ARCHIVED FORUM -- March 2012 to February 2022READ ONLY FORUM
This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
Hi.
After successfully modding a Beosound Century to use a phone as a media player, now it it time for another B&O system to get a change.
Got a non functioning Beosound 3. Control board and amp were broken. So the guts have been ripped out, control panel is gone and some new stuff has been added.
I may be making my own capacitive touch control for some A2DP control, we shall see.
So far I have fitted a new LED matrix to replace the old 7 seg style display. This will allow me to convey more information, and it looks far better!
Retaining the antenna, but it only goes up and down a fraction of what it did. Serves no purpose - but as this is a Bluetooth wireless speaker an antenna sorts has it's place.
Check out this video to see the initial test fit of parts and the new LED matrix.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyOG6uxjTRc (Can you embed Youtube videos on this forum?).
I expect this thread to be a mini build log as I get stuff done.
I'm getting some popcorn, sitting on the couch and will enjoy this project!Would be cool if the original Top plate could be re-used. If you do a capacitive touch control it would be nice if it has backlit buttons.As an easy A2DP controller you could use the Satechi Bluetooth media buttonIf the LED matrix is availabe in red it would better fit to a B&O product.And yes, we still need that automatic antenna.If you are out of hobbys you should work in Struer to get them ideas!
I used a blue matrix as a kind of lean towards Bluetooth ;-) The red is a B&0 signature, I didn't want to step on their toes.
Also I plan to fabricate my own capacitive touch control panel. I have done this a few times in the past. It may be a laminated laser cut kinda thing, we shall see. Not too sure on backlit buttons, but I like the idea.
As for hobbies, I do this kind of thing for a living :-)
"You think we can slap some oak on this thing?"
pinter75: Hi. I used a blue matrix as a kind of lean towards Bluetooth ;-) The red is a B&0 signature, I didn't want to step on their toes. Also I plan to fabricate my own capacitive touch control panel. I have done this a few times in the past. It may be a laminated laser cut kinda thing, we shall see. Not too sure on backlit buttons, but I like the idea. As for hobbies, I do this kind of thing for a living :-)
... Excellent project and thread... For many of us with bs3 a great possibility to stretch that system into the future. Let us know when crowd funding (through beoworld?) could help...
Just in case anyone wondered. This is what a Beosound 3's resistive control panel looks like gutted.
leosgonewild:Would it be possible to ask for those mad skillz to build led-displays for Penta's that works with the icepower modules? I have the 250asx2..
pinter75: As for hobbies, I do this kind of thing for a living :-)
This explains it all.
What exactly do you do for living?
Wishlist for your Project:- Beo 4 control- Backlit buttons- automatic antenna still working- aux-in instead of headphones out- red LED matrix instead of blue- ...
TWG: pinter75: As for hobbies, I do this kind of thing for a living :-) This explains it all. What exactly do you do for living? Wishlist for your Project:- Beo 4 control- Backlit buttons- automatic antenna still working- aux-in instead of headphones out- red LED matrix instead of blue- ...
I am a professional inventor type of person. My main expertise is in design and engineering. I work mostly in the toy and gadget area, but do consult & do R&D to some big companies known for their high design products. If I could do some work with B&O a childhood dream would have been realised. I used to copy their stuff and make MDF models in a similar design! But for now I will just hack their stuff to make it relevant in todays World. ;-)
Sounds like you've got the job of childhoods dream! That explains the quality of your hacks and you are a very welcome contribution to this forum!The detailed explanations paired with your know-how are very helpful!
pinter75:I am a professional inventor type of person. for now I will just hack their stuff to make it relevant in todays World. ;-)
Here is my planned interpretation of the control panel.
Left is the visuals, right is where the alloy conductive slugs live. This all depends on if I can get enough capacitance through the printed/painted top panel.
Love these projects
If you think nobody cares, try missing a couple of payments.
Thinking bout this, I may have a wood veneer panel ontop. Sort of a nod towards B&O's current and past stuff. It could look nice onto of all that alloy.
I know a guy who uses veneers allot, so may test out conductivity and stuff. I think I can laser etch in the legends, then varnish it to a high gloss.
I may be loosing the antenna. It serves no purpose except "oooohh" factor. Plus I have to cobble something together to retract it when a user presses standby. For a speedy DIY hack I would rather not get knee deep in sending stuff to sleep and proper power management,
pinter75: Here is my planned interpretation of the control panel. Left is the visuals, right is where the alloy conductive slugs live. This all depends on if I can get enough capacitance through the printed/painted top panel.
A good idea but design wise I would change some things a little bit:- the white text should be a little smaller- it's easier to the eye if you use "Volume +" and "Volume -" instead of up/down- the play/pause symbol should be smaller, too and backlit: Green = playing, Orange slow blinking = Pause- headphone- jacket as AUX-IN to use local, wired sources.- indicator light which sources are active (Aux, Bluetooth...)- the classical red standby-LED. :)Are the radio- and MP3-modules completely out of order now? If not, you might integrate them and keep their functionality, too!?
I think the top panel will change depending on how I get along with the wood veneer and capacitance.
Looks like the Ariel is going to be omitted, I may save it in the parts box for a true radio project.
I may go for a red matrix as it will look better with the wood top.
Mp3 & radio have been dumped. This is a pure Bluetooth speaker with may aux in. The illuminated buttons won't happen, but the matrix does indicate what button has been pressed.
As soon as stuff arrives, and i can test it I will update the thread.
Ok, that's personal taste, I would still go for the aluminium panel with a few design modifications.Where do you "construct" and design those panels? Do you use a CAD program or a graphic editor like Photoshop?I'm excited to see the final product! :-)
If you are running out of projects I have another one for you which seems to be more software than hardware modding: Can you make a Yamaha MCX-A10 talk to DLNA networks? That would enable this lovely littel machine to be used with modern NAS systems etc.! http://usa.yamaha.com/product_archive/audio-visual/mcx-a10_silver__u/?mode=model
I do all the CAD stuff in CorelDraw, as it directly drives my laser cutter. Plus I have been using it for years so know it well.
All change due to time and materials. I have decided to have some alloy buttons (easiest for capacitive sensing).
I bought some punched alloy material on-line. These will form the basis of the capacitive button. My MCU is just not all that sensitive to detecting capacitance under something not dialectic (veneer etc).
Now for an experiment. How to put button legends on. I don't have a silkscreen, and that is just too much setup for a little one off project. So I sprayed them with some black flat acrylic.
Now it is into my laser cutter. The way this works is that you create the text legend for the button. Then use the laser to etch off the paint that you don't need. This leaves paint forming the legend text.
After a clean with white spirit to remove and atomised paint, this is how they look. They also get a coat of acrylic lacquer to protect the paint.
Turned out ok
Next up is the top panel. The original alloy one was removed and a new one cut from 2mm acrylic, sprayed silver.
In go the buttons which sit on wires transmitting the signal to the MCU.
Testing it all works as expected, and it does :-)
Integrated into the Beosound 3 case.
Overall it looks ok, not in a true B&O style - but I am not trying to emulate them. This is more because I had some bt modules lying about and wanted to make something with them.
I now have my soft standby button thing sorted. So the antenna can stay.
Beovision 7 40 mk 5 ,beovision 6x3, beosound 3000, beogram 3300 , 2 x lc2, 2 x beocom 1401, beocom 6000 x 2, 5 x beo4,
, 4 x beolab 4's, form 2, h2, a2,a1 and a beolab 2 😀😀
Livingroom: BL3, BL11, BV11-46 Kitchen: Beosound 1 GVA, Beocom 2 Bathroom: M3 Homeoffice: M3, Beocom 2 Library: Beosound Emerge, Beocom 6000 Bedroom: M5, Essence remote Travel: Beoplay E8 2.0, Beoplay EQ, Beoplay Earset
Maybe buying a working original top panel would have been the better option...
BeoMotion: Maybe buying a working original top panel would have been the better option...
Only if I wanted to retain the radio and MP3 features, which I am not. I am fitting my own stuff totally replacing all the B&O electronics.
As I don't want the power button on the top panel, I am wondering if I can integrate it into the antenna.
At rest push down, the unit turns on, connects to a BT source antenna goes up. To turn it off you push the antenna down. As it only goes up an inch or so - I wonder if this will be a good idea? Bit more novel than just a button somewhere.
pinter75: BeoMotion: Maybe buying a working original top panel would have been the better option... Only if I wanted to retain the radio and MP3 features, which I am not. I am fitting my own stuff totally replacing all the B&O electronics.
What has the top panel to do with the radio and MP3 sources? It should be possible to handle it with every MCU that has build in ADCs...It is hard to design an equally nice looking top panel like the original one.
There is also some basic audio processing done on the original main PCB. Replacing this with custom parts will either result in poor sound performance or lots of extra cost and time.
Maybe repairing the original components and writing some custom FW for the original MCU to talk to a BT module would be better?
BeoMotion: pinter75: BeoMotion: Maybe buying a working original top panel would have been the better option... Only if I wanted to retain the radio and MP3 features, which I am not. I am fitting my own stuff totally replacing all the B&O electronics. What has the top panel to do with the radio and MP3 sources? It should be possible to handle it with every MCU that has build in ADCs...It is hard to design an equally nice looking top panel like the original one. There is also some basic audio processing done on the original main PCB. Replacing this with custom parts will either result in poor sound performance or lots of extra cost and time. Maybe repairing the original components and writing some custom FW for the original MCU to talk to a BT module would be better?
For a start the existing panel has redundant buttons, considering that I have removed the radio feature (I don't listen to FM). This is a simple project to re-use the housing, not a reverse engineering project. When all done it will just go in a cupboard or in the loft along with most my other projects. This is done for fun, rather then purpose. :-)
Okay.
If there are people out there who are thinking about modifying their BS3 and want to keep most of the original functionality:
There is plenty of space available right under the FM tuner board.It should be possible to install a Raspberry Pi A+ inside without any case modifications.If you go one step further you can remove the original radio tuner and connect that Raspberry to its control bus.Unfortunately the FM tuner (TEA5757) uses a custom 3 wire communication protocol that requires bit banging. It would be necessary to add a separate MCU that emulates the tuner and translates the data into something the Raspberry understands.
This way you could add e.g. webradio or even AirPlay to your BS3 and still keeping the stock UX.
For me, I don't see any necessity at the moment for doing this. I might change my mind when in a couple of years the analog FM broadcasting is shut down :-)
first , forget my pool english ,
I have repair My Beosound 3
this is the volume control digital to analog ,
this is the panel control
or you can visit my web page
Kevin Hou
this is final
It is really great that you fixed it! But is there an explanation in english? On this side of the planet not all people are familiar with chinese language.