DIY celphone - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: cloudscapes
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 29, 2013, 01:08:18 am
content: Came across this today and thought it was really interesting! I'm not one to use apps or games much on a phone, it's a bit tempting. And I'm a sucker for the wood/retro/steampunkish look, especially the led display version!http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/28/5154536/how-to-build-your-own-cellphone-mit-media-lab-david-mellisAm in no way affiliated with, etc.

author: amyk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 29, 2013, 12:04:44 pm
content: $200 forthat!?If labour was included I would think it's a reasonable cost, but the fact that you can already get a very full-featured Android smartphone for that price, ora basic phone that somehow has more features for almost 1/20th, makes me wonder what they were doing...Oh, that's right, Arduino... where people will have no qualms paying $11.83 for aspeaker...

author: timb
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 29, 2013, 01:12:39 pm
content: First off, the speaker is$6.27, not $11.83 as the BOM shows. Second, that speaker you linked is 20x more expensive than the price in the BOM... $268.00 > $11.83!When you build one-offs and buy parts from Digikey, you pay a lot more than if you bought them in bulk. You can get stuff a lot cheaper out of China from Ali Express and eBay, but it takes two months for them to arrive which is basically useless when working on a prototype. (Unless you have tons of patience!)Anyway, it's a neat project and I'm glad the code is out there! I have a SEEED Studio GSM shield ($5, Radio Shack clearance) that I might use for something like this. Maybe I can find an old bag phone and "modernize" it!

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 29, 2013, 01:12:55 pm
content: lolI think Fred Flintstone might buy one.

author: IanJ
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 29, 2013, 01:39:16 pm
content: Quote from: amyk on November 29, 2013, 12:04:44 pmHaven't you ever heard of the "just because" principle?............it's not always about the money. Most of my home projects are commercial suicide........but MUCH better fun than handing over my hard earned at the local store.Ian.

author: cloudscapes
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 29, 2013, 05:23:02 pm
content: Yeah the BOM is like half the price if you bypass arduino stuff, for sure. I posted this anyway because I thought it was interesting.I'm really tempted to try this, though with my own firmware, address book, and maybe special locking mechanism (for kicks mainly).The datasheet for the GSM module is pretty overwhelming, though. I can see where an arduino library becomes handy in this case.

author: xrunner
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 29, 2013, 05:51:23 pm
content: What carrier would activate that on their system? I think they would laugh you out of the store.

author: strangelovemd12
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 29, 2013, 06:55:33 pm
content: Quote from: xrunner on November 29, 2013, 05:51:23 pmBoost Mobile would let you on. They think they're hip or something.

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 29, 2013, 07:16:37 pm
content: If it is GSM you just put a SIM in it and turn it on. None of this funny "Beg us on hands and knees SLAVE to give you any service" CDMA crud, just walk into almost any shop and buy a SIM for a dime. Choose the carrier out of the 4 real or the 2 virtual carriers, depending on how much you want to pay per minute or per second and away you go.

author: timb
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 29, 2013, 07:53:13 pm
content: Quote from: xrunner on November 29, 2013, 05:51:23 pmHipster Mobile

author: amyk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 30, 2013, 12:00:19 pm
content: Quote from: IanJ on November 29, 2013, 01:39:16 pmMy point isn't that they wanted to DIY a phone, but that they didn't seem to think much about cost reduction... then again, I'm probably biased from exposure to Chinese electronics prices. But ARM MCUs are cheap, and for the amount of computing power you get, you could basically make a DIY Android smartphone for not much more.