Craig W460 "hands-free" hidden bluetooth project

[Rhye]

Radio #0001 repaired/refreshed, upgraded, tested and ready for shipping. Now the fate of the project will greatly depend on the first customer's feedback.

[BladeBronson]

Wow, this is really incredible. It’s probably the last thing you want to think about at the moment, but do you foresee an ASI version for the 82 and 83 cars?

[Rhye]

Wow, this is really incredible. It’s probably the last thing you want to think about at the moment, but do you foresee an ASI version for the 82 and 83 cars?

I'd probably have to clone myself. The only option I see is to make an ASI prototype and pass the project to someone willing to offer it. But first I'd need to switch to the next generation circuit to reduce the enormous workload this upgrade requires.

[nkemp]

It's been a year and I thought I'd bump this thread to see if there is any update.

I saw you mod in Alan's car this last weekend and it works really well! Good work.

[Gregadeth]

I'm also interested in updates on this.

[BladeBronson]

I ended up having Hector's Car Audio Tech in Pomona, CA add Bluetooth to my ASI radio. They use boards by Aurora Design but because I didn't want it saying "connected!" every time I turned the radio on, I sourced my own Bluetooth board. The way that my board (and Aurora's) works is that the board sits between the Craig/ASI's preamp and volume knob and normally passes the audio through (whether the source is AM/FM/cassette). If a phone is paired with the board and is playing audio, a relay is flipped on the board and the phone's audio is passed through to the volume knob, power amp, and then of course the speakers. Once I understood the operation, I was excited to crack open my ASI and mod my own radio... until I opened it and caught a glimpse of the rat's nest of wires!! I decided that the hack was best left to the pros and Hector did a great job.


Hector's demo on a Craig radio with the Aurora board: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ib-epk_iFoc

[Rhye]

So glad to hear the 1-st radio works as expected!

Here's a little update on the project. Second set of electronics for another Alan's radio is prepared and functionally tested. Another 2 sets are 95% assembled but I need a full feedback on the 1-st set to offer them.

2.41_3rd_4th.jpg


A prototype of the 2-nd generation microcontroller-based PCB is almost completed, but it's still a long way to go to get it running.

3.0_proto.jpg


As for the W460 itself, I've designed and fabricated spare display PCB (to be equipped with modern LED's - bluetooth icon included) and spare lock arm for tape reverse mechanism.

displ_&_lock_arm.jpg


And I haven't cloned myself yet to think of ASI radio conversion :| - sorry (way too many other projects ongoing).

[Patrick C]

Any more updates on this cool project?

[Rhye]

Thanks for asking. Well, not much interest in it. Understandable, 'cause the sound quality of the original unit itself is far from today's standards - I guess most owners would rather invest in replacing it with something decent.

Not much progress with the 2nd gen version. Life took it's own unexpected course for the past 2+ years and I'm slowly preparing myself for finishing the 2nd unit for Alan (I know, it's been ages...).