BlueClone - The Blue Room's Own Comms System

[computerman1597]

Are these systems compatible with Clearcom? Would there be any issues building them on the soldered breadboard with wire between the connections instead of buying printed circuit boards?

[boatman]

Are these systems compatible with Clearcom?

 

The audio line level on Clearcom systems is -14dB whereas Bluecom is designed to work with Tecpro & Granite Audio systems using a line level of -10dB. However there is more than enough headphone and mic gain in Bluecom to adapt to the Clearcom line levels.

 

Would there be any issues building them on the soldered breadboard with wire between the connections instead of buying printed circuit boards?

 

The only issue I can see is being able to get it small enough to fit in a reasonably sized enclosure. The PCB is double-sided and very tightly packed. I have been building circuits on stripboard for more than 45 years and I certainly wouldn't want to try building a Bluecom beltpack that way.

[kgallen]

Would there be any issues building them on the soldered breadboard with wire between the connections instead of buying printed circuit boards?

 

The cost of the PCBs made by iTead in China, including shipping is dwarfed by the cost of the other components you need to buy. You can get *10* PCBs for about £40 delivered. The rest of the components, box, connectors etc come out at around £40 *per Beltpack*.

 

The panels PCBs are much more expensive however - about 6x the price actually (3x the batch price and a batch is 5 boards not 10).

 

I've just built 4 Beltpacks and as John says, this is quite a complex PCB. If you were to build this on Veroboard I think you would need a piece that was at least A5 sized and I don't think you'd achieve a good placement or a good physical strength for the connector or controls. I don't think you'd find the final build an acceptable solution!

 

Kevin

 

 

 

[CPlater1]

I'm looking at 3d printing the switch caps, may be an option.

[CPlater1]

Just run a couple of trial 3d prints, now I need a switch to try them on, but it is an easy 10 min print for each cap, and hopefully will fit lovely!

[boatman]

Another Blue-Room member has just completed a system with four beltpacks. There are now Bluecom systems in Chile and Holland as well as several in the UK with at least one other under construction.

 

I appears that some builders are being charged import duty and VAT on the PCBs which I didn't have to pay, so it might be worth considering European PCB suppliers instead of the cheap Chinese suppliers which I have always used.

[kgallen]

I appears that some builders are being charged import duty and VAT on the PCBs which I didn't have to pay, so it might be worth considering European PCB suppliers instead of the cheap Chinese suppliers which I have always used.

 

If your order value is over GBP15 (*excluding carriage which is ~GBP30*) and you use the DHL delivery option I can guarantee you are going to get stung. You will get charged VAT on goods+delivery plus £11 charge from DHL for the privilege of them paying your duty/VAT bill for you for a day.

 

Last order GBP15.84 -> VAT+DHL charges = GBP21. Be warned!

 

Regards,

Kevin

 

ps I've got some PSU PCBs (3) and panels (3) if anyone is in need. PM me.

 

 

 

[CPlater1]

I'm planning to start building tomorrow! I've got the PSU components all ready in a bag for when I get home from work. Mhmm solder fumes :)

[CPlater1]

Just a quick update, waiting on 5x 10k pots then I will have my set of 6 up and running!

 

Had a few teething problems with a quick test on them, had 2 resistors swapped in the PSU, which caused different amounts of gain on each loop, also had a SMPS from eBay that introduced a fair bit of whine into the system. Purchased a new SMPS and now it's virtually silent!

 

Now I have to work out how I'm going to use these on temporary installations, I would either run xlr in/out to each beltpack and tape the 2 cables together to make it nice, or I'm considering buying some xlr y splitters then just one cable to each beltpack - I'm tempted as this would require less cabling! Would this second option work?

[david.elsbury]

Y splitting (this kind of) Comms like this is absolutely fine.

 

Applies to clearcom/tech pro style

Edited December 12, 2016 by david.elsbury

[boatman]

Good work. Are the 3D-printed buttons OK?

 

One caveat with the XLR Y-splitters: You will probably find the Y-ends are the same sex which isn't ideal. What you really need is 1xM and 1xF on the dangling ends.

Edited December 12, 2016 by boatman

[CPlater1]

So I may need to rewire some y-splits if I go that way, or if I get M-2F it may work. I didn't do much with the 3d printing as Kevin had some of the proper caps so I used them. The tolerances on my 3d printer were off and I didn't feel like spending so long getting them dead on.

[CPlater1]

3 beltpacks fully boxed, 2 where I need to file the front plate slightly for the push button, 1 where I messed up drilling the holes for my beltclips, so just need to sort those little issues then I will have my set of 6 ready to play! The fun part will then be the whole sidetone adjustment etc, where I might use my Behringer CT100 to provide a -10dbV test tone unless my ebay ordered signal generator kit arrives!

[adamantiumxt]

Is there any simple way to connect an external device like a sound desk headphone or recording output to the system, so that everyone can monitor audio to a certain amount?

Also is there a way to get an aux out so that the whole conversation can be monitored by others without an entire beltpack system eg for calling actors from backstage usign any basic speakers

Edited April 23, 2017 by adamantiumxt

[boatman]

I would be totally against adding programme sound into the comms system but, if you really want to do it, you will need a beltpack PCB for each point.

 

The Bluecom beltpack has a pin strip connector so that various signals can be injected or extracted and the headphone amp is easily capable of driving a transformer to create a balanced feed for an external monitor. The PCBs won't need to be fully populated, only the sections of the circuit needed for the particular purpose you have in mind. Also note that there are mounting holes on the PCB so that it can be built into any suitable housing and doesn't have to be in the extruded aluminium case.