Even better: You can even take that same landline phone to the park. You can call someone on a picnic. It's even a landline phone that works on water. I mean it can go on a boat. You can take this phone anywhere. No radio required! Instructions below. Here's this week's audio:

The technology you'll be using to make your car phone is a product with a slightly "AS SEEN ON TV" vibe to it. But I've been working with it for about a month and now consider it one of the most well thought out devices I've encountered in over a decade. It's called Cell2Jack.

This small peripheral (about 3 by 2 inches in size) allows for 5V to run off a USB-C jack. Connecting that USB 5V in to a portable USB power supply makes this portable. You plug your landline phone through the RJ11 connector marked PHONE. The 5V out is a nice feature, but does not need to be used in setting it up for use. This, along with a Bluetooth enabled cell phone will make any landline phone portable for car use.

Free your line and your mind will follow

An impressive low-fidelity recording technique can be found by using Cell2Jack to send audio through a vintage phone. Record with a Direct Connect Telephone Record Device kind of adapter. Shown above is the adapter connected to the phone via the phone cable. Plug the adapter's TS output jack into a recorder. The Cell2Jack is powered via USB. Here, it is plugged from a USB-C cable into a USB power adapter. The Cell2Jack powers the phone. The whole thing is connected to a cheap extension cord. It's exciting to think about sending audio through the aging components of the phone. The more feedback and RF distortion the better. This is a great vocal filter for narration or distorted singing. Try it out.

The CELTONE series is considered the top of the line in 1990s-2000s. If you needed one for a trade show, you could "Rent it for $150/month". Shown above is a TLS3 I picked up used/broken. Haven't looked into fixing it, but really like the ON/RING switch.

SWWE #75: "Dial Tone Music" (Dedicated to Rob Hordijk)

Ethan Persoff is a sound designer based in Austin Texas. He likes lists. You can subscribe to Spoken Word with Electronics via 1) Bandcamp and 2) most podcast services.

Hello and welcome back to Spoken Word with Electronics. This week we discuss a 1970's-era utility module that replicates a core concept in computing since the 1940's: Shift Registers. "SWWE #74: Tribute to the Analog Shift Register" So what is a Shift Register? There's a chance the term Shift Register might be more familiar to… READ THE REST

Hello and welcome back to Spoken Word with Electronics. This week, we discuss 'The Upside Down' theme from Stranger Things, and how it was created — including a possible patch sheet & equipment list for trying the theme yourself at home. This is to highlight a beloved electronics module titled "The Universal Event Generator". Co-created… READ THE REST

Hello and welcome back to Spoken Word with Electronics. This week week, we highlight the work of Karl Ekdahl, who runs the small company KNAS. KNAS is best known for a spring reverb called the Ekdahl Moisturizer, a very creative effects device with the springs exposed and all manner of modular electronic concepts (like an… READ THE REST

We thank our sponsor for making this content possible; it is not written by the editorial staff nor does it necessarily reflect its views. If you want to increase productivity in your workflow at home or the office, upgrading your software should be a no-brainer. Microsoft Office Home and Business 2021 for Mac can help you deliver better-quality… READ THE REST

We thank our sponsor for making this content possible; it is not written by the editorial staff nor does it necessarily reflect its views. While our brains may be at capacity in terms of storage, our noggin space looks void compared to the digital organization throughout the electronics we work on. Finding a safe home for all those files is challenging… READ THE REST

We thank our sponsor for making this content possible; it is not written by the editorial staff nor does it necessarily reflect its views. Got a lot on your mind? If you have debilitating anxiety, a sleepless night and bad dreams may also follow (which can't be worse than real life at this point). But, when… READ THE REST

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