What is this device?

[Squirrel322]

Found this thing on a high school math teacher’s Desk. It wasn’t connected to anything but has a single jack in it for a telephone wire. The only wire connected to it ends with a short handle with a red button on top. There are no doors, openings or battery compartments.

 

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[DCMatt]

I worked for Radio Shack back in the 80's. We sold all sorts of funky phone devices but I don't remember anything like that.

Maybe a telemarketer revenge device? Plug that sucker in!

 

[Doubter in MD]

When you say you "found it" what do you mean by that exactly? Were/are you able to ask the math teacher what it is or has that ship sailed?

Maybe a phone phreaking device but not like any I've ever seen.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

The sticker on top is a Beechwood-Casey 1" self-adhesive target dot.

And it's an RJ11 plug (telephone). I believe they supply 50 volts DC +/- via the telephone lines, so it's an available power source.

But I'm at a loss for what the device actually might be. Plug it in and press the button. Maybe it will take you to an alternative dimension?

 

[HuntinDog]

Charlie
Maybe that's why the Math Teacher wasn't around to ask....

 

[HuntinDog]

Maybe peel the felt off the bottom...
Maybe there is a manufacturer or model number

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

OK. Set up a camera across the room before you activate that pan-dimensional flux capacitor vortex generator. I wanna see it work!

 

[DizzyDigger]

Looks to me like a one-off, custom device. The center item with the
plastic vanes looks like a bathroom sink stopper, and the RJ11 connector
space appears to have been cut out with the wrong tool.

No idea what it might do. Is that push button switch on/off,
or a momentary?

 

[Hillbilly Prince]

This could be an old hacking device for making free phone calls.

 

[Joe-Dirt]

It’s a remote coffee grinder, you just call the number and BAM!!! Ground coffee Ret-Ta-Go

 

[Squirrel322]

When you say you "found it" what do you mean by that exactly? Were/are you able to ask the math teacher what it is or has that ship sailed?

Maybe a phone phreaking device but not like any I've ever seen.

I was substituting in their classroom. It was just sitting in the desk


My theory is a game show buzzer thing. I suspect the bathroom plunger thing lights up (and would stay lit) when button was pressed. It was make sense with the telephone jack being both a power source and able to send receive a signal.

I don’t know the teacher but maybe someday I will get a change to ask about it.

 

[SanMan]

It's a birth control device.

But I'm not sure how it works.

 

[Hillbilly Prince]

Plug into a jack and press the button? Be sure you set up a cam in case you get lit up or something

 

[Hillbilly Prince]

If the teacher is female it is possible this was a device to keep her entertained during the day. Just plug it in and press button repeatedly

 

[ARC]

You plug your phone into that and after a bottle of rum you can talk to God.

 

[ticndig]

It's a meat smoker. you just hang your sausage in it and let it puff away until the last bell of the day.

 

[Gare]

It could be a Device that shows when the phone is ringing so DEAF PEOPLE can answer it LOL

 

[Madmox]

The sticker on top is a Beechwood-Casey 1" self-adhesive target dot.

And it's an RJ11 plug (telephone). I believe they supply 50 volts DC +/- via the telephone lines, so it's an available power source.

But I'm at a loss for what the device actually might be. Plug it in and press the button. Maybe it will take you to an alternative dimension?

48-52 VDC while ringing. No amperage to speak of. Though back when I was a telephony tech I got a little zap several times working in cross connect boxes when people were calling out. I like the idea of an alternative dimension. I don’t see any crystals so that rules out Time travel

 

[Anduril]

In the United States, ANYTHING that is intended to be plugged into a jack connected to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) MUST, by law, be permanently marked with certain technical information required under FCC Rules Part-68. And it is supposed to be visible without having to peel off things like felt.

This thing almost looks homemade.
But, check again and see if you find the required Part-68 labeling, or the remnants thereof.

 

[Squirrel322]

If it’s quiz show buzzer it wouldn’t have needed to be connected to a telephone network.

I imagine when you press the button it turns the light on and it remains on until someone behind the scenes resets it.

The pie-piece-dimple on the top makes me wonder if it is a one off piece like has been suggested. It’s ramp shaped with one edge deeper and the leveling off at the surface. Like something might slip in there and catch on the deeper edge. The pie-piece-dimple reminds me of something you would see on the bottom of a plastic bottle or cup.