BlueClone - The Blue Room's Own Comms System

[ddproduction]

Is the minijack on the front for a pc-style headset?

[boatman]

The minijack on the front is in parallel with the headset connector on the back panel. As there wasn't space for two separate jacks, it is a 4-way 3.5mm jack with the following connections:

 

Tip: Headphone -

R1: Headphone +

R2: Mic input

Sleeve: GND

 

I don't have a PC headset to test it but I have put a scope on the pins to check the signals are present.

 

Note that the headphone drive on this beltpack is a bridge amplifier and doesn't need a GND connection. There is a considerably higher level of drive compared to a conventional Tecpro or Stonewood (Granite Audio) box.

 

One feature which was requested is the ability to modify the headphone volume control so that it cannot be turned down to zero. Resistor R37 (currently 10R in the parts list) should be increased appropriately to achieve this. A value around 1k to 2k should be sufficient.

 

The four-way DIL switch on the back panel has two functions:

 

SW1 turns on the 12V bias for electret mics and SW2-SW4 adjust the mic amp gain according to the following table:

 

Switches ON      dB gain
  None           31.9
    4            33.0
    3            34.3
  3 & 4          35.9
    2            38.0
  2 & 4          40.5
  2 & 3          44.0
  All            49.9

[Hieronymus]

Hi,

 

In order to 'convert' gaming headsets to the 4p 3.5mm jack, what would be the best sollution?

 

Most of them come with 2 3.5mm jacks which are quite allright (for the price) with a decent lenght of cable.

As mentioned before, soldering on this kind of cable is tricky. And having a good strain relief is difficult. Espacialy if you try to get the two wires into one 4p connector.

 

So, I can add two extra 3.5mm connectors through the panel (something that would kill part of the briljance of the design)

 

or

 

I can use a converter cable like:

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004SP0WAQ/ref=cm_cr_asin_lnk

 

What are your thoughts?

 

Kind regards

 

Jeroen

 

 

 

 

PS from a recent test with a few, this one came out quite good: http://nl.creative.com/p/headphones-headsets/creative-fatal1ty-gamer-headset

 

 

 

[cedd]

I've been doing a spot of digging myself in to the source of compatible PC headsets. One thing that came to light is that Xbox headsets use a single 2.5mm jack plug. You can get a very small 2.5mm socket - 3.5mm 4 pole plug in line adapter that doesn't add much length to the jack plug itself, so this might be an option - maybe glue the 2 together. There's an Xbox compatible headset from Argos for less than £8.

 

I'm going to build my first batch of beltpacks without the 4 pole jack socket. What I will look at though is if I can fit 2 3.5mm jack sockets above each other on the front panel PCB - there looks to be space for a second hole above the existing one. Then I'd just run short leads to the PCB. This would allow me to use unmodified PC headsets and would also give me a 3.5mm headphone output, meaning somebody sitting in next to me on the desk can bring their own pair of bog standard earphones and plug in to hear what's going on without having a mic. All depends if I feel I can safely drill the front panel without splitting it, and if there's space to get a panel mount socket in the existing hole without it fouling the PCB. Failing that I might fit them in the side of the aluminium case and just thread them through from the back once the PCB is in place. Might be a stronger panel to mount them to as well.

 

 

 

[cedd]

I've just bought some of the boxes from Farnell and have been having a think about the orientation of the belt clips. I've got some old ones off of some Kenwood radios which I'm planning on using. I love the neat size of the chosen enclosure, but I'm trying to work out which way "up" should be. Imagining the control panel on top for the time being, the box is shorter than it is wide. This means that the position of a belt is somewhere around the middle of the pack. Most packs I've used have more weight below the belt clip than above it, so the tendency is for them to hang nicely upright. Of course there's the weight of the XLR cable to take in to account, but I'm just wondering if it might be worthwhile instead having the control panel facing forward, with the connectors facing backwards.

 

I guess the real answer is to try it and see, and with some careful drilling I can probably get away with 3 holes covering both orientations - one hole being common for both. I just wondered though which way most Blue Roomer's would wear theirs if they had a choice? I know some packs have a swivel belt clip to allow sideways wearing - does anybody use it?

[dosxuk]

I guess the real answer is to try it and see, and with some careful drilling I can probably get away with 3 holes covering both orientations - one hole being common for both.

 

Could you not get away with using some temporary fixing materials* to test with rather than drilling the box?

 

Personally I think the cables need to come out the bottom for it to hang "right". I think if they're coming out sideways, there would be a tendency for the box to rotate off your belt.

 

*gaffer

[cedd]

Possibly, though I'm actually starting to think I could tap the case and then the orientation is adjustable from the outside without having to open the thing up. May have to glue a nut on the inside if the wall thickness isn't sufficient, but I reckon it'll do it. Just have to be careful to label the maximum screw length so they don't foul the PCB inside. I'm considering a felted magnetic plate attachment to allow it to sit nicely on the side of my desk, rather than floating around the tabletop, so a way of attaching and removing the clip would be pretty useful.

 

I know what you mean about the cables hanging and pulling the beltpack around. I actually considered if 45 degrees might be an option - it seems to be the natural orientation of my own pack when I'm wearing them as it allows better visibility of the front panel and my hand falls on it nicely to work the PTT. Problem is it then becomes set to be worn on a specific side of the body.

 

It might work absolutely fine upright, being a considerably lighter pack than most others that are out there. Just have to experiment once I've got one finished.

 

 

 

 

 

[MarkPAman]

Problem is it then becomes set to be worn on a specific side of the body.

One clip on each side? :unsure:

 

Probably not a good idea.

[Hieronymus]

Hi,

 

I think having the heavy cables and XLR connectors below is better. I would attach my clips a bit more near the control panel to ensure it always hangs.

When I first noticed this project, I also searched for dual 3.5mm jack pcb mounts, just as you would find on a normal PC motherboard:

 

http://nl.farnell.com/switchcraft/35rapc7js/connector-phone-jack-3way/dp/2154481

 

They are quite expensive and I'm not sure how such a thing would hold if you would reguarly plug and un-plug it. I think having two 3.5mm input jacks, mounted on the panel connected with some shielded wire is the cheapest and easiest to fix if it does break. It think it's more relaiable then having a converter cable or solder a 4p jack on the two wires of a gaming headset. If time permits, I'll try all scenario's

 

I'm a bit puzzeled with grounding. The current chassis is completely isolated from the circuit. Using panel mounted 3.5mm jacks could change that. Is that something I should avoid? (I was offered having my panels cut out of RVS on a laser thing) This is not a real problem if you use PCB panels.

 

 

 

 

 

[andrew.p.r]

Will anyone be doing a bulk order of the board's and panels for the belt pack?

 

Thanks

 

Andrew

[boatman]

Will anyone be doing a bulk order of the board's and panels for the belt pack?

 

Thanks

 

Andrew

 

One of the main points of this project was to provide an income stream for the Blue-Room, so I hope that happens.

 

I've been out of commission for several weeks but am now back, so I will finalise all the documentation in the next few days and put it into one big zip file which will be uploaded to the Project Zone. There has been a change to the panels for the power unit to give them a similar appearance to the beltpack panels, otherwise the rest of the files are OK. There is one minor error on the power unit parts list where one connector is described as NC3AAH and should be NC3FAAH2. The supplier code is correct.

[NewChris]

For anyone in the US, I made a spreadsheet for the PSU. Here is a link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AvyCVE7tAG0ldFdhS0s1ejFpN1cwenR0LTVjNjR6U0E&usp=sharing

 

Every thing is from either Digikey or Newark. For some of the Digikey stuff, there is a second link with other options if the first one is out of stock. If you want to edit, PM me with your email. I will be working on one for the beltpack.

[Rob_P]

Great work guys. I am looking forward to making a set once the

 

One item on the UK list that neither CPC nor Farnell stock is the XLR headset connector.

 

UK stockists for this part seem fairly rare, but Canford do them. Part number is 40-454 @ £2.50

They also sell the Neutrik recommended mounting screws at £2.40 for a pack of 100 (part number 40-927) and spare belt clips for the Tecpro packs at £2.22 each (part number 27-091)

 

Headset wise, it looks like the P14y Station 4 chat headsets use a 4 pole 3.5mm jack, which might overcome the twin 3.5mm jack problems. I am not a gamer though, and can't find any definitive details of pinouts since the gaming forums seem to be filled with rather confused people!

[Hieronymus]

One item on the UK list that neither CPC nor Farnell stock is the XLR headset connector.

 

UK stockists for this part seem fairly rare, but Canford do them. Part number is 40-454 @ £2.50

They also sell the Neutrik recommended mounting screws at £2.40 for a pack of 100 (part number 40-927) and spare belt clips for the Tecpro packs at £2.22 each (part number 27-091)

 

Headset wise, it looks like the P14y Station 4 chat headsets use a 4 pole 3.5mm jack, which might overcome the twin 3.5mm jack problems. I am not a gamer though, and can't find any definitive details of pinouts since the gaming forums seem to be filled with rather confused people!

Hi, the CPC code for the neutrik screws is: AV18050, I can't find them on farnell...

 

 

For the belt clip I was looking at walki-talki replacement parts: http://dx.com/s/291188 I was hopling to find somehing below 1,50 euro. So any suggestions will be welcome.

I also found Farnell: 148581 or CPC: EN56113, but I'm not sure about them

 

I couldn't find much new about the 4p PS4 headset. Mounting aditional ouputs is a bit easier if you use the 8pin molex. That way you can use panel mounted jacks.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 23, 2014 by Hieronymus

[NewChris]

I have updated my spreadsheet greatly so it has the beltpacks and the PSU and the PCB's and other stuff (I am adding that) Here is the new link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AvyCVE7tAG0ldEpkbjBUM3JNRU1LZjVmbW9qQ3hORGc&usp=sharing

 

I am open to comments and thank you Hieronymus for your spreadsheet which was very helpful! So for anyone in the US, this is for you.