I often am on the internet when my wife picks up the telephone upstairs
thus breaking my connection to the ISP. Does anyone have a circuit
or know of a source for and "offline" indicators what will flash an LED
or something so the wife will know I am useing the internet downstairs??
Joe/KH6JF


************************************************** ********
* Ham KH6JF AARS/MARS ABM6JF QCWA WW2 VET WD RADIO SYSTEM*
* Army MARS PRECEDED by AARS (Army Amateur Radio System) *
* Hi State ARMY MARS COORDINATOR *
************************************************** ********

I often am on the internet when my wife picks up the telephone upstairs
thus breaking my connection to the ISP. Does anyone have a circuit
or know of a source for and "offline" indicators what will flash an LED
or something so the wife will know I am useing the internet downstairs??

http://www.hobbytron.com/CK007.html is one such.

There are 'self-powered' circuits around for this which do not require
a battery, but I'd recommend avoiding them. Any circuit which draws
more than a very small amount of current from the phone line may
either take it off-hook accidentally, or trigger a wiring-fault
indication at the central office.

--
Dave Platt AE6EO
Hosting the Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior
I do _not_ wish to receive unsolicited commercial email, and I will
boycott any company which has the gall to send me such ads!

On Sat, 11 Mar 2006 23:13:11 -0000, Dave Platt wrote:

http://www.hobbytron.com/CK007.html is one such.

A better circuit - one that I've used as far back as 1980 for
exactly that purpose - consists of a R/S 5 v reed relay in series
with one leg of the phone line. "Standard" telephone line off-hook
current is 30 mA, which will trip this relay and not degrade the
"battery" voltage at the phone. Hook up a 12V "wall wart" and LED
in series with the NO contacts and you're in business.

Mind you, this doesn't cut off the extension - it merely indicates
that the line is in use. To cut off the extension there are other,
more sophisticated (and expensive) devices.

--
73 de K2ASP - Phil Kane

"Joseph Fenn" wrote ...
I often am on the internet when my wife picks up the telephone upstairs
thus breaking my connection to the ISP. Does anyone have a circuit
or know of a source for and "offline" indicators what will flash an
LED
or something so the wife will know I am useing the internet
downstairs??
Joe/KH6JF

Most of the circuits out there require a separate battery
to power the indicator because drawing enough current
from the telco loop to light the off-hook LED interferes
with the on/off hook detection.

Perhaps even better are those passive devices which
lockout other phones once the first one is picked up.
Like these (others, etc.)
http://www.glbproducts.com/catalog/s..._4737042 .htm

I believe this can be done with a single diode (some kind
of breakdown device), but I can't remember which kind or
find the circuit just at the moment.

Most 2 line phones have indicator lights to show when a line is in use.

"Joseph Fenn" wrote in message
a.net...
I often am on the internet when my wife picks up the telephone upstairs
thus breaking my connection to the ISP. Does anyone have a circuit
or know of a source for and "offline" indicators what will flash an LED
or something so the wife will know I am useing the internet downstairs??
Joe/KH6JF


************************************************** ********
* Ham KH6JF AARS/MARS ABM6JF QCWA WW2 VET WD RADIO SYSTEM*
* Army MARS PRECEDED by AARS (Army Amateur Radio System) * * Hi
State ARMY MARS COORDINATOR *
************************************************** ********

Ref my original msg. Yes my old corded phone had the indicator
built in, but it went on the blink so had to buy a new one
from wal-mart. Shuucks I'll just run a powered LED fed from
the basement where the computer room is, and plug an ac adapter
into the master switch so if I turn on my computer a flashing
led will be on the wall upstairs and it wont even involve the
phone line (except to warn that I am down here hacking away
on the internet.)
Joe


************************************************** ********
* Ham KH6JF AARS/MARS ABM6JF QCWA WW2 VET WD RADIO SYSTEM*
* Army MARS PRECEDED by AARS (Army Amateur Radio System) *
* Hi State ARMY MARS COORDINATOR *
************************************************** ********

Joseph Fenn wrote:

I often am on the internet when my wife picks up the telephone upstairs
thus breaking my connection to the ISP. Does anyone have a circuit
or know of a source for and "offline" indicators what will flash an LED
or something so the wife will know I am useing the internet downstairs??
Joe/KH6JF


************************************************** ********
* Ham KH6JF AARS/MARS ABM6JF QCWA WW2 VET WD RADIO SYSTEM*
* Army MARS PRECEDED by AARS (Army Amateur Radio System) *
* Hi State ARMY MARS COORDINATOR *
************************************************** ********

Most "proper" phones can be connected in a "chain". The main phone, when off
hook, automatically disconnects the later part of the "chained" phones.

Most modern modems have this function as well.

When the XYL lifts unhooks the phone, there would just be a dead line as
long as the modem is online.

It's possible that the Taiwanese Wal-Mart brands doesn't include this option
and if it is so, you can easily build a chain by adding a small relay that
disconnects the other phones in the house as soon as the modem line
consumes any current. Remember that the line impedance should be around 600
Ohms.

This is a simple piece of design, just place a small resistor in series with
the modem, drive a small mosfet with the voltage drop over the resistor and
trip a small relay. I don't know your line voltage in the US but I'd assume
it's 48Volts, so a 48Volt modem should be dirt cheap as it's telephone
standard. If you wanna do it a bit more fancy without the relay, use a pin
diode to cut your dear lady off... It's even cheaper!


Cheers

Dan / M0DFI