That's cute. But you don't think that sooner or later the phone co. won't figure out that something is kinda sorta wrong ?
Just how much power do you think can be supplied using this method.... In reality NOT Much.... If you draw anywhere near 10 milliamps, you cause you Phone Line to go OFF-Hook, and it stays OFF-Hook until you quite drawing Power. That means you get a total of 70 Volts, at say 8 Milliamps, so you do not draw dialtone. That would be 70 * .008 = .56 Watts So, using this method, you can get just over 1/2 a watt of power. That will not even run a Cellphone, let alone charge one... Not a really effective power source..... Mostly just a curiosity.... The Phone company puts that power on the line to provide your Phone Instrument just enough power to operate... which is really NOT that much....
The lights in question require only 3 AAA batteries to work for quite a while, so how much power could you possible pulling? I have a technogeek friend putting two of these units together and I am supplying two of these lamps. . Bright 12 LED Portable Desk Lamp/Light USB OR Battery - eBay (item 190459749011 end time Mar-21-11 20:46:30 PDT)
Thank you men, I am not any expert on anything, I look to you all with admiration and knowledge. I really am grateful for what ever you are teaching me. I do not know about this stuff, thats why I post it here. so you all can tell me what you think. Blessings
There it is. It took more power to MAKE the video, and upload it than the "source" will produce in a month...but I loved the way it was a "secret source".....ahahahaaa
Yep, and they have instruments in the exchanges that measure the "ringer equivalence" they can track you down easily.
And it could also be considered "theft of services" Also keep in mind, the phone co. like elec. etc is a national utility, therefore coming under the protection of the FBI. Sounds silly, but true. Imagine going to jail for a few months for almost nothing.
Well until just a few years ago my primary residence had 4 hard wired old style phones with cords and without transformers, and I had a big double bell outdoor ringer (that had a phone line going to it, - but, I am pretty sure it was not hardwired to power otherwise.) All those phones would ring with an incoming call. I would be willing to bet, they pulled more power than this 4.5 vdc battery or 5.2 vdc ubs plug operated LED light. Since I don't plan on using it except when the power goes out, I don't think the phone company power police will be any the wiser. jmho . I will give a report on whether it works or not.
IIRC, in the old days, the incoming comms wire went to a relay that was fed from a 12 volt transformer powered from house power. Those big bells could not be powered from the phone lines. The wire that went to the bell was from the xfmr, not the comms.
I will go over to the rental house (my old primary residence) and check that exterior bell assembly. I was considering moving it to the new house or barn anyway. The other phones were 4 princess phones, (2 of them wall mounts). No transformers hooked to 120 vac in the entire bunch. No batteries. All them suckers rang their butts off every incoming call. It had to be alot of juice all told. I just can't see that little 4.5 vdc desk light is going to pull noticeable juice. Also I have had phones off the hook in that old house for days with everyone away...... no voltage police anywhere or any calls from the phone company.
Take a VOM with you. If you can get at the spot where the phone line daylights in the basement, snoop around and see if there isn't a small transformer in the area. It is also possible the phone bell is powered from the same transformer that runs the doorbell. If you can't get in, check the voltage at the bell end. (Uv cuss, you have to call the phones to power it up.)
Mobile home! No doorbell. No transformer in basement either. I have not been able to even find the basement. Not many basements in Florida. I ran all the phone lines in the house, and to the outside bell from the phone company box on the south end of the house. I am a construction electrician, and I am pretty sure I would remember hard wiring the outdoor bell to 120 vac power. A friend from another phone company than mine provided the outdoor bell and wired it up after I ran a cat-5 line from the phone box to the location where I wanted the bell. My renter didn't like it so I disconnected the incoming phone line to it. No more bell outside. Bottom line, I am pretty damn sure there is no transformer, and the only power to all these ringers was 43.5 vdc that my technogeek has verified coming in. . Just cool it for a week or so until the lights come in, and I will report back.
Actually, the Ring Voltage of a Standard POTs (Plain Old Telephone) Phone line is between 70 Volts and 90 Volts AC Power, @ between 20 Hz and 50 Hz. In the original Post, they were talking about the DC Bias Voltage that runs the Comms Part of the Phone, NOT the Ringer Portion. The Ring Generator in the pre-Electronic Telco Switches was a BIG Motor/Generator, that was switched across the Copper Pair, to ring the Bell. Now days it is done with a Solid State Ring Generator.
