Blippo wrote:
"John Stumbles" ] wrote in message
...
[Apologies to denizens of uk.d-i-y who've already seen this, I
thought folks on uk.telecom.mobile might have a clue about this too.
(I did consider uk.tech.home-automation but there's very little
usage on that group.)]

In a Maplin email flyer I've just received:

Remote Control Via Mobile Phone
Only: £9.99
Save: £10.00
Code: N34BF
· Turn equipment on & off from your mobile phone
· Compatible with most mobile phones
· No phone charges incurred
· No need to open or modify your phone or connect with other devices
· Applications include turning lights on & off, activate a car alarm,
control the heating etc.

Any ideas how it works?

Someone on uk.d-i-y suggested it worked by just ringing the home
phone a number of times, and the 'mobile' angle was a crimson fish,
but that doesn't entirely square with the "Compatible with /most/
mobile phones" bit.


--
John Stumbles
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Just because you're paranoid doen't mean They're not out to get
you.




Velleman used to do a DIY kit for remote switching using a phone. I
built one and regularly used it to turn on the central heating on my
way home.
It worked by picking up the sound of the phone ringing. You had to
allow the phone to ring a preset number of times, hang up then redial
within a preset time window and repeat. This minimised the risk of
false switching by other callers.
It sounds fiddly, but wasn't in practice. Another sequence allowed
you to switch equipment off again. After a preset period, the system
switched off anyway.
Because the call is not actually answered, you could control your
equipment from anywhere in the world at zero cost! The main
limitation - no feedback. However, it worked reliably for me so I
didn't feel the need.
Don't know about this Maplin gadget, however. I thought maybe it
worked using DTMF tones, which would explain the 'most mobiles' bit,
but then you would incur a charge.

Blippo

I got the email flyer too and looked at the item. It did appear to be a
Velleman kit.
It seemed to be a pcb, not mounted in a box.
Can't find it on their website now ...