Two cups, one piece of string - instant telecomms network for kids (and childish adults <giggles>).
Great fun.

I propose a fun telephone handset that consists of a single paper cup tied to a string. The string is wound onto a sprung cylinder that will pull it taut and is attached to the regular phoneline via a small electronic transducer. This little box of tricks can interpret the vibrations on the string as sound and can reproduce the vibrations, given electronic input.

Speaking to your boss/mother-in-law/ <insert bad guy here> will never be the same again.
-- Jinbish, Dec 16 2002

Traditional String Phone http://www.motherca...dk/stringphone.html
Great Fun [Jinbish, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 17 2004]

Microphones http://www.howstuff...com/question309.htm
[Jinbish, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 17 2004]

Heh. Nice.

<rambling> A couple of years ago my sister asked for a walkie talkie set for Christmas, as over half of her phone bill was talking to the woman three doors away. I gift wrapped a large box containing two plastic cups and about 20 yards (18.29m) of string. Mother said she wished she'd had a camera to record my sister's face when she opened it!<rambling>
-- egbert, Dec 16 2002


"What's that? Speak up, dear! It sounds as though you're coming from the bottom of the ocean." Sheesh, I get that already. (Well, I did when my mother-in-law was alive, anyway.)

This sounds like a good project for a school science fair.
-- DrCurry, Dec 16 2002


of course it comes with its very own cats cradle when not in use (explanation on request)
-- po, Dec 16 2002


[DrCurry] : It does sound like a good project. I'm mulling over how to actually build it right now. Sadly, despite being an electronics graduate, an average school kid has more chance of getting it to work (and less chance of electrocuting people).
-- Jinbish, Dec 16 2002


Connect the earpiece of the phone to a massive "megabass car stereo" speaker and stick a large soundproofed paper cup over the speaker. Connect speakerpot to string and string to earpot. Bobsyeruncle.

Does anyone know how to soundproof a paper cup?
-- my face your, Dec 16 2002



random, halfbakery