Winamp Rotary Phone Control

Control winamp with an old dial of a rotary phone

• Introduction
  • Part List
• Software
  • System Requirements
  • Setup
  • Check Port Assignment
  • Configuration
  • Actions
  • Exit Program
  • Uninstall
  • Known Issues

Introduction

As a result of first experiments with a rotary phone dialer (German) I wrote a small program that reads the signals of the dial to control Winamp.
This project is very easy and just perfect for beginners.

Part List

• dial from an old rotary phone
• COM connection cable

Simply remove one connector of the cable and connect it to the dial as shown on the circuit diagram. It is possible that your dial has a different pin assignment. In this case you can simply try out the different assignments. The COM interface is very robust.

Circuit Diagram

Software

System Requirements

This program is written with Visual Basic 6 and should work on every Windows PC with “Visual Basic Runtime” installed. The program supports Winamp 5.x and 2.x.

Setup

Execute the file to start the setup and follow the instructions. The setup should contain all files needed. However it is possible that there are some files missing on your computer. In most cases it helps if you download the missing file and place it in the windir/system32 directory.

Check Port Assignment

After installation connect the dial and start the program. You can choose the right COM-Port on the configuration tab. Certain dials might require an inverted CTS signal. Check this checkbox if your dial does not work in the normal setting. Re-initializing the connection might help if the dial does not respond anymore. If enabled the popup window shows your current action in the bottom right of your screen.
If you are not sure about the right pin assignment use the “Testing” tab. With a properly connected dial the CTS checkbox should be checked, the RI checkbox not. While using the dial the checkboxes should behave like in the animation below.

Configuration

On the “Assignment” tab you can assign each number of the dial to an action.
The options on the “Starting Winamp” tab enables you to start winamp with up to five different playlists. To make this work choose the winamp directory with the “Search Winamp” button first (e.g. C:\program files\winamp\winamp.exe). After assigning the up to five playlists you can start Winamp by dialling the numbers 1-5.

Push “Save and minimize” to save your settings. The program is ready to use now.

Actions

Beside the standard actions like play, stop or skip there are some special actions:

Change Volume

With this action you can change the volume fast and easily. First dial the number you have assigned this action to. Then dial the desired volume from 1-10 (0 is 10 in this case). Example: If you have assigned this action to 1 und you want to change the volume to 5 you have to dial 1, 5

Mute

Dial it once and the volume is set to 0. Next time the old volume is restored.

Choose Track Number

With this action you can call every track number from 01-99 out of your playlist. First dial the number you have assigned this action to. Then dial the first and the second digit of your desired track number. Example: If you have assigned this action to 1 und you want to call track 23 you have to dial 1, 2, 3

Choose Track Number (Fun Mode)

This action is quite similar to the last except for the fact that the two digits are multiplied. Example: If you have assigned this action to 1 track 49 is called with 1, 7, 7

Exit Program

You can exit the program by using the close button in the configuration menu or context menu of the tray icon.

Uninstall

Before removing the program delete the settings stored in the registry in the context menu of the tray icon. Now you can use the uninstall routine or just remove all files manually.

Known Issues

It is possible that Windows XP does not shutdown properly when the program is running. Unfortunately there is no solution for that problem, yet.

• Download the “Wählscheibe” program (English) (Freeware, 3,3MB)

If you are interested in further development feel free to ask me for the source code.

Thomas Bischoff made a really nice dial control. For further information visit his page at http://www.tbc4u.de/ (German).

Video (wmv, 0,7MB)

©Benedikt Wirmer Contact/Imprint - last change 09/18/2008