Control your appliances in the dark with a hidden system that works just by placing your hand on your nightstand
Posted 08.19.2009 at 11:30 am
4 Comments
It’s the middle of the night, when suddenly you’re jarred awake by your ringing phone. It must be urgent, so you can’t waste time—or worse, miss the call—fumbling around trying to find the receiver. Instead, simply touch your hand to the top of your bedside table to answer the speakerphone. The secret is a stud finder (stuffed into the drawer of the nightstand). With a few modifications, it can sense when your hand is near it and activate a switch connected to your landline. You can use versions of the system to connect other appliances like lamps and air conditioners and control them by touch as well. It’s the next best thing to having night vision.
The Magic Touch: Peter McDonnell/Linda De Moreta Represents
Touch Activated Speakerphone: Courtesy Mike Rigsby
Build Your Own Touch-Activated Speakerphone
Time: 2 hours
Cost: $18.75
Difficulty: Medium
1. Open the stud finder’s [A] battery compartment and remove the door and guide. Solder the power-supply wires to the battery tabs.
2. Wrap a wire to one of the relay’s [B] coil terminals. Wrap wires to both sides of a photoresistor, and connect one of them to the other coil terminal on the relay.
3. Solder the unattached ends of the wires from the relay and the photoresistor to the stud finder.
4. Solder wires to the contact terminals of the relay. Attach the photoresistor to the upper red LED.
5. To enable the phone to receive info from the stud finder, solder wires to the phone’s speaker-button pins. Drill a hole in the phone, insert the wires through it, and crimp them into the battery-pack connector.
6. Drill a hole in the back of your night table, and stick the stud finder in the drawer. Attach the phone to the stud finder’s battery-pack connector terminals.
For more detailed step-by-step instructions with photos, launch the gallery here
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This looks like a fun idea. I can think of some cute applications for this idea ... like turning the TV off
Curious about a few things.
1. I assume that you are still using the battery, but it sure looks like you removed it.
2.Wonder aboutg batt life with the photocell and relay
3. Most serious point. CdS photocells are persona non grata in the new WEE/RoHs green electronic world. Cadmium is a bad actor and very much discouraged
i wonder if it can be hooked up to the lights in the room, or simply a small light to see in the dark. that to me seems a better and more practical use of the stud finder.
I can see it now, I getting down with my lady and oops some random body part hits the speakerphone and dials some random person I know. Use With Caution!!!