Looking for cheap, portable phone tone generator

[Joy]

Does anyone know where I could buy a cheap DTMF tone generator?
I think that's what they are called. They used to be used to enter touch
tone phone sounds into the receivers of dial pay phones so you could
access your answering machine.

I know someone who only has rotary phones (she claims they are the only
ones that work with her hearing aids) and is moving to a place where the
main door can be remotely opened by pressing a key on her phone. Since she
doesn't have a touch tone phone, I thought a portable tone generator might
work. Radio Shack doesn't carry them and I don't know where else to look.

Yes, I could always hook up a small, touch tone phone next to her dial
phone but then she couldn't easily move it between phones. Maybe a cheap
cordless phone would work. Those I have.

Does anyone know where I could get a tiny wired phone? I had once once
(Radio Shack) and it was 2 x 1.5 x .75 inches with a 2.5 mm plug for a
mic/headset just like those used on cordless and wireless phones. It even
had "to line" and "to telephone" jacks.

Thanks for any leads or even the right search keywords on ebay. I didn't
find any with my searches.

And sorry if these aren't appropriate newsgroups. I thought people here
would know about this stuff!

Thanks! Joy

 

[JeffM]

Does anyone know where I could buy a cheap DTMF tone generator?
I think that's what they are called. They used to be used to enter
touch tone phone sounds into the receivers of dial pay phones
so you could access your answering machine.
[ . . . ]
Thanks for any leads or even the right search keywords on ebay.
I didn't find any with my searches.

I believe you're over-thinking this:
http://www.google.com/search?q=dialer+hold-it-up-to

And sorry if these aren't appropriate newsgroups.

It is kinda a misc.consumers question.

 

[Joy]

Does anyone know where I could buy a cheap DTMF tone generator?
I think that's what they are called. They used to be used to enter
touch tone phone sounds into the receivers of dial pay phones
so you could access your answering machine.
[ . . . ]
Thanks for any leads or even the right search keywords on ebay.
I didn't find any with my searches.

I believe you're over-thinking this:
http://www.google.com/search?q=dialer+hold-it-up-to

And sorry if these aren't appropriate newsgroups.

It is kinda a misc.consumers question.

Ok. I'm not sure how I'm over-thinking this... I appreciate ideas and
comments.
I didn't see anything on your google search although the keyword 'dialer'
was very helpful.

Thank you!

 

[Joy]

The first generation of electronic phones didn't play well with
inductive-coupled hearing aids, but the newer ones do, especially if you
buy one of the major brands. Your friend should go shopping for a new
phone. With rotary phones practically extinct, I doubt that anyone still
sells portable DTMF keypads.

Thank you for that information. I'm sure you are correct. But the dial
phones she owns also has a built-in amplifier in the handset which is
QUITE loud. I haven't seen normal phones that loud even with volume
controls.

Thanks. Unless I find a cheap dialer, I'm thinking my idea of an old
cordless phone may work.

Joy

 

[Yukio YANO]

Does anyone know where I could buy a cheap DTMF tone generator?
I think that's what they are called. They used to be used to enter touch
tone phone sounds into the receivers of dial pay phones so you could
access your answering machine.

I know someone who only has rotary phones (she claims they are the only
ones that work with her hearing aids) and is moving to a place where the
main door can be remotely opened by pressing a key on her phone. Since
she doesn't have a touch tone phone, I thought a portable tone generator
might work. Radio Shack doesn't carry them and I don't know where else
to look.

Yes, I could always hook up a small, touch tone phone next to her dial
phone but then she couldn't easily move it between phones. Maybe a cheap
cordless phone would work. Those I have.

Does anyone know where I could get a tiny wired phone? I had once once
(Radio Shack) and it was 2 x 1.5 x .75 inches with a 2.5 mm plug for a
mic/headset just like those used on cordless and wireless phones. It
even had "to line" and "to telephone" jacks.

Thanks for any leads or even the right search keywords on ebay. I didn't
find any with my searches.

And sorry if these aren't appropriate newsgroups. I thought people here
would know about this stuff!

Thanks! Joy

I don't know why you must "Acoustically couple" into this private
network . Since this is a "Private Line" a "Y" connector could
"Parallel" a "Touchtone phone" with the rotary dial phone and be picked
up to input a TT tone onto the line. The acoustic coupling was a
workaround to patch "TT" signals onto a "Public Dialup Line. These
acoustically patched generators no longer make any sense when ALL phone
lines will now accept "TT"tones Phones!

Yukio YANO

 

[Ross Herbert]

Does anyone know where I could buy a cheap DTMF tone generator?
I think that's what they are called. They used to be used to enter touch
tone phone sounds into the receivers of dial pay phones so you could
access your answering machine.

I know someone who only has rotary phones (she claims they are the only
ones that work with her hearing aids) and is moving to a place where the
main door can be remotely opened by pressing a key on her phone. Since she
doesn't have a touch tone phone, I thought a portable tone generator might
work. Radio Shack doesn't carry them and I don't know where else to look.

Yes, I could always hook up a small, touch tone phone next to her dial
phone but then she couldn't easily move it between phones. Maybe a cheap
cordless phone would work. Those I have.

Does anyone know where I could get a tiny wired phone? I had once once
(Radio Shack) and it was 2 x 1.5 x .75 inches with a 2.5 mm plug for a
mic/headset just like those used on cordless and wireless phones. It even
had "to line" and "to telephone" jacks.

Thanks for any leads or even the right search keywords on ebay. I didn't
find any with my searches.

And sorry if these aren't appropriate newsgroups. I thought people here
would know about this stuff!

Thanks! Joy

I am guessing that your friend uses an analogue hearing aid. If this
is so and it is a behind the ear type then it should have a switch on
it with a 'T' position (Telephone). The switch should be in this
position when she is making or receiving calls. The older rotary dial
phones probably have a more powerful magnetic circuit in the receiver
and that is why these work and the dtmf types which she has tried
don't.

The problem can be quite easily be rectified by purchasing a dtmf
phone which is hearing aid compatible. These types have an additional
inductive loop coil inbuilt to provide a suitable signal level for
pick up by the hearing aid when it is switched in the 'T' position.
http://telephones.att.com/telephones_ui/phone_store/dsp_product.cfm?itemID=1428&parent=20017

At $15 I doubt you could do it much cheaper and you won't have an
extra piece of junk hanging around just to provide dtmf.