So, this is an idea I've had for awhile, and is one that in all likelihood SHOULD work.
The concept is simple: Convert a photo to an SSTV signal, Make a phone call, and send it across to a receiving computer at the receiving end. Everything needed to make this work is available to even folk who don't have a lot of money, and any required software is free.

http://www.dxatlas.com/Download.asp (For SSTVtools) [Conversion software]
http://users.belgacom.net/hamradio/rxsstv.htm (For RX SSTV) [Decoding software]

The rest just requires a decent microphone on the decoding system, and a picture to convert.

SSTV stands for Slow Scan Television.
It's a type of sound signal, which is created from an image. annoying as all heck, but effective.
This has been used by NASA, and even CB hobbyists to transfer images for years.
Truthfully: I see no reason this will not work over the phone.

There are a number of SSTV signal types that can be used, each with their own speed, and resulting quality.
So far I have had the best luck with scottie2.

One cool thing to note with RX SSTV, is that it is capable of identifying an incoming image's signal type, within the first few seconds, by decoding a multi-tonal pattern at the start of the signal.

If the preliminary tests are successful, I will be running the final test from another location where I am house sitting, and actually sending over the phone to a receiving computer.
It could be up to a month (Likely sooner if I break off to return to civilization for a day) before I can show the actual results however, since I wont be able to access the decoded images until I return home.

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Edited by: The_Shadow, Feb 4th, 2017 @ 6:37 pm

This is a neat idea. I'm looking forward to seeing how the final product looks.

Also, I kind of enjoyed the old-school Web design on the sites you linked.

Good news! preliminary test was successful!
Transfer of some pre-encoded images from youtube, using the speaker on my tablet, and a microphone for the game rock band on the receiving computer, wireless transfer of an SSTV signal to the receiving computer was successful, and with amazing results.
Next test will be in a few days, when I am house sitting.

Okay, did another local test using my own choice of image.


In case the stamp at the bottom didn't give it away, this was decoded from a scottie 2 SSTV signal.
http://www.mediafire.com/file/tdhd6n8fhousr6g/scottie2test.mp3 THIS exact sound file. (Warning! lots of beeps, boops, and static, which is REALLY FREAKING LOUD!)

Because my tablet does not support stereo mix, this was transferred from the system speaker, to the microphone hole located on the opposite side of the unit, I also got a near identical result on the system I will be using as the receiving computer.

I'm feeling pretty good about this at this point.

Edit:
You can actually try this yourself if you like,
Just start up RX SSTV, and start the MP3 file in another program, or even on another system.
RX SSTV will detect the signal type, and decode it into the image above.
Stereo Mix will get you the best result, but the one shown above was acquired with a speaker, and a microphone.

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Edited by: The_Shadow, Feb 5th, 2017 @ 11:04 am

I listened to the audio recording. It almost sounds as if it's trying to remind me of a certain Mario game!

This is really cool. I wonder what other things you'll do with this technique.

Reminds me a bit of those AGDQ shenanigans where they sent audio and video data to a NES and SNES (respectively) using inputs from the controller.

Fascinating stuff, my man.

Resulting image pending, since it's several miles away, however:
According to my mom: Image came in very sharp, and clear.

Makes me wonder what else can be done over the phone...

This is the image that my mom had received.

The signal traveled through a cheap phone line for better part of 60 miles. I should say that the results are pretty dang good considering.

The image quality isn't bad - you can clearly tell that it's an SMB2 cartridge. It actually looks better than the heavily-JPG'd images that were commonplace during the dial-up era.

nite, you know what this reminds me of?

there was a nintendo ds game called bangai-o spirits which could use audio signals to send and receive custom levels. i'd like to see levels for that game transmitted in the same way as these images or something.