DIY: Bluetooth Handsfree in car for Rs 500

[Comrade]

errr.. one query. How do you pick an incoming call. Phone? Wouldn't it take sometime to pick a call and switch to aux-in. but very cost effective solution. brilliant. SIGH!!! such ideas never struck me.

For the power/charging. few options are available.

take any spare car-charger for phone (of course since its USB powered, all phone chargers should be compatible). Cut the phone pin and join handsfree's pin.

Some chargers come with all in one pins. May be handfree's pin is common with motorola or Nokia or mini-USB

also car-chargers with USB female out are available for around 100 bucks.

[WasavaTyres]

Originally Posted by leadf00t

How does the name BLUETOOTH show when u select aux1. is it a setting that u can rename source name in the HU

Pioneer lets you manually name upto 2 Aux Devices in your head unit.

I'm sure calls are answered on the handset and the aux mode is selected via remote.C'mon all you guys talking of convinience and ease of use,DIY is all about the joy of seeing something that you rigged actually work. I'm sure this setup would make shreyas more happy than any fancy after market car kit he'd pick up. A very nicely done job mate,hats off to you. I personally never answer calls while driving or else would've tried this. As for your charging woes,if you have to charge it via USB just pick up an ipod car charger,it has a female USB lead. I own one made by a taiwanese brand YES.

[Tejas@perioimpl]

shreyas nice job. I remember the early nokia car kits for 6300 series phone had the mic (the same size as this bluetooth headset) fitted above the RVM for better sound capture.
New DIYers using this method should take a longer wire, run it along (and inside) the beading and try attaching it at the RVM stalk.

[mukeshgoel]

shreyas, Very well DIY.

I'ld love to do something like that.

By the way, what I have been doing is quite simple, my N95 has 3.5mm Headphone socket, so a 1' cable with both side 3.5mm male pin does it for me. One end goes in N95 other one goes in HU's Aux in. And N95 is kept where you have kept the bluetooth handsfree. That way N95's mic and ICE's speakers are used in the call. (N95's mic is pretty strong). No bluetooth, no wire cutting, soldering. Simple. Isn't it.

Regards,
MG

[shreyasma]

Originally Posted by leadf00t

shreyasma,

nice work dude.. brilliant idea. How does the whole volume level matching happen.
i.e. is the volume level correct or u need to pump up or pull down the volume when u select aux1.

How does the name BLUETOOTH show when u select aux1. is it a setting that u can rename source name in the HU

Well....I never used this device as the volume on it was very very low. Now i have to pump it even more on HU when in AUX mode. Anyway, i have something in mind as a solution. Will post it when I try.

Pioneer HU allows to name the device attached in AUX.

Originally Posted by vebmetal

So do you answer the call with your phone, or with the bluetooth headset? Either way, isn't it inconvenient?

I can answer the call on the phone or headset. I always use the steering remote to control the HU. I am so used to the remote that when i have an incoming call, i can switch to AUX increase the volume and press the answer button in 3-4 secs

Originally Posted by frankmehta

absolute stonker of a DIY!
one of the best and most useful DIYS ive seen. congrats and keep up the good work, very inspired to do the same.
only one question. does it mean one has to switch from music listening mode to the aux mode as soon as the phone rings"?

Yes Frank.

Originally Posted by mukeshgoel

shreyas, Very well DIY.

I'ld love to do something like that.

By the way, what I have been doing is quite simple, my N95 has 3.5mm Headphone socket, so a 1' cable with both side 3.5mm male pin does it for me. One end goes in N95 other one goes in HU's Aux in. And N95 is kept where you have kept the bluetooth handsfree. That way N95's mic and ICE's speakers are used in the call. (N95's mic is pretty strong). No bluetooth, no wire cutting, soldering. Simple. Isn't it.

Regards,
MG

Well Mate...i wasnt lucky to get a 3.5mm audio out on my LG Viewty.

[vedagiri1983]

Beauty buddy..hats off.remember have to try in mine too but let us try to get a spare blue tooth 1st..keep searching..

[condor]

Shreyas, that is something ! And so cost-effective. Wonder how did I miss this thread.

Any progress on the volume / pick-up ?

[arpandiv]

Great work done! wonder how i missed this thread.trying it out this weekend.

[Jaggu]

great work! actually brilliant and am getting ideas.

i use the cassette adapter which plugs into the headphone jack of iPhone for my wired hands free, cost 150 bucks. Yes volume needs to be pumped up a lil to get a clear voice, good thing is from iPod mode phone automatically shifts to phone. Another issue is if i plug in the jack fully then the mic goes to mute sice its an integrated jack for mike also :(

[Tejas@perioimpl]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

great work! actually brilliant and am getting ideas.

i use the cassette adapter which plugs into the headphone jack of iPhone for my wired hands free, cost 150 bucks. Yes volume needs to be pumped up a lil to get a clear voice, good thing is from iPod mode phone automatically shifts to phone. Another issue is if i plug in the jack fully then the mic goes to mute sice its an integrated jack for mike also :(

There is a very simple solution for that. I bought a china made iphone dock from heera panna and stuck it with a 2-sided tape to the dash and connected this audio-in cable to the audio-out of the dock (from behind). Now since it is a dedicated aux-out and not headphone out, the volume does not need to be increased and nor does the mic get deactivated. Since the phone is now at dash level, it's easy to see who is calling and read smses.
You can use your original dock too!

[shatrughna]

@shreyasma- Congrats and its a brilliant idea that worked. I am actually fumbling myself these days to install a similar setup in Laura. The bluetooth option in Jetta at the dealer is quoted at Rs.15K while compared to this it looks astronomical.

I have an aux in ( 3.5 mm stereo ) in the centre arm rest for ipod in Laura - now any idea as to what should i do to have a proper setup for bluetooth enabled handsfree kit for cellphone.

[shreyasma]

Originally Posted by shatrughna

@shreyasma- Congrats and its a brilliant idea that worked. I am actually fumbling myself these days to install a similar setup in Laura. The bluetooth option in Jetta at the dealer is quoted at Rs.15K while compared to this it looks astronomical.

I have an aux in ( 3.5 mm stereo ) in the centre arm rest for ipod in Laura - now any idea as to what should i do to have a proper setup for bluetooth enabled handsfree kit for cellphone.

If you want similar setup like mine, get a basic bluetooth headset from a reputed manufacturer, for example BH 101 from nokia, this will have a good speaker volume and battery backup. Open the device and cut the wires that goes to the small speaker and attach it to a 3.5mm male jack with a lengthy wire. place the hansfree on the steering column on near the guages.

Thats it! all you gotta do is pair the handsfree with the phone, connect the 3.5 mm jack to your music system. When there is a call, just change the source on the HU to Aux and answer the call. For charging, you can use a car charger.

I have to pump up the volume in aux mode. But i dont think you will have issues if you have the hansfree from a good manufacturer.

[vedagiri1983]

Note from the Team-BHP Support Staff : Please take the time to use proper punctuation as per Team-BHP rules. Avoid...typing...like...this. Thanks.


Hey but i think you get a nokia car blue tooth for 10k i guess as i had enquired some months ago for my car..but nothing comparable to shreyasma's work regarding cost wise...job done well shreyas...

[hotstuff]

@shreyas - Lovely DIY. I am impressed.

Originally Posted by mukeshgoel

By the way, what I have been doing is quite simple, my N95 has 3.5mm Headphone socket, so a 1' cable with both side 3.5mm male pin does it for me. One end goes in N95 other one goes in HU's Aux in. And N95 is kept where you have kept the bluetooth handsfree. That way N95's mic and ICE's speakers are used in the call. (N95's mic is pretty strong). No bluetooth, no wire cutting, soldering. Simple. Isn't it.

I tried something similar, with an older model Nokia phone which did not have a 3.5mm stereo jack. The phone did have a hands-free wired stereo headset. [pic below]. I just snipped off the speakers from the headset and spliced in a 3.5mm jack to connect to the HU aux-in.

The system worked fine for me, i.e. I could receive calls by pressing on the button on the head-set and I would get a feeling that the other person was right there in the car with me :-)

Unfortunately, it was not working for the people who were on the other side. Though they were able to hear me loud and clear, they was also able to hear themselves when they spoke :-( A friend of mine called it the 'God voice' where their own voice would echo back to them... so folks asked me to get rid of it... and I did.

I was wondering, does a company hands-free have some kind of echo-cancelling system ? Like most speaker phones seem to have... and when @shreyas's idea is implemented, does the person on the other side hear any echo ?

@shreyas, can you check if the person on the other side is hearing echos ?

For older phones, cut off the speakers in the headset and connect the wires to a 3.5mm jack. The mic is in the junction box on the headset and is sensitive enough to pick-up the conversation when fixed near the odo-console [where @shreyas had fixed the bluetooth hands-free]


As for charging your USB, you can try out your idea of taking a parallel power connection from your HU USB pin. [You may want to rethink it since the HU electronics may not like the additional load...] or as others have already suggested, there are USB chargers that can be plugged into the lighter socket.

I had picked up one from a company called 'Camelion', for around Rs.500 from Staples in Bangalore. [Should be available in Croma / Reliance digital etc.] I was using it to charge a MP3 player. Quite reliable and does not heat-up excessively even after keeping it plugged in for hours at a time.

CAMELION - product details of the USB charger.

[shreyasma]

Originally Posted by hotstuff

@shreyas - Lovely DIY. I am impressed.



Unfortunately, it was not working for the people who were on the other side. Though they were able to hear me loud and clear, they was also able to hear themselves when they spoke :-( A friend of mine called it the 'God voice' where their own voice would echo back to them... so folks asked me to get rid of it... and I did.

I was wondering, does a company hands-free have some kind of echo-cancelling system ? Like most speaker phones seem to have... and when @shreyas's idea is implemented, does the person on the other side hear any echo ?

@shreyas, can you check if the person on the other side is hearing echos ?

No Friend..the person on the other side is able to hear my voice clearly without any echoes. But if I pump up the volume on HU then the "God Voices" start. If we use a handsfree from a good manufacturer, then we will not have issues as they have noise reduction feature. I read about this in few articles and product specs. But not sure if all the models have this.