TT1 • 1
“TATTLE-TALE”
TELEPHONE
RECORDER KIT
Ramsey Electronics Model No. TT1
Ever want to tape that annoying or obscene phone call? Want
to find out who is making those long distance calls from your
phone? Or how about taping that call just to remember what
was said. The TT1 was designed with you in mind. Easy to
construct and use - an ideal first kit !
• Complete “hands off operation”! Turns on when you pick-up the
phone, turns off when you hang-up.
• No line noise to alert callers of taping!
• Can be connected to any modular phone jack or directly to
telephone line terminal block.
• Easily connected to any tape recorder with remote
and mike jacks!
• Play back the tape to our TG2 “Tone Grabber” to read out what
number was called!
• Superior performance!
• Very clean, low noise sound. Excellent audio quality.
• Unit runs on telephone line power-no need for batteries or external
power supplies.
• Complete and informative instructions guide you to a kit that works
the first time, every time - enhances resale value, too!
• Add our case set for a finished “Pro” look.
TT1 • 2
RAMSEY TRANSMITTER KITS
• FM100B Professional FM Stereo Transmitter
• FM25B Synthesized Stereo Transmitter
• AM1, AM25 AM Transmitters
• TV6 Television Transmitter
RAMSEY RECEIVER KITS
• FR1 FM Broadcast Receiver
• AR1 Aircraft Band Receiver
• SR2 Shortwave Receiver
• AA7 Active Antenna
• SC1 Shortwave Converter
RAMSEY HOBBY KITS
• SG7 Personal Speed Radar
• SS70A Speech Scrambler
• SP1 Speakerphone
• WCT20 Wizard Cable Tracer
• LABC1 Lead Acid Battery Charger
• ECG1 Heart Monitor
• LC1 Inductance-Capacitance Meter
RAMSEY AMATEUR RADIO KITS
• DDF1 Doppler Direction Finder
• HR Series HF All Mode Receivers
• QRP Series HF CW Transmitters
• CW7 CW Keyer
• CPO3 Code Practice Oscillator
• VLF1 Low Bander
• QRP Power Amplifiers
RAMSEY MINI-KITS
Many other kits are available for hobby, school, Scouts and just plain FUN. New
kits are always under development. Write or call for our free Ramsey catalog.
TT1 TELEPHONE RECORDER KIT INSTRUCTION MANUAL
Ramsey Electronic publication No. MTT1 Revision 1.2
First printing: March, 1994
COPYRIGHT
1994 by Ramsey Electronics, Inc. 590 Fishers Station Drive, Victor, New York
14564. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be copied or duplicated without the
written permission of Ramsey Electronics, Inc. Printed in the United States of America.
TT1 • 3
TATTLE-TALE TELEPHONE
RECORDER
Ramsey Publication No. MTT1
Price $5.00
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction to the TT1 .................. 4
How it works .................................. 4
Parts list ........................................ 7
Schematic diagram ....................... 8
TT1 Assembly instructions .......... 10
Parts Layout diagram .................. 12
Hook-up ....................................... 13
Troubleshooting ........................... 13
Ramsey kit warranty .................... 15
KIT ASSEMBLY
AND INSTRUCTION MANUAL FOR
RAMSEY ELECTRONICS, INC.
590 Fishers Station Drive
Victor, New York 14564
Phone (585) 924-4560
Fax (585) 924-4555
www.ramseykits.com
TT1 • 4
INTRODUCTION
Many times we wish to remember verbatim what was said during a phone
call. Whether it’s directions to grandma’s house or repair instructions for
some other manufacturers electronic kits, the TT1 will be your “silent
secretary”, recording calls for future playback.
The Ramsey TT1 “Tattle-tale” is a telephone recorder, which any person
may build and use in accordance with the laws of one’s state and local
authorities. For U.S. residents, it is illegal to tape someones telephone
conversation without informing all parties that the conversation is being
taped. So remember, when you pick up the phone and say hello also inform
the caller the conversation is being recorded.
The TT1’s capabilities
make it practical for many uses, but one should remember that this kit is
definitely not a toy. You may need to consult local regulations to provide you
with some information necessary to enjoy the TT1’s capabilities in
accordance with the law.
Typical uses for the TT1 include:
• Recording directions to a particular location.
• Varifing calls made from or to your telephone.
• Taping annoying or obscene calls.
• Or how about those business calls you don’t want to forget.
We think that you will be very pleased with the “Hands Off” operation,
audio quality, and ease of assembly of this build-it-yourself telephone
recorder. If you follow our assembly instructions carefully and use your
TT1 in accordance with applicable laws you’ll have a proud “reminder”
for all those phone conversations to come.
TT1 CIRCUIT OPERATING DESCRIPTION
Take a look at the schematic diagram as we walk through the circuit.
As you can see there is not much to the telephone recorder. For the purpose
of making this as easy as possible we will assume the “Power” switch is “on”
and the “Mode” switch is in the “record” position. We will discuss these
switches later.
STAND-BY MODE
When the phone receiver is “on hook” (hung up), the voltage that is applied
through the telephone line to J1 is about 48 volts. This voltage is supplied by
a room full of huge batteries at your local telephone company.
TT1 • 5
That’s why even when your local power goes out, your telephone still
works. Surprising the things you can learn from these kit manuals.
Well, back to the circuit. To preface the next section it should be understood
that a PNP transistor has an arrow on the emitter whch is pointing in
, where
as a NPN transistor has an arrow on it’s emitter which is pointing out
. Just as
the arrows are reversed, the operation of these two different types of
transistors is reversed. An NPN transistor is considered turned “on“ when the
voltage at it’s base is more than .7 volts greater than the emitter voltage. PNP
transistors are turned on when the emitter voltage is more than .7 volts greater
than the base voltage.
The voltage at J1 is applied, through a 10:1 voltage divider (R3 and R4 or R5
and R4 depending on how the jack is hooked up) to the base of Q4 turning Q4
on. The diodes (D2,3,4 and 5) are arranged so that even if the jack is hooked
up backward the unit will still work properly. When Q4 is turned on, the
collector (leg without the arrow) is pulled down. This voltage is also at the base
of Q2. This voltage is too low to turn Q2 on. So with Q2 turned off, it’s collector
is allowed to rise to the voltage coming in from the tape recorder remote jack at
P1 and through power switch S1. Typically this voltage is in the range of 3 to
18 volts. This voltage is also applied to the base of Q1 turning it off. With Q1
turned off, no voltage passes through it to the base of Q3 leaving Q3 turned off
(NPN remember?). To activate the tape recorder the remote line must be
pulled low, this is the purpose of Q3. With Q3 turned off the line to the tape
recorder remote jack is not affected and the tape recorder stays in stand-by
mode. Therefore the second part of the circuit (the audio section) to P2 does
nothing at this time. D1 is used to protect the TT1 circuitry from reverse voltage
or possible voltage spikes from a tape recorder motor. We will go through the
audio section when we discuss the next mode of operation (the “off-hook” or
“active” mode).
ACTIVE MODE
When the phone receiver is “off-hook” (picked-up), either by an answering
machine or by someone answering or making a call, this completes the
telephone circuit. When the circuit is completed the voltage now at J1 is in the
range of 3 to 8 volts. This reduction in line voltage is due to something called
“line loss”. This is when a circuit is completed and electrical current flows
through the wires in the circuit, the wire tends to act like a resistor. The longer
or smaller diameter the wire, the more the resistance. So now, with this smaller
voltage at J1, let’s run through the TT1 circuit. With 3 to 8 volts at J1,
then going through the 10:1 voltage divider (R3+R4 or R5+R4) by the time this
voltage gets to the base of Q4 the voltage is not enough to turn Q4 on. With
Q4 turned off the collector of Q4 and also the base of Q2 rise to the voltage
(through R1) to the voltage supplied by the tape recorder remote jack. This
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