Hello, all. Today I was working in my shop when I missed a call from my bride who had just arrived in Prague and wanted to check in. I was really bummed to have missed that call.
Can anyone suggest a telephone setup that lets a woodworker know that a call is coming through without 1) scaring the pants off of said woodworker and/or 2) startling said woodworker to such a degree that she/he places life and limb into serious harm?
I recently bought one of those GE shopphones on discount at Lowes…what a waste of money! The ring is wimpy, the LED that signals a call is invisible and the audio quality is horrible.
Your suggestions will be appreciated!
Replies
I just bought a GE 4 phone cordless set, 2.4 Ghz. The base station is in the house. The other 3 phones just have a charging station. One is in the bedroom, one is in the shop, and one is in mom's apartment (plus the base station in the kitchen). It works great. I bought it at Office Depot or the other office place (don't remember name). Saved me from having to string a bunch of wire.
PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)
PlaneWood
I've seen phones that flash a light when a call comes in - you might try an agency that provides services for the deaf.
If you have (or plan to get) a wireless LAN, you may get interference with a 2.4 gigahertz cordless phone. I had to go to a 5.8 gigahertz cordless after I installed my wireless LAN.
Radio Shack use to carryone that had a bright light,check with them.
At least one or two of the general woodworking catalogs carry a flashing light that can be hooked up to your phone and mounted on the wall.
However, what I use is simply a very shrill cordless phone. The main base is in the house, and the extra handset is in the shop. It has 4 different rings (A low and high; B low and high). The "A" sound is very piercing, at least to my ears, and I always hear it, regardless of what machines are running.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
I use a Radio Shack amplified ringer. It's cheap and easy to install, and I can always hear it - even with the planer going and muffs on. The ring has a tone that is not startling when the shop is quiet, partly because the regular phone rings a second ahead of the amplified one, and this sort of warns you it is coming.
Thanks, all. Looks like my next stop is Radio Shack. For others, I strongly suggest you avoid the phone I got...it's the GE Workshop Phone:
View Image
For one, the sound quality is not good. Second, the ringer, while having several ring options, is not very loud. Third, the little flashing light (indicating a call) is difficult to see even if you're staring at the handset. Plus, they want a lot of money for it ($99) relative to its value. Lucky for me I paid $50.
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled