PHONE IN USE CIRCUIT -------------------- I thought I would try to post the schematic. This circuit requires a separate 5 volt supply. The branch of the circuit that contains C1, C2 & R5, R6 is only used as a passive tap. (So you can record the line when the rest of the circuit says 'off hook'. It can be removed if not needed. If used, it can directly drive a microphone input to a portable recoreder. The Output of Q2 completes a path to ground when the phone lines gives an off hook reading. This can drive a relay (for a tape recorder motor) or an LED. Be sure to include a current limiting resistor if an LED is used. Also, D1 may be ommited if a non-inductive load is used (Relays and incandescent (sp?) lamps are inductive) The LED thingy like this that I made for my phone flashes nicely when the phone rings (at the 20..25 Hz ring freq), so I can turn the ringer off, and still get silent ring indication (a feature, not a bug) Well, its not exactly postscript(tm), but if you stand back and squint, you'll get the idea. R5 <----+^v+ +----------+--------* +6vdc (I use 5 volts) R6> | | D1_ < | R3> ^ ___ <----+ | < +--------> Out | | | R8 Q2|/ C1=C2= +-^v-+---| | | R1 BR1__ Q1|/ | |\v *----+------v^---| |--+--+---| R4> | | |~+|R7T | | | *-------+---v^---|__|--+--+-----+----+-----+--------* Ground |_ /// R1, R2 2.2M Reproduced (kind of) without R3, R4 470K permission. Copyright 1980 R5 470 TAB BOOKS Inc. R6 100 R7 100K R8 220K C1, C2 0.01uf, 100V C3 1.0 uf BR1 Full wave Bridge Rectifier, about 200 VDC (or higher) D1 HEP R0052 (I use 1N400*) Q1, Q1 HEP S9100 -or- NTE-172a