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KEEP IN BIND...that phone wiring, though versatile, is limited.

The secret circuit can he especially helpful on a spread-out country place. Run outdoor phone wire (250 feet for $35) along with the power lines to the barn. You can install a telephone using the R/G wire pair. Then, the Y/B pair can be used to connect an intercom or to send music out to liven up the chores or edify the livestock (Cows produce more milk and chickens lay more eggs with calming music going during the day, honest.). Closed-circuit TVs have dropped to several hundred dollars, and you can rig a camera through the secret circuit to survey the barnyard, watch over young lambs or piglets in a creep, or monitor a mare or doe about to give birth, without you having to run out to the barn every five minutes.

YOU CAN'T RUN THECOFFEE MAKER

...or any other 120-Volt AC housecurrentpowered device on 24 gauge wiring. House power needs wire of at least 12 gauge — that's six times larger in diameter than 24 gauge even if the gauge number is smaller by half. (The gauge measurement system harks to the 12th century and never did make much sense to anyone but thread- and wire-spinners, shotgun makers and railroad-track designers.) If you try connecting little phone wires to a wall socket you'll overload them with enough current that can melt the whole phone system before you blow a fuse or circuit-breaker. Worse, you could start a fire in the walls.If you are hi-tech handy, you can use the 24 gauge wiring to carry a low-power remotecontrol signal to throw, say, a little six-volt-battery-powered relay that actuates a 120VAC switch to turn on the coffee maker. But, don't even think about hooking into house current unless you know (in advance) precisely what you are doing.

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