From an old cell phone with your own hands. Electrical crafts Modeling design Simple GSM alarm system from an old mobile phone

“Everything is temporary. Love, art, planet Earth, you, me. Especially me." (99 Francs)

Nothing in this world lasts forever, and the life of gadgets is sometimes very fleeting. But if you love retro style and are frugal and resourceful by nature, then you can give them a second chance by transforming them into something useful and retro looking.

5. Turn an old mouse into a wireless one

Old mice aren't as comfortable or ergonomic as newer models, but they give you that comfortable feeling, like an old shirt that's so old that you sneak it around the house on the weekends when no one is looking, simply because you've had it for a long time and you like it. got used to it :) If you are still using the old one wired mouse, or kept it as an old battle friend, now is the time to convert it into a wireless Bluetooth mouse by simply replacing the insides of the old mouse with the insides of the new one.

Let’s say right away that this is a decision dictated solely by a feeling of nostalgia rather than by practical considerations. If your old mouse is too awkward to use on a weekly basis, you can use it to make a camera shutter.

4. Turn an analog TV into an information terminal

Most likely, you have already updated your entire fleet of televisions a long time ago, and the old CRT monitors are gathering dust in best case scenario, somewhere in the country. You can give the old TV new life, turning it into YBOX (homemade information screen showing, for example, the weather).

An alternative use is a retro photo frame, which can be placed in the living room. To turn your TV into a photo frame, you need to remove the insides of the TV and replace them with old sockets and power cord from the lamp, screw in a low power CFL lamp, insert a printed image on the screen, close it and turn on the “TV”.

Now you have a fun retro frame.

If you don't want to waste electricity, recycle your old monitor into the trash.

3. Make an aquarium out of an old TV or computer

A project from the “incredible but true” series marked “dangerous.” Do it at your own peril and risk. If you have old TV, computer or other unnecessary equipment with a large number space inside, you can turn it into an aquarium.

If you want to use Floppy drives for their intended purpose, you can put USB in them.

1. Making a VoIP phone from a rotary phone

If it is morally difficult for you to say goodbye to your old rotary phone, you can turn it into a fun computer headset for use with Google Voice, Skype, or any other VoIP solution.

If you have several unnecessary cordless phones(not really old ones), then you can make good walkie-talkie radios out of them.

I hope this collection of ideas for transforming old gadgets has inspired you. Following the links you will see visual guides on how to do this or that thing, on English. All guides have good visualizations of each of the conversion stages.

Good evening, dear friends! Another weekend has arrived, which means you can relax or make something out of a pile of used household appliances. I'm sitting in social network On VKontakte, I’m flipping through the page, but my thoughts are completely different, I’m thinking about what useful things can be made. And then suddenly my gaze fell on my cell phone. I remembered that I had an old cell phone lying around in my bins that worked, but the model was outdated and there was no longer a need for it. Without thinking for a long time, I came up with an idea to make an alarm out of it via a GSM channel. So let's get started.

First you need to find an old cell phone that you don’t mind taking apart and “spoiling” a little. I personally had the Siemens S65 model on hand. The old, good, reliable model was, in principle, and remains so now :-) Your phone should have a speed dialing function (well, when, for example, you press key 2, your saved subscriber under this key is called).

I disassembled it without any problems, since I had a set of these screwdrivers for a long time. We will need a green keyboard board.

This is what it looks like from the side where the buttons are pressed. We find key 2 (personally, you can use any of the numbers) and remove the round metal plate on it.

When the metal plate is removed, your result should look like mine. These are the contacts that closed when key number 2 was pressed.

Now we take a soldering iron and carefully solder two wires there, one wire to the central point, and a second wire to the ring. Take a thin wire, otherwise the case will not close later. Now we put everything back in place, all parts of the phone should be where they were before disassembling the phone.

That's it, we have the phone assembled, but two wires are sticking out, we clean them out. Now we take an additional SIM card and install it in this phone. I want to say that if the SIM card is new, it will be even better, since no one will call this number and unnecessary messages will also not come (in particular, any advertisements from short numbers). After that, we save your personal number under key 2, like speed dial, and in yours personal phone the number of this SIM card that you inserted into this upgraded phone with wiring, for example under the name “Machine Security”. On the same phone, you can turn off the screen backlight, be sure to turn off vibration and ringing. That's it, now you close the two wires and wait for a call to come to your phone from the alarm system of this phone. Thus, you can listen to what is happening where this upgraded phone is installed, for example, the conversation of robbers. I have a reed switch at the end of the wires (this is a glass tube, there are contacts inside it, the contacts are activated when a magnet is brought to it). They are available in radio stores, but instead of them, you can install a regular microswitch with open contacts. Their number is not limited; you can install as many switches as there are protected doors, for example in a car or in a country house.
Well, I forgot to say, if the phone is very old, then always leave it on charge, this will give you more guarantee that the battery will not run out. Well, that's all I wanted to tell you today. This article will be improved and become more complicated, so to begin with, I started with something simple, so that even those who have never picked up a soldering iron, much less household appliances I didn't understand. Collect, try, experiment, and share what you get out of it :-) See you again, Dear friends! Thank you for your attention!
P.S. I even made a short video of how it works.

For the Galaxy S4 and S4 mini, Samsung developers came up with a special feature: these phones are equipped with an infrared port.

Using the included WatchOn app (or the next generation Peel Smart Remote), Galaxy smartphone can be turned into a powerful system remote control, even if the phone has already been replaced by a next generation model. In addition, "older" phones that are capable of controlling other devices via infrared are also HTC One, LG G2 and LG G Flex.

Labor intensity: small; costs: no

2 The second life of a smartphone as a webcam

Thanks to CCTV cameras with the ability remote access It's no longer a problem to see what's happening at home, even when you're away.

However, it is not at all necessary to rely on expensive special solutions: An old smartphone is enough, which can be used as a camera with network management. To do this, you only need the appropriate application, a large number of which are available on the market. Using the example of a free IP WebCam for Android, we will show how it works.

1. Download the app from Google Play Market and launch it on your smartphone. In the Video Settings section, first enable medium resolution and quality settings. In addition, you can choose front or rear camera, as well as horizontal or vertical image format. It is also possible to control power consumption, smartphone microphones and enable camera sensors that detect movement and noise.

2. In the “Connection Settings” item, you can optionally set a login and password, and also change the data transfer port. 3. Data transfer begins with the “Start” command. The phone now displays the IP address, using which you can monitor the data flow in the browser and control the camera. If you want to use the webcam outside home network, you will need free account at the service cloud storage Ivideon.

Labor intensity: average; costs: no

3 Smartphone as an access point

The smartphone can transmit its 4G or 3G connection via wireless network tablet or laptop.

Relatively inexpensive tariffs, offered by providers, are exclusively suitable for organizing backup access to the Network.

Even abroad, you can enjoy inexpensive Internet using the services of local providers. Just activate the “Modem mode”, “Access point” or “ Sharing to the Internet."

4 More security in banking transactions

Online banking via mobile applications may be unsafe under certain circumstances, especially when running on older smartphones running Android control and the use of one-time passwords in SMS messages (mTAN codes).

Thus, it is highly undesirable to receive SMS with transaction numbers on the same device on which the banking application is running. To do this, you don’t even need a smartphone, since even a used mobile phone can provide the necessary services. To do this, simply install a prepaid SIM card in your phone and use it exclusively to receive mTAN codes.

Labor intensity: small; costs: only payment for activating the prepaid card

5 Free AirPlay upgrade

AirPlay technology makes it possible wireless transmission audio and video signals on the home network and is built into many devices in the Apple world. Even a decommissioned Android smartphone instantly turns into an AirPlay receiver to which you can send music from compatible devices.

Any stereo device can be made AirPlay-compatible by simply connecting your smartphone to it using a Mini-Jack plug and selecting AUX input or Line-in. For software you will need the AirBubble application, available in Play Store(60 rubles).

If you want to stream music wirelessly via iTunes or an iOS smartphone to your stereo, simply select your Android smartphone from the list of devices.

Labor intensity: average; costs: 60 rub.

6 The first iPad as a media player

The first iPad, released in 2010, was a product that... Apple company, due to its inflexible update policy, made it useless. Due to the small amount of RAM latest version iOS for the tablet has become version 5.1.1.

However, you can still use the "vintage" iPad as a media player. To do this, download images, music and video files to your tablet using iTunes programs. To play these files it is enough standard applications Apple.

Labor intensity: low, costs: no

7 Proper phone storage for emergency calls

Those who want to be on the safe side keep a spare phone just in case. A very unpleasant surprise in such a case would be a dead battery. backup device. After all, as you know, batteries “age” not only with each charge - they also lose charge when idle.

Our advice: charge your mobile phone battery to about 80% and store it separately from the smartphone in the refrigerator, protected from condensation. At a temperature of 4–10 °C, self-discharge slows down. Infrequently used batteries can also be stored in this way, e.g. digital camera or AA or AAA batteries.

Labor intensity: low, costs: no

8 The tablet becomes a second TV

Even if old tablet can't compete with newer devices in terms of performance or storage capacity, you can still use it as a second TV. To do this, you will need to install one of the free applications on it that plays TV programs.

However, such applications show short advertisements from time to time. Without advertising and even without an Internet connection, you can enjoy watching TV programs using a DVB-T2 TV tuner (about 2,500 rubles), which connects to the USB port of the tablet. Of course, the choice of programs via a DVB-T2 tuner is much smaller and universal reception is not guaranteed.

Labor intensity: average; costs: no

9 New tasks for a mobile phone in a car

Thanks to the firmly attached second smartphone, you can bring it into the car useful features and purposefully add efficiency to the main gadget. Universal mounts for installation in the windshield area are available at a price starting from 400 rubles. Best models allow you to use the phone in horizontal and vertical formats.

> Navigation: online navigation applications such as Google Maps, make sense only if the mobile fixed tariff implies a sufficient volume of traffic. Microsoft Smartphones and Nokia already offer functional and detailed navigation apps(like Here), offline alternatives are also available for Android and iOS. For example, the free applications Yandex.Navigator, Yandex.Maps and 2GIS offer excellent maps of Russia.

> Free apps, such as DailyRoads Voyager, record traffic data and save it to the smartphone's memory.

Photo: manufacturing companies

Mobile phones in our world have long become not just a means of communication, but an image accessory with a large set of other interesting features. Every year the choice of mobile phones becomes more and more, their capabilities are improved, and new models are produced. People change them, trying to keep up with innovations. And old mobile phones lie idle at home. In order not to throw them away, let's see what can be done from an old mobile phone.

Using an old mobile phone: ideas

First of all, don’t rush to turn your old mobile phone into something unique and interesting. You may be able to sell it quite profitably. By going to a store that sells used phones, you won’t earn as much money as if you sold it through advertisements. The fact is that the store itself sets the price of your old mobile phone, and gives you only a small part after the sale.

But if your old mobile is very dear to you or it doesn’t make sense to sell it, then look at what you can make from an old mobile...

Give a mobile phone to your grandmother. Learning to use it will not be difficult if it is old and not equipped with a huge number of functions.
Use your mobile phone for your second SIM card.
Make a puzzle. Take your old cell phone apart and try to put it back together when you get bored.
Start collecting a collection of old mobile phones; in a couple of decades they will become a rarity.
If the phone is not dear to you, and there is no point in selling it for pennies, then just arrange a competition with your friends to see who can throw it the furthest. Somewhere a similar competition was held on a large scale.
Make yourself a massager. Turn on vibration mode and go!
Someone is making bugs out of mobile phones.
Leaving the cell phone cover, make a cigarette case.

I would also like to tell you about the unique things that were made from an old mobile phone. Perhaps someone would like to repeat this invention.

One chemistry professor to get students to educational process, made a spectrometer out of an old mobile phone. Using it, you can analyze the spectrum and determine the properties of an object. If we talk about the everyday use of a spectrometer, then it can be used to measure the amount of protein in grain in meat or iron in the blood, for example. Anyone can make the device, since the professor does not keep the method a secret.

Parents with a rich imagination make toy cars for their children from old mobile phones. The display with buttons faces the floor, wheels are attached to it, and the top of the machine is constructed from scrap materials. And modern children are so advanced that an old mobile phone can be given to them for use (as part of a game, of course, if the child is small).

Articles and Lifehacks

The modern consumer changes mobile devices so often that sometimes, instead of the problem of repair, he is faced with the question of disposing of an outdated device. Our article will tell you about what can be done from a broken phone- provided that it has not failed completely.

What can you make from a broken phone?

If the user has at least basic knowledge in the field of microelectronics, he will be able to use many useful devices that will be activated by a remote signal.

For example, you can make a video surveillance device from an old phone, as well as a regular bug. In addition, he will be able to make an alarm (both simple and anti-theft), a GPS navigator or video recorder for a car, or a barcode scanner. In most cases, you want the built-in camera and speaker to remain operational. In addition, additional software. You can find a suitable program online. All this will give the old phone a second life.

It is noteworthy that from a mobile device you can even make charger, which will be used as a means of recharging the battery of another smartphone. None additional programs and you won’t need any equipment, it will work much longer.

If we want to make a video surveillance device, availability working chamber 3-16 megapixels is required. In this case, you will also need a large memory card. A suitable program download from the Internet and install it on a PC, after which they connect the phone with the recorded video to the computer via a USB cable and watch the recording.

In a similar way, you can use your mobile device as a web camera, which is also quite convenient. If we need a long USB cable for any purpose, it can be ordered online with a designation such as high-speed.

We hope the reader now has a basic idea of what can be done from a broken phone. Let's summarize.

What else can we make from a broken phone? Our verdict

Using additional equipment, we will be able to make no less useful devices from our device. For example, you can make a metal detector from a radio and a telephone. The principle of its operation is that mobile phone will create the desired wave, influencing the radio receiver, and the metal will distort frequency sounds. The idea of turning your phone into an anti-theft device looks no less useful.

So, our mobile device can become a remote control, a battery, a tracking device, an additional part for assembling a flashlight and much more. If desired, it can even be used to emulate old game consoles. In other words, if we are patient, we will certainly find a worthy use for our old phone.