Bluetooth beaten to death already, still have questions....

[blu_fuz]

We have had a handful of members do some great Bluetooth mods. Most/all are by adding some kind of audio connection to the RCA inputs and connect a rechargeable dongle/removable dongle that captures audio signals.


I want to hardwire a 12v Bluetooth receiver into a boombox for my wife, and possibly do the same to a few other of my boxes.

I have a rechargeable Bluetooth receiver that you plug into the line-in jacks but I'm not happy with it. Constantly worrying about it being charged, dead, all the cables and things you need to take along with it, etc.... It's more aggravation than it's worth.


I want to turn on a boombox, Bluetooth receiver turns on, connect via phone/ipod, and rock on.


Has anyone added a hardwired 12v Bluetooth receiver in their boxes?

Maybe something like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Bluetooth-Boat-Stereo-Receiver-Adaptor-Converter-Receiver-Dongle/dp/B00JAPZRH2

Tap solder switched power, solder ground, cut off the rca cable ends and solder those to the line-in board.





Thoughts?

 

[howie1976]

This is way above my technical ability at the moment but I'm really intrigued by the possibility of your idea. I believe Chris (Lasonic TRC-920) also thought of doing something like this. I would really like to hear his thoughts on this.

I'll sit back now and watch and learn from my boombox forefathers!

 

[blu_fuz]

Yes, Chris has done a handful of quick connect Bluetooth mods. His all use the rechargeable dongle type that a 3.5mm cord plugs into as well as a mini USB for charging the receiver.

He has motivated me to take it a step further and make it a permanent fixture of the boombox, but could also be removed if you ever sell the boombox.

https://boomboxery.com/forum/index.php/topic/11634-another-blu-tooth-mod-no-cutting/?p=145224

https://boomboxery.com/forum/index.php/topic/14853-blu-tooth-modding-my-collection-next/?p=184604

 

[Lasonic TRC-920]

I haven't seen this one before.

I never hardwired the blue tooth into the radio, because I like to move it from radio to radio. But this could be cool.

Just cut off the RCA's and solder them to the inside of the radio where the RCA's attach to the amp board and then attach the power wires.

But $40

The Bluetooth receiver I use is only $13.00. You could use an old cell phone charging cable and a $0.99 car charger to build the same thing and permanently mount it in a radio.

The receiver I use lasts all day on one charge.

 

[Lasonic TRC-920]

Damn, now they are down to $11.94 shipped!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bluetooth-Wireless-Music-Audio-Receiver-3-0-Stereo-for-Car-AUX-Home-Speaker-NEW-/390974340819?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5b07e2fed3

 

[blu_fuz]

I gave it an honest shot on 2 different Bluetooth rechargeable receivers. Hard wiring in the 3.5mm cord to your line-in is great and keeps the tethered cords down to a minimum. Taking the receiver out and using it in all your boomers is also great.

What makes it not so great is the dead battery (both of mine died for good in less than a year and a half), unknown charged status, making sure you remember it, etc...

I want it to feel like an integrated part of the unit so I think the best bang for me will be the hardwired switched 12v option that is on/off with the power button of the boombox.


I would also consider tapping the 12v power maybe from the cassette deck only keep the Bluetooth off if I don't want to use it while the boombox is still powered on to use the radio or a standard RCA line-in cord tethered device like my computer at work. I use the tape decks the least, if any at all, so this could be a good way for me to go.

 

[howie1976]

The Bluetooth receiver I use is only $13.00. You could use an old cell phone charging cable and a $0.99 car charger to build the same thing and permanently mount it in a radio.

The receiver I use lasts all day on one charge.

What Bluetooth receiver do you use?

 

[Beosystem10]

That battery issue is exactly why I went for the Amazon Audio device that I use, it's this model: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00JJRLYNC?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00

It has no internal battery and uses either a (supplied) mains wall wart when it's in use as I find that its sound quality, when used to send FLAC files from my laptop to the B&O Century to transcribe them to tape, is simply amazing, but that's A2DP for you, the protocol is intended for high quality audio and it delivers brilliantly.
But suppose I decided to buy one for every device that I use this way, I could then mount it inside a boombox and supply the BT receiver from the switch on the box, it comes with a lead that goes 1/8" stereo earplug jack to 2 x RCA plugs, but at the device end, it has a 1/8" socket, so other leads could as easily be connected, including a soldered connection from the input selector. This could be the line in as I wouldn't be using an input and the BT at the same time.
This receiver may be budget oriented, but its build is excellent. Whatever receiver you go for, make sure it works over A2DP as some of the cheaper ones are designed more for car phone connections and don't have the dynamic range to do music properly.

This BT tech has never been cheaper or better, IMHO, in fact it's so good that I'm beginning to question my sanity for rebuilding the CD player in the Century, which can match typical FLAC quality but won't better it. What price originality, eh?

Sorry Howie, I was just pulling the trigger to post as your reply came through, didn't mean to interrupt.

 

[howie1976]

I gave it an honest shot on 2 different Bluetooth rechargeable receivers. Hard wiring in the 3.5mm cord to your line-in is great and keeps the tethered cords down to a minimum. Taking the receiver out and using it in all your boomers is also great.

What makes it not so great is the dead battery (both of mine died for good in less than a year and a half), unknown charged status, making sure you remember it, etc...

I want it to feel like an integrated part of the unit so I think the best bang for me will be the hardwired switched 12v option that is on/off with the power button of the boombox.

What your trying to do would be awesome! I wish you the best of luck. Don't except failure. It can be done and you will. And once you do you'll be known as the father of Bluetooth 80's Boomboxes! Someone has got to be the first. Might as well be you!😃

 

[blu_fuz]

Thanks Howie, I'm just getting on the Bluetooth bandwagon now! I wouldn't consider myself the first or the best, but as one that contributed to the mass of information that has been shared already.

I will do this mod, I just need to find the BT brand I want and go with it. Beosystems setup is cheaper and could probably be modified to work mounted permanently inside a boombox.

 

[jimmyjimmy19702010]

The issue I see you running into is the quality of the received signal with the receiver positioned inside a Boombox.

 

[blu_fuz]

The issue I see you running into is the quality of the received signal with the receiver positioned inside a Boombox.

The actual audio quality, or the signal distance?

 

[Beosystem10]

Unless you plan to use it inside a boombox with faulty mains smoothing and/or filter caps, it would be fine. When I'm using it with the Century, the receiver sits down behind the back of the box, between the left woofer and the rather large mains power supply that has to be wide as it can't be thick. It also fits behind the TV when I use it on there and in the case of the PC-5 or PC-11, the BT receiver goes inside the back cover so is completely hidden and is then feeds its signal to any suitable inputs on the back of the box itself which in the cases of both PC5 and PC11 gives me a choice of two pair of RCAs or a five pin DIN. Both JVCs and my Technics can also supply the DC for the BT receiver which is useful as it avoids having yet another mains lead running across the floor.

With A2DP, the signal travels anything up to 20 yards according to the manual and I've used it to maybe half of that distance with no measurable loss of reception quality, though the audio quality depends more on the capability of the connected device than the receiver with my laptop having almost three times the signal strength of my HOX phone. I can't see any reason for needing a greater distance between receiver and source though, because even a cheaper one of these things will receive from every room of an average home but how often would you want to be sending the music from a different room from the one where the boombox is situated?

 

[caution]

I will be doing this next. I was actually intending on installing the Miccus Mini-Jack RX that Chris suggested to me in the thread about my mp3 cassette, but didn't really read that closely to realize it was not meant for internal installation. I'm pretty adamant against having anything dangling off of my boxes. Totally ruins the look. Either it's hardwired inside or playing in the tape deck.

I haven't done a lot of research on it yet but that little guy looks like the hot ticket, I would just want to know how reliable its connection would be, responsiveness, ability to maintain a stream quality high enough to be listenable, etc etc.

 

[Beosystem10]

The Miccus is A2DP capable so it should sound exactly the same as any other such device, the only real differences between any of these things and any other are in the style, the build quality and the physical size. Any differences in reception quality will be in the order of tiny numbers that are indistinguishable when the ultimate stages in the sequence are the flawed and wildly varying human ear and brain so just pick the one that will fit where you want to put it, that isn't going to take months to arrive and that has a DC input that is independent of USB connections so that it will go on working from an external supply when its battery dies.

The Miccus does look a little more expensive than some but on the other hand, it's tiny and won't stand out too much in a dimly lit room.

 

[Superduper]

Quite some time back/ parts express had some on clearance for what seemed like a good deal at the time, and I thought to snap up a bunch for doing exactly what Joe had in mind. What I didn't like was that you had to press a button to pair and I put it off. Nowadays, I see some of the newer ones don't even require pressing a button to pair which is something I like. I prefer an internally powered one over a rechargeable any day simply because having to worry about keeping them charged means it always feels like a device inside a device that you have to keep track of. Anyhow, I'm glad I didn't buy them and waited since technology is constantly changing and buying up a bunch just means that I've stocked up on things that are continually improving. Hope the new ones are better and more reliable because the reviews on some of the earlier ones weren't all that flattering. Anyhow, by the time I actually get back to working on and modding my radios, the new offerings could be many generations improved by then.

 

[SLO]

Damn, now they are down to $11.94 shipped!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bluetooth-Wireless-Music-Audio-Receiver-3-0-Stereo-for-Car-AUX-Home-Speaker-NEW-/390974340819?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5b07e2fed3

I bought 2 of these from EBay, I use one for my VW RockBox, and I hooked one up to my VZ2000 by plugging it into the Mic input on the front. I leave the one that's connected to my VZ there all the time because I'm not planning on picking up the VZ or hitting the street with it ANYtime soon as its just so dam huge and heavy. So it stays put. But the Bluetooth dongle actually works pretty good with the VZ.

The recharging part does kinda suck. Not a hard thing to do, But Joe if you can make this work like you want it to, I'd LOVE to do this mod to most of my collection. I hope you figure it all out. Good luck and I'll be watching

 

[caution]

I suppose I could just remove the battery off of it and wire it to a little power supply circuit. I can't imagine it's much, maybe 3-4 volts?

 

[Superduper]

Almost all these things charge using USB so pretty sure 5v is the proper charge voltage.

 

[Lasonic TRC-920]

Almost all these things charge using USB so pretty sure 5v is the proper charge voltage.

Spot on. 5v

I pulled a cigarette lighter charger apart and used the little PC Board to go from 12v to 5v USB, then you can plug any cell phone USB plug into the bluetooth, no need to remove the battery.

You will however need to be able to get to the POWER ON button on the receiver. Again, this is why I just put a wire in the cassette deck so I can open the door and turn it on. Some radio's like Lasonic, have a space in the battery compartment for the power cord, it fits in there as well. It powers off automatically when there is no signal for some time.