Customers for the Bluetooth Retrofit cover the range from seasoned radio restoration experts to homeowners who just want to preserve a family treasure. We also provide kits to woodworkers and hobbyists who make high-quality Bluetooth players with an ‘old-school’ user interface. This page will help you understand what is required for the retrofit. The instructions provide even more information.
Skills and Tools
You need to be able to work with basic hand tools such as screwdrivers, wrenches, pliers, and wire strippers. It’s likely that you’ll have to cut a speaker adapter plate from 1/4″ or 3/8″ plywood, so a handsaw or jigsaw may be required. You’ll also need to use a soldering iron to solder wires onto potentiometers and switches. If you don’t want to reuse the old potentiometers, buy our Potentiometer and Wiring Kit which includes potentiometers and shows EXACTLY how to connect them.
What Else Will I Need?
Our retrofit will not work with the field coil speakers used in radios before the mid 1940’s. If your speaker has more than two wires coming from it, you’ll need a new one. Speakers cost between $20.00 and about $50.00, and there are sources listed in the instructions. You may need to make a mounting plate to secure the new speaker into your cabinet, so you’ll need a small amount of 1/4″ or 3/8″ plywood.
If you are an electronic hobbyist, you probably have screws, spacers, wire, potentiometers, switches, jacks, Type 47 bulbs, etc. in your shop. If you do not have these parts, you can save trips to the hardware store and shipping costs from specialty suppliers by purchasing our Potentiometer and Wiring Kit.
Configuring the PCB
The PCB comes with programming shunts used to select between audio and linear taper potentiometers. There are also solderable jumpers that that you can install if you want to limit the output power. Configuration is covered in the instructions.
Examples
This picture shows the details of the back of a retrofit
The Speaker Adapter Plate is cut from 3/8″ plywood and mounts in the original speaker screw holes. The modern speaker mounts to the plate.
The sides of this radio were thin, so the customer cut a piece of plywood and placed it between the cabinet rails.
The chassis for this radio was discarded many years ago. The customer used the potentiometers and the Potentiometer Mounting Plates from the Potentiometer and Wiring Kit for the control knobs. He also used the light socket from the kit and a scrap of grille cloth to illuminate the dial light opening.