FluxAudio - A Craig Modernization

[todd1561]

Hey everyone,

15 years ago I made a post about modifying the Craig stereo for auxiliary input, I went further and gutted my Craig to replace it with a Raspberry Pi, modern LCD display and controls. I go into more details on my little website if you're interested: https://1561project.com/?page=fluxaudio

Not really intending this to be a "how-to" but more to give people ideas about what could be done. It was quite a bit of work, so would likely only appeal to the hardcore originality folks



I also put an operation overview on YouTube:

[Patrick C]

This is really cool! Awesome work and great thinking.

[Gregadeth]

^ I agree, amazing work. This has always been my dream setup--the original Craig unit, with modern internals but still retaining the knobs for volume control, etc.

I followed your tutorial years ago and installed the AUX input to my stereo, then at some point added a bluetooth adapter to the AUX for wireless functionality. It works most of the time but it isn't perfect (because of the radio internals). What you've done here is the best way to go IMO

I'm gonna go through all your provided info (thanks for that) to see if it's something I can handle, though I'm not as well-versed as you are. I don't use AM/FM or tape, just need Bluetooth so I can stream from my phone. Do you have any interest in modifying the Craig units like this for others who might potentially be interested (myself included)?

[AugustneverEnds]

Amazing! Really outstanding work

[Aaron Cake]

Love it! How long does it take to boot up, or does it stay running and just wake up when switched on? What happens if it is interrupted during boot (SD-card wise)?

[todd1561]

Thanks for all the positive feedback!

I don't use AM/FM or tape, just need Bluetooth so I can stream from my phone. Do you have any interest in modifying the Craig units like this for others who might potentially be interested (myself included)?

Skipping the radio functionality would save you a few bucks, I wound up using an RTL-SDR to handle that which run about $40 just for those. As for modifying these as a product for sale... Never say never, but I can't see a way to do this that isn't overly expensive. There's so much custom, hand modifications I had to make to the stock nose piece I just don't think it would be practical. I even had to grind down the PCB on the new LCD and rework some of its layout to get it to fit. Maybe if I had a 3D printer and took the time to design out parts that could be made repeatedly it would be more practical. But no plans on that front.

Love it! How long does it take to boot up, or does it stay running and just wake up when switched on? What happens if it is interrupted during boot (SD-card wise)?

Good questions. I modified the Linux OS as much as I could to streamline the boot process, it averages about 25-30 seconds. The unit is completely powered off when the car is off. To avoid SD card corruption from abrupt shutdowns I run the entire OS in Raspberry Pi's read-only overlay filesystem. But I keep a small writable partition to hold things like volume level, input source, radio presets, Bluetooth pairings, etc on the SD card so it picks up where it left off the next time it runs.