'Anti-smartphone' engineer builds own mobile phone with rotary dial from scratch

An astronomy instrumentation engineer has built her own mobile phone device with an old-school rotary dial from scratch as she hates the smartphone culture and texting people.

The 34-year-old space engineer, Justine Haupt, dislikes for having a smartphone with her, hence, she spent three years building the unique phone from scratch encased in an aquamarine case with a prominent aerial to ensure ample signal which also features a working rotary dial from an old Trimline telephone.

The device is four inches tall, three inches wide and one inch thick and operates on an AT&T prepaid sim card, Dailymail UK reported. It has a battery life of around 24-30 hours and the popularity of the phone has led to Mrs Haupt putting together a kit for others to build their own handset.

She said: ‘I didn’t want to sell it at first but everyone was clamouring and I got so many emails from people begging to buy a phone.

‘Finally someone suggested I should at least make a kit. I very quickly put together a new version of the circuit that would be a little more robust.

‘Now I’m looking at making a more inclusive kit that will come with everything you need. In a week, I’ve had around 30 orders.’

Justine Haupt at Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York is now selling a kit for others to build their own for $170 (£130).

However, the kits do not include the rotary dial, which Mrs Haupt sourced from an old Trimline telephone.

She claims to have never owned a smartphone or texted, despite loving technology.

Instead, she opted to manufacture her own device from scratch using her professional expertise. A long-held appreciation of rotary dials inspired her project.

The first prototype that was created was very basic with wires showing and was a mere proof-of-concept.

But the engineer improved and slimmed down the design until it was a neatly encased working device.

Justine used a 3D printer to create the cell phone case and added speed dialling buttons so she could swiftly call her husband, David Van Popering, 57, and her mother, Lorraine Labate, 60.