassette player can be easily turned into
a metal detector. (Well, we made the last
one up but you get the idea . . .)
If you have some practical ideas, write
in and tell us!
Model No.
PT16TS
o
Soldering up to 400 C
Torch to 1300 oC
o
Hot Blow to 500 C
Anti-Flare
Wind Resistant
R.R.P. Free Standing
Auto Ignition
UNDER
$59.00
Model No. HT882
For your nearest stockist visit:
www.hotdevil.com.au
or phone: (03) 9775 0713
January 2007 85
As this photo shows, accessing the Outgoing Message Record pushbutton wiring, the speaker and the microphone
is easy. It’s then straightforward to turn the old answering machine into a voice-warning annunciator, a talking
burglar alarm, or even a sound generator in a model train layout.
Note: the above steps are for the
Shimasu F-7010 answering machine.
Other tape-based answering machines
work in similar fashion.
A few uses
There are plenty of uses that can be
made of a warning message tape. Some
are fun and others more serious. Here’s
three examples:
(1) Model railway sounds – the big
advantage over generic sound simulator chips is that you can actually
record real train sounds! One example is the sound of “ding-dong” level
crossing bells – you can record these
(perhaps with another tape recorder)
and then the sound will be as realistic
as possible. On the layout, the tape
machine can be triggered by a reed
switch activated by a magnet in the
approaching train.
(2) Interior car alarm – how would
you feel as a thief if the owner started
warning you ominously? “Warning!
Warning! This car is being stolen. GPS
tracking has been enabled. Warning!
Warning!” It’s easy to do if the tape
machine is triggered by a momentary
input. Feed this message through
a cheap car audio amplifier and an
external horn speaker and very few
thieves would proceed!
(3) Industrial warning – this could be
used to explain an “idiot light”; eg,
“Low oil pressure has been detected.
Turn off the engine immediately.
Damage will result if the engine keeps
running. This is the low oil pressure
alarm”.
The modifications
Very little needs to be done to the
machine to modify it for its new role
– in fact, maybe nothing at all. For
most applications, where the machine
will be triggered remotely, it’s a case
of opening it up and then connecting
a new momentary pushbutton switch
(or reed switch or relay contacts) via
flying leads in parallel with the “OGM”
button.
To improve the recorded sound, you
may want to remove the microphone
from the case and re-position it, so that
your voice is recorded more clearly.
The playback also benefits substantially from a larger, more efficient
speaker. If you want to get really loud,
there’s nothing stopping you adding
an amplifier. The volume control on
the side of the answering machine
should be set to match the amplifier’s
input level.
Don’t forget that cleaning the tape
head (use methylated spirits and a
cotton bud) and using a new tape can
also appreciably lift the sound quality.
Finally, don’t skimp on the quality of the message. For example, in
the case of a burglar alarm warning,
there’s nothing to stop you adding
police sirens and running foot-steps
as background audio to the warning
message. That’ll really scare ‘em! SC
Issues Getting Dog-Eared?
Keep your copies safe with these handy binders.
REAL
VALUE
AT
$13.95
PLUS P
&
P
Available Aust, only. Price: $A13.95 plus $7 p&p per order (includes GST). Just fill in
and mail the handy order form in this issue; or fax (02) 9939 2648; or call (02) 9939
3295 and quote your credit card number.
86 Silicon Chip
siliconchip.com.au
