[Gllug] [Fwd: Caller ID on a POTS line]

[general_email at technicalbloke.com]

On 18/01/11 09:32, Christopher Hunter wrote:
> http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BNIB-BT-CALL-REMINDER-CALLER-ID-3-FREE-AAA-BATTERIES-/320640794781?pt=UK_MobilePhones_HomePhones_HomePhones_JN&hash=item4aa7ae409d
>
> £1.50 + £1.20 p&p can't really be beaten.  I'm going to get two of
> them.  When I find the hack to get the data out in serial form, I'll let you know.
>
> It strikes me that these units would be ideal for a USB-connected hack - they run from 4.5V, so 5V from the USB will be dropped by a single diode.
>
> Chris
>

Hi Chris, on the face of it they look ideal (which is why I bought 3 of
them myself) but sadly they're a single chip design, there's no separate
CID decoder chip just one chip that does everything, decoding, display,
flashing message light, the works. Sadly the chip is also an unknown -
hidden as it is under a plain black blob of plastic with no markings.
The only way to get the caller data out of one of these would be to tap
the LCD outs. Sadly though the output to the screen is very messy too,
sometimes it has scrolling text and every 30 seconds it flashes up
"checking for messages". I guess in theory one could just regex the
output for phone numbers after decoding the LCD output into ascii but
that feels like it may be a hack too far. I'm sure it would be easier to
get an appropriate FSK decoder chip and forget using the one in these BT
units. Full props to you if you can manage it though!

For reference the similar but older yellow and blue version has a
separate decoder chip.

Cheers,

Roger.
--
Gllug mailing list  -  Gllug at gllug.org.uk
http://lists.gllug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/gllug