Controlling the volume on a bluetooth amplifier

[jongood]

We ditched the regular radio ages ago, mostly because we spend most of our time out of UK signal range but I also wanted to use the space for a 9 inch camera monitor.

We've been using a bluetooth speaker, which is ok but now thinking of fitting a bluetòoth amp to the motorhomes currently redundant speaker set up. The issue I have with just using the phone is that my copilot likes to control the volume but will inevitably mess up the mapping if she tries to do this using the phone. There's no problem finding a bt amp with an old fashioned knob on it but I can't get my head around hiding the wires to it. I'm considering, pullinig one apart, concealing the unit and remotely mounting the volume control but wondering if there is a cleverer way?

 

[Bobby-gg]

Most of the Chinesium Bluetooth amps come with a remote control - would that not be more suitable?

In the past I've built a few raspberry pi players with amps, one of them had an extension lead available to a front control panel, but I can't find them out there atm.

Or alternatively, an alexa based system powering the speakers.

 

[jongood]

Most of the Chinesium Bluetooth amps come with a remote control - would that not be more suitable?

In the past I've built a few raspberry pi players with amps, one of them had an extension lead available to a front control panel, but I can't find them out there atm.

Or alternatively, an alexa based system powering the speakers.

Ive foundcthem with a control panel or a remote pad but was hoping to make it as analogue as possible.

 

[stuartholmes]

We ditched the regular radio ages ago, mostly because we spend most of our time out of UK signal range but I also wanted to use the space for a 9 inch camera monitor.

We've been using a bluetooth speaker, which is ok but now thinking of fitting a bluetòoth amp to the motorhomes currently redundant speaker set up. The issue I have with just using the phone is that my copilot likes to control the volume but will inevitably mess up the mapping if she tries to do this using the phone. There's no problem finding a bt amp with an old fashioned knob on it but I can't get my head around hiding the wires to it. I'm considering, pullinig one apart, concealing the unit and remotely mounting the volume control but wondering if there is a cleverer way?

Get a crappy old phone off ebay, bluetooth from yours to it and from it to the speakers.

'It' then becomes the volume control controlled by the co-pilot.

(Tell me if it works, I have no idea!)

 

[stuartholmes]

Get a crappy old phone off ebay, bluetooth from yours to it and from it to the speakers.

'It' then becomes the volume control controlled by the co-pilot.

(Tell me if it works, I have no idea!)

Just had another thought about this...
I don't think it would work as originally conceived because I don't think 'it' can simultaneously connect to two different bluetooth channels.

So for an alternative way to use 'it' as the controller of sound level (without needing an additional sim card & data changes) would be to make a hot spot on your phone. The new cheap old phone, aka 'it', can then become a DJ deck to connect to whatever sound source the internet has to offer.

Again, tell me if it works - I have no idea!

Cheers & good luck.

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[jongood]

Just had another thought about this...
I don't think it would work as originally conceived because I don't think 'it' can simultaneously connect to two different bluetooth channels.

So for an alternative way to use 'it' as the controller of sound level (without needing an additional sim card & data changes) would be to make a hot spot on your phone. The new cheap old phone, aka 'it', can then become a DJ deck to connect to whatever sound source the internet has to offer.

Again, tell me if it works - I have no idea!

Cheers & good luck.

I'm not understanding how that could possibly work sorry.

 

[jongood]

I'm really not good with speakers etc. I gave up on the remote control idea because I couldnt get my head round it. I subsequently ordered what I thought was a 60w bluetooth amp only to discover that its actually tiny and states on it 4x15w. My speakers are 40w, is there any point connecting it or will they just sound really tinny?

 

[stuartholmes]

I'm not understanding how that could possibly work sorry.

Maybe I misunderstood the situation so to be clear from the outset, I think the starting point is you want to use your phone to do either of play media stored on it or accessed from an internet radio station or an app like BBC iplayer, and you want the volume control to be not on your phone.

So I'm suggesting that instead of having the media or the web browser or the radio app or the spotify or whatever you use on your phone you should buy a cheap previously owned phone that is just good enough hold a memory card with your media and a web browser and your choice of radio app or spotify or whatever else you like, and use that second phone, under the control of your co-pilot, for your replacement 'radio' with bluetooth connection to your speakers for playing whatever sound source at whatever volume your co-pilot chooses.

The 'catch' to this is that the second 'music' phone needs a connection to the internet for any of those sound sources (other than internal memory card) to actually work. Of course the standard option for mobile phones to connect to the internet is through a sim card connection to one of the mobile networks, either on a contract or on pay-as-you-go. But I'm presuming that like me you wouldn't want to be paying for that when you are already paying to have a perfectly good phone with network connection, except that this phone is busy being your sat-nav...

So I'm suggesting you use the sat-nav phone to become a hot spot, which allows the phone to connect to the internet via it's sim card and effectively radiate that connection by wi-fi in the same way as a router at home radiates wi-fi around the house.

I don't know whether you ever made your phone into a hotspot but if not it's really very easy to do. Possibly ask YouTube for an instructional video if you need.

Then go to the 'music' phone, turn on it's wi-fi, select 'search networks' and connect to the one that is the signal from the sat-nav phone. It'll probably be the strongest signal the phone finds so probably at the top of the list of offerings.

You should then have a 'music' phone that connects to sound sources as well as your sat-nav phone did while your sat-nav phone continues about it's primary business quite unaffected by whatever to DJ in the passenger seat does...

Hope that's clearer, but let me know if still not so.

 

[jongood]

Maybe I misunderstood the situation so to be clear from the outset, I think the starting point is you want to use your phone to do either of play media stored on it or accessed from an internet radio station or an app like BBC iplayer, and you want the volume control to be not on your phone.

So I'm suggesting that instead of having the media or the web browser or the radio app or the spotify or whatever you use on your phone you should buy a cheap previously owned phone that is just good enough hold a memory card with your media and a web browser and your choice of radio app or spotify or whatever else you like, and use that second phone, under the control of your co-pilot, for your replacement 'radio' with bluetooth connection to your speakers for playing whatever sound source at whatever volume your co-pilot chooses.

The 'catch' to this is that the second 'music' phone needs a connection to the internet for any of those sound sources (other than internal memory card) to actually work. Of course the standard option for mobile phones to connect to the internet is through a sim card connection to one of the mobile networks, either on a contract or on pay-as-you-go. But I'm presuming that like me you wouldn't want to be paying for that when you are already paying to have a perfectly good phone with network connection, except that this phone is busy being your sat-nav...

So I'm suggesting you use the sat-nav phone to become a hot spot, which allows the phone to connect to the internet via it's sim card and effectively radiate that connection by wi-fi in the same way as a router at home radiates wi-fi around the house.

I don't know whether you ever made your phone into a hotspot but if not it's really very easy to do. Possibly ask YouTube for an instructional video if you need.

Then go to the 'music' phone, turn on it's wi-fi, select 'search networks' and connect to the one that is the signal from the sat-nav phone. It'll probably be the strongest signal the phone finds so probably at the top of the list of offerings.

You should then have a 'music' phone that connects to sound sources as well as your sat-nav phone did while your sat-nav phone continues about it's primary business quite unaffected by whatever to DJ in the passenger seat does...

Hope that's clearer, but let me know if still not so.

I see, I have been thinking of using one of our tablets for this so the controls can be nice and big

 

[funflair]

I'm really not good with speakers etc. I gave up on the remote control idea because I couldnt get my head round it. I subsequently ordered what I thought was a 60w bluetooth amp only to discover that its actually tiny and states on it 4x15w. My speakers are 40w, is there any point connecting it or will they just sound really tinny?

As I am sure you know 4x15 is 60 Jon you been had, if you want to double up I have one that you can have as I put little speakers in the existing holes in ours but they sounded crap so we use Sonos when parked up.

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[stuartholmes]

I see, I have been thinking of using one of our tablets for this so the controls can be nice and big

That would be an option, depends what your co-pilot finds most easy but on mine the volume controls on side of phone are easier - and it takes up less space on the dashboard but if you've got a A-class I can imagine that's less of an issue.
Good luck whatever you do.