Sound mods?

It just occurred to me as I went to plug in my USB FM radio transmitter into the single USB slot that it was in use already by my NOVATEL U720 Aircard...

Hmmm, what to do? I used to drive around with the headphone out jack transmitting to the in car radio, for MP3's, GPS directions, and internet radio streams. Now it seems I have the makings of a new MOD!

I would like to fit an FM transmitter INSIDE of the Toughbook to transmit sounds to nearby FM radios. What would be really cool would be a software toggle that can switch some output on the motherboard on/off, so I could control the transmitter from in windows. OOOOOooooo even better would be an incriment toggle so I could actually change the FM station that it is transmitting on....

Any ideas, I really have to get this one working.

First - TOUGHBOOK - is there any outputs on the motherboard I could make use of or switch on/off via software or macro? (I thought of the F12 function on the Backlight but I don't want to sacrifice that feature!!!)

Gratefuldeadbolt

Oh, yeah, I will do a write up on the phone I have now working as a remote via BLUETOOTH!!! (just need some free time!)

 

Greatful... You should check out Google. Google the subject of laptop keyboard lighting. There is a guy that did what you want. He soldered together a very easy circuit so that all he had to do was hit a key 3-4 times and it would turn it on or off... Like sticky keys. (Hit your Shift key 5 times really fast.) You might be able to even cut into that... But then you would probably need DJacid to help with the software...

 

If you can implement the FM modulator via USB, it's possible to do via some work.

There are some very rough, rough plans in the works for making a board that'll hold a USB port inside, but it's still a rough sketch, so don't expect something immediately.

 

Sorry I should have given more detail... my current transmitter only steals power from a usb port thats all. (5V?) the circuitry is all self contained (very small) and there is a 16-18inch lead that plugs into a headphone jack and doubles as an antenna. I am going to shop for micro fm transmitters on line but the idea is to find one small enough to tuck inside somewhere, leach power from the main board and/or battery, and connect into the headphone jack audio out. I would like to then "hack" a software interface of some kind to turn the device on and off- giving me the option of using the pc speaker or the transmitter!

 

I like the idea alot actually. It'd be kinda cool to be able to use my book as a jukebox in any car.

I'm gonna look in the schematics a bit, but just for the sake of getting people involved, grab a copy of the manual from the link in my sig.

If you search through the large one (file size is roughly 13MB), it'll have a schematic for the on-board connectors.

Edit; I mis-spoke suggesting it was an FM modulator. I meant to say FM transmitter.

Afterthoughts also... We need a way to get the FM signal out of the toughbook... it may or may not work inside.

 

Just a thought,,,why not see if you can get power from your PS2 port. There should be 5volts available from there, the same as 5volts from the USB.

 

It's an internal mod idea though. We have wiring capabilities for running USB inside (CN-18), but not for PS/2.

 

I have played around with low-power FM transmitters, and the biggest problem you will have is the magnesium cases (if you want it all internal). It will block FM just as well as it blocks wifi, bluetooth, etc. It could work for three feet to your car radio antenna, but it will knock signal level down tremendously.

It would be a cool mod, though.

 

So far I've figured it'd be a lot easier if they made USB transmitters, but I've found nothing that is what I'm thinking of.

Last night I got side-tracked, so I didn't get very far, but I'll keep looking for internal audio.

 

Just wanted to comment back in here on my findings. We can run mono audio to the transmitter, and looking at schematics, it's not hard to make one of our own.

I'm trying to figure out the best way to implement FM. I'm also thinking, while I'm at it, maybe we can add in an FM receiver too.

I'd be super cool listening to WRIF on my toughbook

 

Not exactly what I originally was thinking of but apparently there is a way to stream audio over a usb connection. Here is a link where I found this out, it is interesting as I believe this device gets its power AND audio over the same USB source. I am not sure how the antenna is implemented though.

http://www.themindfactory.com/Products/PLL-1_FM/LineX_USB/linex_usb.html

I am still looking around to figure out the best approach to the problem. STEREO audio would be preferred.

-EDIT-

Oh darn... too bad I haven't found this in a mini pci or pcmcia version that would fit, it has the nice feature of software control!

http://christmaslightshow.com/xcart/product.php?productid=51&cat=1&page=1

Alright, I guess I should keep it simple, and just find a power source / audio source ... a VERY compact yet POWERFUL transmitter, multichannel selector would be nice, and put it together with a on/off switch wired to side port somewhere!

 

I found a temporary solution for a mobile jukebox.

While looking for mobile solutions for cell phone use in my van via bluetooth, I thought I might as well make use of the bluetooth capability that I already have in my toughbook. This solves the issue of wireless signal propagation from the toughbook, as the bluetooth seems to transmit quite good.

So I narrowed my search for BLUETOOTH FM TRANSMITTERS and found the following links:

http://www.store.motorola.com/mot/e...uctDetail&showAddButton=true&productID=89149N

http://www.amazon.com/Bluetooth-Hands-Free-Transmitter-Motorola-Ericsson/dp/B000R4QJFY

http://www.vogueleader.com/bluetoothcarkit_b01.htm

I am going to buy one, just not sure which one yet, and I will report back my findings.

Not quite as sexy as a built in FM TRANSMITTER, but I think it will do until we can figure this one out.

 

I was just thinking about this and one thing you might try is the headphone jack itself. It is basically a switch, when you plug into it, it turns of the speakers and redirects the output to the headphones. It would be a simple change to make it turn on the fm transmitter when you insert the antenna into the jack. Bingo on/off switch and antenna in one.

Of course this is just a though I have not seen what type of headphone jack the TB use.

Lokinb

 

So I was thinking about this sound mod again, I am still hoping for a built in solution, instead of relying on a bluetooth module. So I was researching fm transmitters online, and focusing on tiny transmitters that we could fit inside. I was also concerned with how to select different frequencies once it has been installed. I don't own an Ipod yet but I came across the following hack:

http://badacetechshow.com/psp_itrip.htm

This has a couple of nice features:

1. size is perfect to fit in by the rim board or other location
2. it has a sound frequency sensor circuit built in to change broadcast frequencies
3. I am sure we can find 3.5V and audio left/right/ground.

There are a quite a few pages on google that show people increasing range by mods to the antenna, so I think it may be possible to route the antenna to the back, and perhaps glue or affix a length of wire along the back ports to act as an external antenna. I am not sure if this will radiate though the ports lid on the back but it is just an idea. (may have to open the back port cover for best range)

Now to go order an Itrip.

Edit- They now make an Itrip with an LCD display showing the broadcast frequency, perhaps using a 20 to 50 pin cable (depending on independent current paths to lcd) we could relocate the display to the front of the toughbook somehow.

oh yeah and we will need to modify the back headphone jack to act as a power switch (Just like LokinB said. Perhaps install external on/off switch on back beside the jack instead of inserting a dummy headphone jack)