Digital Pager to Mechanical Bell

Thread Starter

mzucker

Joined Jun 10, 2015
4
I am a firefighter. We are dispatched via a digital pager, which activates when A remote communication center dispatches us. In our firehouse we also have a mechanical bell. This bell has not been used for approximately 20 to 30 years, however we would like to hook it up to the pager so that it makes a sound when the pager goes off. Does anybody know how I can accomplish this?
 

tcmtech

Joined Nov 4, 2013
2,867
I would use the power output that normally went to drive the buzzer motor to activate a relay that in turn triggers the bell solenoid. That is assuming that the bell ringer is electrically driven of course.
 

Thread Starter

mzucker

Joined Jun 10, 2015
4
I would use the power output that normally went to drive the buzzer motor to activate a relay that in turn triggers the bell solenoid. That is assuming that the bell ringer is electrically driven of course.
I am an amature to all of this, could you wake me through this? What I hardware I need, how to accomplish this?
 

AnalogKid

Joined Aug 1, 2013
10,987
A pager dedicated to this function, that is, not on someone's belt but sitting on a bench or in a box, can be opened up and connected to such that the electrical signal that drives its beeper or buzzer or vibrator is used to activate a driver circuit that energizes the bell. To do this, you need to know what signal is available from the pager, and what the power source is for the bell. For example, if the pager has a 3 V vibrator motor and the bell is powered by 110 VAC, then an optoisolator triac circuit might be all that is needed. It will take a lot more back-and-forth to work out the details, but this should be doable.

ak
 

Thread Starter

mzucker

Joined Jun 10, 2015
4
A pager dedicated to this function, that is, not on someone's belt but sitting on a bench or in a box, can be opened up and connected to such that the electrical signal that drives its beeper or buzzer or vibrator is used to activate a driver circuit that energizes the bell. To do this, you need to know what signal is available from the pager, and what the power source is for the bell. For example, if the pager has a 3 V vibrator motor and the bell is powered by 110 VAC, then an optoisolator triac circuit might be all that is needed. It will take a lot more back-and-forth to work out the details, but this should be doable.

ak
Can we take this offline, or is here ok? How do obtain this information?
 

AnalogKid

Joined Aug 1, 2013
10,987
Here is fine. A lot of smart people (and that M******* guy) read these threads, but pop up only when they have something to add.

Pager manufacturer/make/model/part number? And front and back photos. OBTW, we will absolutely positively wipe out the warranty.

Bell photos. If it has a control box, open it. If the building has an electrician who's been around for "approximately 20 to 30 years", drag him in on this. The first question is easy: 110 VAC or something else?

ak
 

Thread Starter

mzucker

Joined Jun 10, 2015
4
Here is fine. A lot of smart people (and that M******* guy) read these threads, but pop up only when they have something to add.

Pager manufacturer/make/model/part number? And front and back photos. OBTW, we will absolutely positively wipe out the warranty.

Bell photos. If it has a control box, open it. If the building has an electrician who's been around for "approximately 20 to 30 years", drag him in on this. The first question is easy: 110 VAC or something else?

ak
Unfortunatly the powers that be are not allowing me to take apart the pager. This obviously puts a damper on the project. If something changes, I'll be back!
 

AnalogKid

Joined Aug 1, 2013
10,987
If the pager beeps or flashes, we can work with that. If it vibrates quietly, that is a bit more tricky but solvable. There is a lot of cheap signal processing we can throw at this, maybe nothing more than a small microphone cartridge or phototransistor taped to it followed by an opamp.

ak
 
Top