We were dum-dums and didn't think to spec a door intercom unit on...

Posted 2025-09-14 | Back to blog index

We were dum-dums and didn't think to spec a door intercom unit on the second floor in our house

I went to Mercari and found a replacement unit with a wireless handset. It's from 2005 and cost me ¥5000 ($33)

The gamble was if this 20-year old device worked with the door button/camera installed with the brand-new unit in our house. Certainly it's all just composite NTSC but who knows how the ring/illumination works

It works just fine! Problem solved… maybe I can even sell the new unit…

A Panasonic VL-ME31 door intercom with the plastic film still on the display, held in front of a VL-MW102K that is only very slightly yellowed on the middle plastic piece. A Panasonic door intercom showing a video feed of outside A Panasonic VL-W600 handset which looks kind of like and old-school cordless phone. Some of the buttons are slightly yellowed. On the display it it is showing a picture of the outside.

A product of it being from 2005 is that they're *really* proud that it's _digital_, where it's not just plastered on the device and the charging station, but they labeled the main function button as "D". For Digital! (the camera is, of course, analog composite NTSC)

The (digital) wireless performance of the handset is really mind-blowing. Memories of dialup are returning here.

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