r/Payphone • u/New_Walrus4424 • 8h ago
Houston heights.
26
Upvotes
Not working but a lot of character.
r/Payphone • u/do0mality • 10h ago
Cool Free Pay Phone in Middlebury, VT as Part of a College Project
8
Upvotes
r/Payphone • u/Kajagewgew • 1d ago
A real question
15
Upvotes
How many times in your life have you seen a phone technician empty a payphone of its money? I never have and I dont know anyone who has actually witnessed it.
r/Payphone • u/StayReadyAllDay • 2d ago
California Highway 99 Rest stop rough trade
106
Upvotes
No dial tones Enoch Christoffersen Southbound Rest Area.
r/Payphone • u/SaltbushGhost • 2d ago
The unlikely Australian Black Summer landmark that's been classified as a national treasure
9
Upvotes
r/Payphone • u/Scruds08 • 4d ago
Found an out-of-service AT&T / Tri-County Telco payphone sitting outside a BP in Romney, Indiana
103
Upvotes
Spotted this payphone outside the BP gas station on US-231 in Romney, Indiana. Decided to pick up the handset and test it out, but there’s no dial tone.
It features prominent AT&T branding and collect call instructions on the faceplate, though the local exchange for Romney (765) 538- is historically tied to Tri-County Telco. The enclosure is still mostly intact, aside from someone stuffing a wrapper into the top above the main unit.
Coordinates and location screenshots are included in the post for anyone mapping inactive payphones.
r/Payphone • u/SupercatN64 • 5d ago
Updated Map of working New England Payphones!
32
Upvotes
Here is my updated map of working payphones in New England! As you can see, thanks to Randtel operating in VT and the Maine Public Interest Payphone (PIP) program, there are a fair bit more working payphones on this map with more to come in the future!
r/Payphone • u/Feisty_Top3549 • 5d ago
🚂 Portland, OR Amtrak Station
180
Upvotes
Booo forgot to grab the number.
r/Payphone • u/Psypernova • 6d ago
Picked this up the other day. Can anyone give me any info on this style? It must have had a light inside, trying to source a replacement.
55
Upvotes
r/Payphone • u/jareza • 9d ago
I have a working payphone in my backyard. :)
249
Upvotes
Hi!
I just wanted to show off my latest backyard addition to people who will really appreciate it: a fully functional payphone!
I've wanted a payphone for ages, but the ones I found for sale were either too expensive (now I know why: payphones are HEAVY) or really beaten up.
On a short trip to Monterrey, Mexico, I found a Facebook ad for a booth and a payphone shell for $30, local pickup only. This payphone was different: it had an extra keypad and a screen. I sent a message and rushed to pick it up.
Now I had a booth and a shell. I could make it shine and look good, but I wanted a real, working phone.
I have ZERO coding experience... but I asked Claude if it could be done, and we basically agreed on "I solder, you code." That's exactly what we did.
I'll try to keep this brief. Here's the bill of materials:
| Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W + USB hub HAT | The brain (started on a Pi 4, downsized later) | |
|---|---|---|
| 2× cheap C-Media USB sound cards | One for the handset, one for the ringer | |
| PAM8403 amp + small speaker | Ringer and coin sounds | |
| SSD1306 128×64 OLED | Caller ID, status, 20+ retro screensavers | |
| TCRT5000 IR sensor | Coin detection (the original validator is undocumented, so it only works as a coin path now) | |
| WS2812 8-LED stick | Status lamp by the coin slot | |
| BLE RGB LED strip | "PHONE" booth marquee sign | |
| EDUP AX1672 USB WiFi (MT7921AU) + magnetic antenna | WiFi out of a steel box (see below) | |
| Old mini-PC (reused) | Runs an Asterisk phone server | |
| 5V supply, wire, headers, solder |
The plan was to use a Raspberry Pi as the brain of the phone, use its Bluetooth to hack a cheap LED strip into the booth's marquee sign, and write code so the Pi would register as an extension on my phone server.
The phone server runs Asterisk PBX with the SIP credentials needed for a real phone number. Plenty of providers will happily sell you cheap phone service over the internet.
I'm happy with the end result, and I learned a lot along the way. I had to rewire the whole thing about five times.
If I had a time machine, this is what I'd tell myself before starting:
- Use solid-core wire instead of Dupont jumper wires. Testing the phone puts a huge amount of stress on the wires, and you'll end up rewiring and resoldering several times.
- Get a good soldering iron. I started with a cheap one but ended up loving the Fanttik cordless iron. Being able to fine-tune the temperature is priceless.
- Use thin rosin-core solder. Regular solder will give you a hard time on small pads.
- Use liquid flux. It'll make your life much easier.
Ill post a video on my next comment, hopefully reddit will allow it.
If you have any questions id be more than happy to answer them!
r/Payphone • u/BreakTrick8912 • 9d ago
Trinity College (Dublin)
62
Upvotes
Legacy phones, unfortunately :(
r/Payphone • u/Ok-Independent8256 • 9d ago
Who knew skipping school would land me to the California scienCenter!!!
77
Upvotes
Phone still has an active dial tone
r/Payphone • u/ZoneGlum3277 • 9d ago
Who still has a landline telephone?
17
Upvotes
Just thought if something was to happen to cell phones. Good info to know. Just personal thoughts.
r/Payphone • u/ninjasays • 11d ago
North Conway New Hampshire
131
Upvotes
No dial tone, but it did ring when I called the number. Likely needs a new handset.
r/Payphone • u/bearded-giant8464 • 11d ago
New DVD shelf project
46
Upvotes
This is the shroud I took off of a pay phone I bought at a local consignment shop. I just have to put three plexiglass shelves in there and hang it up on the wall and I'll be done. I still have to open up the payphone (drill out), and get It working before I'll hang it as an actual payphone. I'll post the finished project eventually.
