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BlueClone - The Blue Room's Own Comms System

Brian

By Brian
in The Workshop

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Heapsy Full-timer

Heapsy

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Posted

This looks like a great project and it looks like it is coming along well.

One thing I have always wanted to do is mod a comms pack so I can switch between comms and a PFL feed fed from the headphone out of a desk.

So far as I know there is nothing currently available that does this. I know I could us an aux in on a base station but thats not really what I'm after.

Would this be achievable with the design? I was thinking just a toggle switch in-line before the headset out. Would this un-termination have any negative effects for the rest of the comms ring?

Alternatively, if anyone is aware of a product that does this I'd be interested to know.

 

Many thanks

 

Mark

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dmxlights
dmxlights

I also looked in to this a few years ago as in using raspberry pi(s) with mumble and someone has done it but I did not do much as for getting time to do it and then the lockdowns in 2020. From wh

J Pearce
J Pearce

You can get much more workable than the hold call button solution by using one frequency to transmit the wired partyline to all packs and a separate frequency to transmit from wireless back to wired.

pmiller056
pmiller056

@J Pearce Yes, you can do this. In practice you need really good external filtering on both the transmitter and the receiver to prevent the continuously running transmitter from significantly interfer

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paulears Production Manager

paulears

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Posted
I do it the other way around - take the comms audio into a desk channel, and then just pfl it - I use a DT108/9 so take the mic to the comms pack, and the audio our from the pack goes to an XLR wired only to pins 2 and 3 - because comms earth don't like being connected to real earth. Works fine for me.It also enables anyone on the comms circuit to get access to the PA too, if needed. Obviously needs care, but handy for those odd announcements that often crop up, and save the sound op having to write it down and read it out when the person with the details can just do it!
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tatster Climbing the roster

tatster

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VOLUNTEERS WANTED

 

Anyone interested in helping John and I get this finished?

 

What would be great would be some volunteers to take the parts list and each add one column to it containing a specific supplier's part numbers.

 

I'll post an excel spreadsheet here later tomorrow and if a few people could spend a couple of hours going through it and adding part numbers for the following suppliers it would be greatly appreciated.

 

Brian, did you post that spreadsheet? Or did I missed it? Love to help.

 

I don't think it's been posted - unless I've missed it too!

 

Any updates guys ?

 

 

Thanks,

Anthony

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Hieronymus Climbing the roster

Hieronymus

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Posted (edited)

I think they are waiting or working on a revised board that solves the reported mechanical issues. Also housing the base unit might be a bit tougher...

 

You've mentioned making the project results available as open source.

 

I'd like to extend my offer to help to do anything that needs to be done with aproject on this scale. That includes writing documentation, setting up a publicwebsite suitable for sharing open source projects (like github with a wiki),making logo/artwork, deciphering handwritten notes into a how-to-build-my-own manual. I guess there's a lot to be done that hasn't your particular interest.

 

Could you post some kind of roadmap or steps that need to be taken? Maybe there are some gaps and we can help to fill in the blanks.

 

I appreciate all the work you are doing. I hate to see you get swamped by the amount of work of a roll-out.

 

Let us know if you're still having fun! I like to see a Blue Comm under my Christmas tree!

 

 

Edited by Hieronymus
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boatman Production Manager

boatman

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The power unit PCBs arrived from China this morning. I am waiting on 3-pin XLR male connectors as I have run out, but everything else is to hand and I will build the first one tomorrow.

 

http://mydesk.myzen.co.uk/_Useful/BlueCom/PowerUnitPcb.jpg

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dmxlights Supervisor

dmxlights

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I can't wait for them to go up for sale. I will be ordering some for sure. I will also be looking into getting these to work with 2way radio (walkie-talkie) as well so we can have the maxim felxable with coms

 

I have aready interfaced my 2 way radios with other coms as its handy for the one that do a good bit of running around back stage keeping kids in order when its plays on with kids in them.

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dbuckley Production Manager

dbuckley

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I can't e the only member who already has access to enough intercom kit so doesn't need to build "ordinary" comms, but sees the blue clone boards as a way of building something around them, something different hat suits my needs, but with the difficult bit of the interfacing done.
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boatman Production Manager

boatman

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We have working base station boards. There was a small issue with component locations in version 1.0 where the large reservoir capacitors touched the case; so version 1.1 was quickly produced.

 

Unfortunately the PCB layout package created an error in the manufacturing files which caused a short between one of the power rails and the ground plane (the layout was perfect, but the Gerber files had a problem which I didn't pick up before ordering the PCBs). Anyway it's sorted now and the first ten boards are available with a minor correction by scalpel (see the last picture). In case anyone wants to get their own base unit boards manufactured, the Gerber files are also fixed.

 

Now I have a completed board, I will lay out the front and back panels for the base unit in the next few days. In the meantime here's some pictures:

 

http://mydesk.myzen.co.uk/_Useful/BlueCom/BluecomPowerUnit0.jpg

 

http://mydesk.myzen.co.uk/_Useful/BlueCom/BluecomPowerUnit1.jpg

 

http://mydesk.myzen.co.uk/_Useful/BlueCom/BluecomPowerUnit2.jpg

 

http://mydesk.myzen.co.uk/_Useful/BlueCom/BluecomPowerUnit3.jpg

 

http://mydesk.myzen.co.uk/_Useful/BlueCom/BluecomPowerUnit4.jpg

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