Fitting a Bluetooth Receiver to a Jukebox

[jukenorman]

Something that seems to crop up regularly is how to fit a Bluetooth receiver to a jukebox. As Dave Lennie pointed out in a reply to someone in the AMi section recently, it is not particularly easy but it can be done. This is the outline of a method that I have used which I believe could be adapted for any jukebox. It does require a certain amount of electrical and electronic competence to install and a good understanding of how your jukebox functions. The materials required are readily available either in electronics/DIY stores or from ebay.

First up, a remote controlled mains power outlet is installed within the jukebox cabinet; this can either be a unit with its own dedicated remote controller or a device that can be operated by a smart phone. Two items are to be fitted to this remote controlled power socket – the power supply unit for the Bluetooth receiver and a cell phone charger (everybody has an unused one of these!).

The Bluetooth receiver output would typically be connected to an auxiliary input on an amplifier. This may or may not be available on your jukebox amplifier – if not, a suitable location in the amplifier must be found. The circuit area where the volume control is located might be a good place to initially investigate.

The 5 volt output of the cell phone charger is used to operate 5V relays which are used for any switching that might be required, for example
• Changeover from jukebox audio to Bluetooth audio.
• Stopping the jukebox turntable motor to prevent discs being “played” while in Bluetooth mode.
• Un-muting the jukebox amplifier, if required.
At least two relays should be used to ensure that the audio switching is adequately segregated from any power switching.

So there you have it, a rough guide of how to fit a fairly cheap and cheerful remote controlled Bluetooth input to your jukebox - comments welcome!

Norman.

[whammoed]

I've done something similar with a Rockola 464 jukebox. The mute was simply disabled with a toggle switch I added. I used a bluetooth module that allowed for another source input and switched over to bluetooth for the output when it was being used. In this scenario the bluetooth audio takes precedence over the jukebox audio. I would actually prefer the jukebox audio take precedence so I will be modifying my current Wurlitzer Fuego a little differently. This is easy to do with later Rowe/AMI jukes using a preamp accessory kit and the background music input. I'll write it up when I do it to my Wurlitzer.

[whammoed]

Finished adding background music to my Wurlitzer I84 amplifier.  I'm using Chromecast but you could use a Bluetooth adapter instead or any other line level signal.  I'm tapping into the board at c106/c206 for audio in/out, diode D4 for mute, and I lifted 6 resistors going to the DIN5 socket for aux amplifier to separate it from any connections besides ground and re-purpose it for audio in/out using a DIN5 to 4x RCA cable.  I made a daughter board to re-locate c106/c206 and  D4 but you could do this mod with just some wiring.  I'm using 3x 2pin headers so jumpers can be installed to return the board to factory operation besides the balanced aux out 5pin DIN connector that I re-purposed.  Nothing is done to the amplifier to permanently alter it and the whole modification could be easily removed/reversed.  The daughter board is mounted to the main board using some 0Ohm jumpers at c206 and 4 other un-used through holes on the amp board on a conveniently empty part of the PCB.  I wired the 5pin DIN according to this standard: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DIN_connector#Analog_audio.  Unfortunately the colors of the 5pin DIN to 4x RCA cable that I bought do not follow this standard so don't let that confuse you in the pic of the auto audio source selector, speaking of which can be found here: www.newark.com/mcm-custom-audio/50-8396/automatic-two-way-source-selector/dp/29X0259

I have the audio out from the DIN5 plugged into the Sense input (B) on the audio switcher so if a record is playing on the juke it will take precedence and play.  You could switch the inputs if you prefer to have your auxiliary source take precedence for playback.  There is a terminal block on the switcher that has connections that are either open or closed depending on what source is playing that could be used with relays in this scenario to disable the record from playing while your aux input is in use but I have no use for it in my set up.

[whammoed]

Little update on my mod: works great but had a nitpick. Since I disabled the mute circuit I could hear the needle go across the cleaning brush. Not a problem though since the MCM audio switcher has a relay that switches back and forth with the input selection. I hooked up a couple wires between the jumper on my daughter board I made and the relay on the switcher and now the mute circuit is enabled when juke play is sensed. Sweet.

[mikeman1]

interesting stuff. I have a Seeburg 148ML. I noticed the switch on top by the tonearm shuts off the motor but leaves the amp on, lights, etc. If i could find a clean place to hook up to an auxiliary input on the amp i suppose i could just flip this switch off when i want to play from my phone and have it go to the bluetooth wireless receiver that would be plugged/wired into the auxiliary input on the amp. eventually i will give it a try when i find an aux input on the amp.