Hi all,
I’m hoping there might be some tech savvy folks around. I’d like to buy this old French telephone (photo attached). I’ve found an adapter that will allow me to connect it to my iPhone using bluetooth but now I need to connect it to power! It used the old French telephone socket that doesn’t exist in my flat so I’m trying to find a French cable to connect it to a regular power socket. I was thinking maybe a modem cable. Does anyone have any ideas? Advice v much appreciated. Thanks!
Why ?
Because it looks super retro cool and it’s probably fun to use. Similarly I miss my ‘futuristic’ 1947 Swedish Ericophon dial up landline that I used for years in the last decade of the last century…
…; in case you’re wondering, the dial’s in the base.
I’m slightly with the “why?”** crowd but given the way POTS phones work I would expect any Bluetooth adapter to power the phone.
**: But, then, have my VoIP system populated with analogue phones connected to an ATA so I also “get it” to a degree and the phone does look kinda neat.
This is exactly what I’ve bought but you still need to plug the phone into the socket!
Haha love it! We’re on the same page 
I’m so surprised by the why crowd. Look at that phone, she’s a thing of engineering beauty 
Lol why do you think?!
I like landlines and the now lost ritual of dialing friends - in those days you had to remember their phone numbers - more hassle, but good stuff… Some thing has been lost
You could cut off the French T conector and wire the phone lead to an RJ11 which will then plug into your gadget - the phone itself should be on pair 1 (blue/white)** on the central two pins (3+4), you will probably need to supply a ring signal on pin 2 or 5 as well.
Or, depending on the internal wiring if you want to keep the phone T connector pristine you could use/bodge one of these.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Solwise-ADAP-FRANCE-French-Telecom-adapter/dp/B000P0H4EA
**: actually blue with white stripes and white with blue stripes which are the modern colours - old style is, err, Googles, maybe green/red for the phone and black or yellow for the ring signal.
Yes, and I could understand using it with a VoIP service but an iPhone?? Really? That strikes me as doing something purely for the difficulty of achieving it (not that I wouldn’t ever do such a thing… 
)
Maybe it’s an attempt to reconnect with a time that was simpler and less depressing - although whatever is happening elsewhere it’s still pretty good for it to be springtime in the Aveyron
This is super helpful advice, thank you, appreciate it!
It’s pure nostalgia! I was born in the 80’s and am currently longing for a time when things were simpler and I could have long chats with my friends and feel the phone chord twisting between my fingers
Is the cable on the phone not unpluggable? Can you not simply replace it with a standard RJ11 cable? Much easier than soldering your own cable.
LOL… I was born in the 70s. There are some things I miss about the old telecoms systems but not the phones themselves 
Saying that, I’m a sucker for retro computers and videogames systems, so I can kinda see your point
Unlikely, for a phone of that age it would be hard wired, worth checking though.
Won’t need to be soldered, just crimped.
For a second I wondered if it was an RJ11 plugged into a T adapter anyway - i.e someone already did the work, but on closer inspection I think that is not the case - the red cable does look suspiciously modern though.
Hmmm. It’s got a real bell. Not looked at the gizmo @Gareth posted, but will it be able to ring the bell ? I think you need a minimum of 40VDC plus 40VAC superimposed to ring any phone, assuming its an EU approved phone. Most modern phones need bugger all AC current to ring, but if you have a physical bell I think it may struggle ?
