Stereo Muting Gizmo

[upstatemike]

There used to be a stand alone Gizmo you could buy that would mute your stereo when the phone rang or if you went off hook to make a call. Anybody remember what that thing was called or know where to get them?

I want to use them on individual phone extensions off my phone system to mute the music in the area where someone is on the phone but not the whole system. I can probably wire in some sort of loop detect relay but they tend to chatter during ringing. I seem to recall this little giizmo was a simple clean solution but I can't remember what is was called to search for it.

 

[rogerous]

I found this link for a ELK-930 Doorbell & Telephone Ring Detector.
http://www.elkproducts.com/products/elk-930.htm

Check out this Telephone Ring Circuit ELK-930© to ELK-960 Hookup.
http://www.elkproducts.com/support/mmsuppo...%20to%20960.pdf

Unfortunately it doesn't seem to detect off hook conditions nor differentiate between individual phone extensions.

Anyway...good luck finding your gizmo!

 

[pkoslow]

Mike,

Smarthome used to sell this... I have a link to the manual from their site, but couldn't still find it for sale there?

http://www.smarthome.com/manuals/7847.pdf

If this is what you are looking for, maybe it will provide some clues?

Cheers,
Paul

 

[Axotis]

Audioplex used to make a unit called the Telemute. I have one and it works great... sorry to see that they have discontinued it, as there does not seem to be many options out there for a telephone muting solution.

http://www.smarthome.com/7848a.html

http://www.audioplex.com/productvc.htm

--

 

[Rupp]

If you are running the HomeSeer/HomeSeer Phone combination then you could send an IR command to the TV on first ring.

 

[upstatemike]

Mike,

Smarthome used to sell this... I have a link to the manual from their site, but couldn't still find it for sale there?

http://www.smarthome.com/manuals/7847.pdf

If this is what you are looking for, maybe it will provide some clues?

Cheers,
Paul

Paul-

Yes!! I think this is what I was remembering. Now that I have the name maybe I'll have more luck searching. Thanks!!

 

[upstatemike]

Audioplex used to make a unit called the Telemute. I have one and it works great... sorry to see that they have discontinued it, as there does not seem to be many options out there for a telephone muting solution.

http://www.smarthome.com/7848a.html

http://www.audioplex.com/productvc.htm

--

Never saw this before but it looks like it would work even better than the Silencer because it operates at speaker level. Wonder if they ever show up on ebay?

Thanks for the lead!

 

[upstatemike]

If you are running the HomeSeer/HomeSeer Phone combination then you could send an IR command to the TV on first ring.

Actually more interested in muting when the phone goes off-hook than when it rings. I also want to detect this by phone extension rather than by incoming phone line.

The idea is that I can really blast the music in my office/media room and have it automatically mute when I pick up the phone to make a call. I would replicate this at several other locations where I play loud music but I only want the music muted in the area where a phone is in use.

Should be simple if I can detect the on-hook status of each extension. (I would probably need about 10 detection circuits total)

 

[TonyNo]

Back in the old days, I just mounted a Cherry switch to my phone! B) Another potential use of DS10A's for a quick-fix.

 

[Rupp]

How about using one of these loop sensing relays? http://www.sandman.com/pdf/page40.pdf

 

[upstatemike]

How about using one of these loop sensing relays? http://www.sandman.com/pdf/page40.pdf

I was considering that. The potential problem is relay chatter during ring cycles. I can probably shunt the ring voltage around the relay with a non-polarized capacitor but I will have to test the circuit t see if it is reliable without impacting the audio.

I suppose I could also tear apart a Busy Lamp Field console and use the LEDs to drive relays. No impact to the audio but it would waste a phone port on a system that is under sized to begin with.

Thanks for the input... I'll keep mulling it over.