Hi Tech House Idea: Replacing Old Intercoms
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So my home has some really old intercoms that don't really work any longer. They are from the 1970s and came with the house. It's a neat idea, and I'd love to still have working intercoms, but what is there is just silly and not viable. So thinking about what I could replace these units with. I know that they make modern intercoms that even integrate satellite radio, but that's just silly.
So looking for some ideas from everyone. Having something that can talk to other rooms is great, being able to play music would be really awesome. I wish that Amazon Echo / Alexa had a solution for this, that would be super cool. If it is music, I'd want Internet radio, not regular radio. And if it could play audio from the home theater in other rooms, that would be nice because then you don't miss movie dialogue while stepping outside or using the rest room or cooking or whatever.
Who has ideas?
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Kindle fires with SIP clients. You can do prime music, Pandora, Spotify, or stream from a share.
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@stacksofplates said in Hi Tech House Idea: Replacing Old Intercoms:
Kindle fires with SIP clients. You can do prime music, Pandora, Spotify, or stream from a share.
That's not bad. And quite cheap.
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Would need to add little speakers to play music, but that's pretty easily.
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I had been wondering if making something with a Raspberry Pi (or equivalent) would make sense. Then not limited to what the Kindle Fire does, but the Kindle Fire gives you Alexa capabilities. Hmmm....
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@scottalanmiller said in Hi Tech House Idea: Replacing Old Intercoms:
Off subject... did you get the house based on the kitchen color having ML colors?
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@prcssupport ha, that's funny. Never thought about that. No, the house was painted like that about five years ago, coincidentally by one of the people that picked the ML colours.... now the question is... are these just the same colours that she always picks?
Just behind that wall is my home office... which is painted in NTG colours!
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@stacksofplates said in Hi Tech House Idea: Replacing Old Intercoms:
Kindle fires with SIP clients. You can do prime music, Pandora, Spotify, or stream from a share.
You could also use a Bluetooth speaker system in the room for sound
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@scottalanmiller said in Hi Tech House Idea: Replacing Old Intercoms:
@prcssupport ha, that's funny. Never thought about that. No, the house was painted like that about five years ago, coincidentally by one of the people that picked the ML colours.... now the question is... are these just the same colours that she always picks?
Just behind that wall is my home office... which is painted in NTG colours!
Sounds about right. I don't choose any paint unless it's my office. Lol even then, I get options to select from she that has already "approved!"
Leads me to wonder if I really had a choice. Lol
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@prcssupport said in Hi Tech House Idea: Replacing Old Intercoms:
@scottalanmiller said in Hi Tech House Idea: Replacing Old Intercoms:
@prcssupport ha, that's funny. Never thought about that. No, the house was painted like that about five years ago, coincidentally by one of the people that picked the ML colours.... now the question is... are these just the same colours that she always picks?
Just behind that wall is my home office... which is painted in NTG colours!
Sounds about right. I don't choose any paint unless it's my office. Lol even then, I get options to select from she that has already "approved!"
Leads me to wonder if I really had a choice. Lol
No, no you did not.
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@prcssupport said in Hi Tech House Idea: Replacing Old Intercoms:
@stacksofplates said in Hi Tech House Idea: Replacing Old Intercoms:
Kindle fires with SIP clients. You can do prime music, Pandora, Spotify, or stream from a share.
You could also use a Bluetooth speaker system in the room for sound
Could, I really want something wired in, though.
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@scottalanmiller said in Hi Tech House Idea: Replacing Old Intercoms:
@prcssupport said in Hi Tech House Idea: Replacing Old Intercoms:
@stacksofplates said in Hi Tech House Idea: Replacing Old Intercoms:
Kindle fires with SIP clients. You can do prime music, Pandora, Spotify, or stream from a share.
You could also use a Bluetooth speaker system in the room for sound
Could, I really want something wired in, though.
Yea that will help keep the bluesnarfing to a minimum
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@prcssupport said in Hi Tech House Idea: Replacing Old Intercoms:
@scottalanmiller said in Hi Tech House Idea: Replacing Old Intercoms:
@prcssupport said in Hi Tech House Idea: Replacing Old Intercoms:
@stacksofplates said in Hi Tech House Idea: Replacing Old Intercoms:
Kindle fires with SIP clients. You can do prime music, Pandora, Spotify, or stream from a share.
You could also use a Bluetooth speaker system in the room for sound
Could, I really want something wired in, though.
Yea that will help keep the bluesnarfing to a minimum
And I want it to be simple and integrated, not something that people have to always set up.
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@scottalanmiller said in Hi Tech House Idea: Replacing Old Intercoms:
Would need to add little speakers to play music, but that's pretty easily.
Ya I found some nice ones on Amazon for prety cheap.
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@scottalanmiller said in Hi Tech House Idea: Replacing Old Intercoms:
I had been wondering if making something with a Raspberry Pi (or equivalent) would make sense. Then not limited to what the Kindle Fire does, but the Kindle Fire gives you Alexa capabilities. Hmmm....
That could get expensive. If you want screens, Pi screens are kind of pricey.
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I love those intercoms. I mean, did people have weak voices in the 1970s?
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I'd go with a pine64 or rasp pi. Add in PoE and a speaker with a display and you're in good shape.
Trouble is it doesn't appear any of those intercoms are the same size or shape.
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@DustinB3403 said in Hi Tech House Idea: Replacing Old Intercoms:
I'd go with a pine64 or rasp pi. Add in PoE and a speaker with a display and you're in good shape.
Trouble is it doesn't appear any of those intercoms are the same size or shape.
Two or three form factors. The master one is huge and in the kitchen. Then each bedroom as the smaller one. Then there are ones outside in front and back of the house.
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@BRRABill said in Hi Tech House Idea: Replacing Old Intercoms:
I love those intercoms. I mean, did people have weak voices in the 1970s?
They also functioned as a central music system. The great thing about them is they discourage shouting.
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@stacksofplates said in Hi Tech House Idea: Replacing Old Intercoms:
@scottalanmiller said in Hi Tech House Idea: Replacing Old Intercoms:
I had been wondering if making something with a Raspberry Pi (or equivalent) would make sense. Then not limited to what the Kindle Fire does, but the Kindle Fire gives you Alexa capabilities. Hmmm....
That could get expensive. If you want screens, Pi screens are kind of pricey.
I've seen them as low as $16 and high as $150.
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@scottalanmiller said in Hi Tech House Idea: Replacing Old Intercoms:
@stacksofplates said in Hi Tech House Idea: Replacing Old Intercoms:
@scottalanmiller said in Hi Tech House Idea: Replacing Old Intercoms:
I had been wondering if making something with a Raspberry Pi (or equivalent) would make sense. Then not limited to what the Kindle Fire does, but the Kindle Fire gives you Alexa capabilities. Hmmm....
That could get expensive. If you want screens, Pi screens are kind of pricey.
I've seen them as low as $16 and high as $150.
I guess I mean pricey compared to what you get with a Kindle Fire. That's why I used the Kindle Fire's in our car vs screens on the Pi. You could buy 3 Kindle Fire's for the $150 screen. And they're touch screen with built in audio (need another speaker though) and apps. You would need a $30 Pi plus a screen (and a speaker anyway). And if you do the docking right, you could move them around to different rooms and easily replace them if one breaks.
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@stacksofplates said in Hi Tech House Idea: Replacing Old Intercoms:
@scottalanmiller said in Hi Tech House Idea: Replacing Old Intercoms:
@stacksofplates said in Hi Tech House Idea: Replacing Old Intercoms:
@scottalanmiller said in Hi Tech House Idea: Replacing Old Intercoms:
I had been wondering if making something with a Raspberry Pi (or equivalent) would make sense. Then not limited to what the Kindle Fire does, but the Kindle Fire gives you Alexa capabilities. Hmmm....
That could get expensive. If you want screens, Pi screens are kind of pricey.
I've seen them as low as $16 and high as $150.
I guess I mean pricey compared to what you get with a Kindle Fire. That's why I used the Kindle Fire's in our car vs screens on the Pi. You could buy 3 Kindle Fire's for the $150 screen. And they're touch screen with built in audio (need another speaker though) and apps. You would need a $30 Pi plus a screen (and a speaker anyway). And if you do the docking right, you could move them around to different rooms and easily replace them if one breaks.
That's very true. And if I got them on sale they are just $35!
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@scottalanmiller said in Hi Tech House Idea: Replacing Old Intercoms:
@stacksofplates said in Hi Tech House Idea: Replacing Old Intercoms:
@scottalanmiller said in Hi Tech House Idea: Replacing Old Intercoms:
@stacksofplates said in Hi Tech House Idea: Replacing Old Intercoms:
@scottalanmiller said in Hi Tech House Idea: Replacing Old Intercoms:
I had been wondering if making something with a Raspberry Pi (or equivalent) would make sense. Then not limited to what the Kindle Fire does, but the Kindle Fire gives you Alexa capabilities. Hmmm....
That could get expensive. If you want screens, Pi screens are kind of pricey.
I've seen them as low as $16 and high as $150.
I guess I mean pricey compared to what you get with a Kindle Fire. That's why I used the Kindle Fire's in our car vs screens on the Pi. You could buy 3 Kindle Fire's for the $150 screen. And they're touch screen with built in audio (need another speaker though) and apps. You would need a $30 Pi plus a screen (and a speaker anyway). And if you do the docking right, you could move them around to different rooms and easily replace them if one breaks.
That's very true. And if I got them on sale they are just $35!
Cheap flush mount speakers
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Even better with the Fires is that I can use old Fires for this after their batteries are mostly shot. As we have four fires already, and have to replace them regularly, this could be effectively free.
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I wonder if you could use something like the RPi - and then include things like temperature, glass break, and motion sensors.
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As far as pi screens go it depends on the type. I always buy capacitative and they are pricey. I would totally do that though. It would be great.
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@gjacobse said in Hi Tech House Idea: Replacing Old Intercoms:
I wonder if you could use something like the RPi - and then include things like temperature, glass break, and motion sensors.
That would be some cool stuff.
