One of the coolest features of the iPhone is the
ability to stream music using its Bluetooth capability. Provided of course that you have a set of
Bluetooth speakers. Unfortunately I
don’t. I have a few sets of speakers
lying around the house that will allow me to plug in an auxiliary source, but
then I have to have a wire attached to my iPhone, making it less than
portable. My discretionary money account
has been tapped because my dog is sick again, so buying new Bluetooth speakers
is out of the question.
I was pondering this dilemma on my commute home when I
glanced up at my visor. Sitting there
patiently was a Bluetooth speakerphone.
I had bought this a couple of years ago when the state of Connecticut
passed a law making it illegal to use your cellphone in the car. I used it a few times but the speaker quality
was so bad that I abandoned it and continued to TWD (talk while driving). Hmmm, this might solve my problem.
I charged the battery, paired it to my iPhone and
voila, it streamed the music from phone to the speakerphone and it played it
through the crappy speaker. I’m on to
something. I decided to see if I could
hack the speakerphone to use it as a portable Bluetooth interface.
I assembled the troops. A soldering iron, two precision screwdrivers,
Philips and straight, a drill with one eighth inch bit, wire cutters/strippers,
a one eighth inch male to male stereo cord and some electrical tape.
I carefully removed the tiny screws holding the
speakerphone together and pried it apart.
Next I removed the speaker and carefully separated the
two wires soldered to it. I put the unit
together again and drilled a hole in the speaker side for the eighth inch wire
jack. I cut about a foot of the male-to-male off and carefully stripped the
insulation off the wires. I threaded the
wire through the hole and tied it in a knot to prevent anyone (meaning me) from
accidentally pulling the wire out.
Then I soldered the two wires from the now male only
wire to the two leads from the speakerphone unit. I covered the soldered wires with a bit of
electrical tape and then put the unit together.
I plugged it into my speaker and turned on my iPhone. It was already paired with the unit so I
tapped the icon, selected the speakerphone and sat down and enjoyed some Neon
Trees playing through my new Bluetooth enabled speakers.
Total cost? The
speakerphone cost me twelve bucks a few years ago. I must have bought it on
sale, because they currently cost around thirty dollars. Go to eBay and search for Bluetooth speakerphones. They are very cheap and the shipping will
probably cost you more than the item. I
found the male-to-male wire in my junk drawer.
You can find one at Radio Shack for a couple of dollars if you don’t
have one hanging around your house.
Total Time? Ten minutes. Total cost of enjoyment? Priceless!
