in a Maplin email flyer I've just received:

Remote Control Via Mobile Phone
Only: £9.99
Save: £10.00
Code: N34BF
· Turn equipment on & off from your mobile phone
· Compatible with most mobile phones
· No phone charges incurred
· No need to open or modify your phone or connect with other devices
· Applications include turning lights on & off, activate a car alarm,
control the heating etc.


Any ideas how it works? Presumably it only works within direct receiving
range of the moby (i.e. you can't dial in to it from the other side of the
country)?

--
John Stumbles
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Just because you're paranoid doen't mean They're not out to get you.

"John Stumbles" ] wrote in message
...
in a Maplin email flyer I've just received:

Remote Control Via Mobile Phone
Only: £9.99
Save: £10.00
Code: N34BF
· Turn equipment on & off from your mobile phone
· Compatible with most mobile phones
· No phone charges incurred
· No need to open or modify your phone or connect with other devices
· Applications include turning lights on & off, activate a car alarm,
control the heating etc.


Any ideas how it works? Presumably it only works within direct receiving
range of the moby (i.e. you can't dial in to it from the other side of the
country)?

I cant seem to find it on www.maplin.co.uk, however, the ones I have seen
before rely on you ringing the house phone a number of times for a number of
rings.

So you may find it will actually work from any phone, they may have just
highlighted the mobile phone to make it sound better!

Sparks...

Sparks wrote:
I cant seem to find it on www.maplin.co.uk, however, the ones I have
seen before rely on you ringing the house phone a number of times for
a number of rings.
=20
So you may find it will actually work from any phone, they may have
just highlighted the mobile phone to make it sound better!
=20
Sparks...


From the Vellman site, http://www.velleman.be/ (search for MK160). It
appears to need to be in a dark place with a mobile handset. It detects =
the
screen light coming on when the phone is called...

It's discontinued by Maplin, anyway

John

John Weston wrote:
Sparks wrote:
I cant seem to find it on www.maplin.co.uk, however, the ones I have
seen before rely on you ringing the house phone a number of times for
a number of rings.

So you may find it will actually work from any phone, they may have
just highlighted the mobile phone to make it sound better!

Sparks...


From the Vellman site, http://www.velleman.be/ (search for MK160).
It appears to need to be in a dark place with a mobile handset. It
detects the screen light coming on when the phone is called...

It's discontinued by Maplin, anyway

John

What a stupid idea....
The tip about using your mobile as a bugging device is interesting though.
Set it to silent ring & autoanswer. Then leave in room hidden and call it up
.....

[X-posted to uk.telecom.mobile since I posted a repeat of this question
(retitled "using mobile to control appliances at home?") to that group as
well as to uk.d-i-y]

"John Weston" wrote in message
.. .

From the Vellman site, http://www.velleman.be/ (search for MK160). It
appears to need to be in a dark place with a mobile handset. It detects
the
screen light coming on when the phone is called...

Hmmm, sounds daft (as someone else commented) but I've actually got an old
Cellnet mobile (Philips Diga) on which the LCD has broken up so badly it's
unusable but it still works to receive calls (O2 haven't disconnected it
yet) and until recently I left it plugged in at home to give an out of band
channel to get through to SWMBO when she's talking on the landline[1].
Trouble with the Maplin/Velleman idea is (a) unless the number of the mobile
you use is completely unknown to anyone else it would be prone to spurious
operation by other people phoning its number (b) it's even lower bandwidth
and lower reliability than RFC1149 (Google :-)

What might be a viable alternative to the 'conventional' remote home control
system of having some box'o'trix (possibly a PC) answering your home phone
line and responding to DTMF signals would be an SMS to email gateway and
suitable script processing your email. Trouble is whilst everybody and their
dog offers email-to-SMS services there seem to be precious few if any
offering SMS to email.


It's discontinued by Maplin, anyway

Maybe that's why it's on offer (they just forgot to say 'clearance' :-)


[1] which is most of the time ;-)
(and when her own moby is in the boot of the car/under a pile of washing/run
down)

--
John Stumbles
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a town is never big enough to support one lawyer, but it can always support
two

John Stumbles wrote:

Trouble with the Maplin/Velleman idea is (a) unless the number of the mobile
you use is completely unknown to anyone else it would be prone to spurious
operation by other people phoning its number

Or its battery going flat - mine lights the screen & pops up a message
to let you know.

--
Scott

Where are we going and why am I in this handbasket?

"Scott M" wrote in message
...
John Stumbles wrote:

Trouble with the Maplin/Velleman idea is (a) unless the number of the
mobile
you use is completely unknown to anyone else it would be prone to
spurious
operation by other people phoning its number

Or its battery going flat - mine lights the screen & pops up a message
to let you know.

Or you get a spam text massage!

Sparks...