DIY Bluetooth speaker wiring question

Thread Starter

Dalem44

Joined May 6, 2018
7
Hi,
I am new to the forum and have done some research but cannot seem to find the correct answers.

I honestly am just trying to get into building my own bluetooth speakers so my knowledge is very limited, hence my questions on here.

I have the done the following but I am not getting the system to work:
I am trying to get a potentiometer to turn the Bluetooth module and amp on as well as control the volume.

I have 3 wires coming out of the Bluetooth module
Positive audio
Negative audio
Ground

The are connected to the potentiometer's top row of pins in the order from left to right.
Ground
Negative
Positive

The 2nd row of pins on the potentiometer are connected to the amp as follows, also left to right.
First pin blank ?
Amp in negative
Amp in positive

Power to the USB Bluetooth module is 5v supply so I presume the potentiometer will not control the power to that.
After the amp the speakers are connected as well as power in from the same 5v supply. I then have vcc and ground from the amp connected to a step down converter as well as power and then into a dc /dc isolating converter which feeds the usb bluetooth module.

Can anyone guide me on what is wrong with this? I got the component specifications and design from the diy perks YouTube channel.

Please see attached drawing

Thanks in advance

Dale
 

Attachments

Raymond Genovese

Joined Mar 5, 2016
1,653
Does it have a brand and some data? How does it receive the Bluetooth signal that is being broadcast? How does it pair with the transmitter? All that stuff that would be in some instructions or manual.

Edited to add: Have you ever used the unit as a Bluetooth headphone receiver and had it work?

If yes, then you are really asking about a headphone amplifier. If no, then you are asking about how a Bluetooth receiver works.
 
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Thread Starter

Dalem44

Joined May 6, 2018
7
Does it have a brand and some data? How does it receive the Bluetooth signal that is being broadcast? How does it pair with the transmitter? All that stuff that would be in some instructions or manual.

Edited to add: Have you ever used the unit as a Bluetooth headphone receiver and had it work?

If yes, then you are really asking about a headphone amplifier. If no, then you are asking about how a Bluetooth receiver works.
I have had it work as a receiver without any problems but I think my potentiometer wiring may be incorrect. I am very new to this so still trying to figure it all out.

My main concern is that I can get the Bluetooth receiver to get the audio but it is not coming out of the speakers whatsoever. Could there be a wiring problem elsewhere?
 

Raymond Genovese

Joined Mar 5, 2016
1,653
I have had it work as a receiver without any problems but I think my potentiometer wiring may be incorrect. I am very new to this so still trying to figure it all out.

My main concern is that I can get the Bluetooth receiver to get the audio but it is not coming out of the speakers whatsoever. Could there be a wiring problem elsewhere?
It's hard for me to tell from your drawing. There are others here that have a great deal of expertise in all matters amplification.

Look at this diagram: (from https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/175808/stereo-volume-control-in-headphone-amplifier). Just with respect to the pot, is that how you are wiring it up?

 

Thread Starter

Dalem44

Joined May 6, 2018
7
It's hard for me to tell from your drawing. There are others here that have a great deal of expertise in all matters amplification.

Look at this diagram: (from https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/175808/stereo-volume-control-in-headphone-amplifier). Just with respect to the pot, is that how you are wiring it up?

Thanks.
I am not sure about the placement of the pot or the wiring as I am not sure where the ground on the second row should go.
 

Raymond Genovese

Joined Mar 5, 2016
1,653
Sorry, but I don't understand what you mean by "second" row and I don't understand your diagram.

Can you provide the actual brand/spec information for the receiver (I saw your pic). How did you determine the pin functions on the Bluetooth module that you drew on the diagram (G, -, +, - ,+)?

Why are you stepping down the power supply voltage and where is it going? Is that the amplifier?

You are saying in post #1 that there are two rows of pins on the pot. The simple pot has 3 pins, with one of them being the wiper.

When you have had the receiver working, where did you connect the headphones to listen?

A picture and other info would help, but maybe I am just not smart enough to understand because I am beginning to suspect that the receiver you have is made to work with a PC and send the audio data, after processing, to the PC's sound card amplifier and you plug your headphones into the jack on the PC - it's not that, right? You just plug your headphones into the back of the unit.

______________
If you would normally plug your headphones into the receiver, then a simple pot volume control would look like this, I would think (from https://www.head-fi.org/threads/a-simple-potentiometer-volume-control.198823/).



...and P1, the pot, looking like this (from https://components101.com/potentiometer):


You can test this out pretty easily in your set up without using the amplifier...maybe that would help?
 
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Thread Starter

Dalem44

Joined May 6, 2018
7
Sorry, but I don't understand what you mean by "second" row and I don't understand your diagram.

Can you provide the actual brand/spec information for the receiver (I saw your pic). How did you determine the pin functions on the Bluetooth module that you drew on the diagram (G, -, +, - ,+)?

Why are you stepping down the power supply voltage and where is it going? Is that the amplifier?

You are saying in post #1 that there are two rows of pins on the pot. The simple pot has 3 pins, with one of them being the wiper.

When you have had the receiver working, where did you connect the headphones to listen?

A picture and other info would help, but maybe I am just not smart enough to understand because I am beginning to suspect that the receiver you have is made to work with a PC and send the audio data, after processing, to the PC's sound card amplifier and you plug your headphones into the jack on the PC - it's not that, right? You just plug your headphones into the back of the unit.

______________
If you would normally plug your headphones into the receiver, then a simple pot volume control would look like this, I would think (from https://www.head-fi.org/threads/a-simple-potentiometer-volume-control.198823/).



...and P1, the pot, looking like this (from https://components101.com/potentiometer):


You can test this out pretty easily in your set up without using the amplifier...maybe that would help?
I have attached an image of the pot below.
As you can see on the image there is a top row a middle row and a bottom row. The bottom row looks like a switch.
I checked to see if the bluetooth receiver was transmitting audio by using an attached headphone jack and it worked.
I hope this makes sense
 

Attachments

Looks like two potentiometers with an on-off switch and, depending upon the value of the pots, it should work fine as a headphone volume control.

For each set of three pins, the inside pin should be the wiper and the two outside pins should be the fixed ends. You can use a meter to verify that and the value of the pot. Something like 10K should work.

The set of two pins is the on-off switch.

You can follow the diagram below, from here:http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-stereo-volume-control-moduleeasy/
gram below and instead of the toggle switch for mute, use the set of two pins. If you use an output jack, as in the diagram, you can test if it works by plugging your headphones into the second jack. Once you have tested it out, you can proceed to connecting the output to your amplifier.

A simple search will provide you with many additional examples.
 

Thread Starter

Dalem44

Joined May 6, 2018
7
Looks like two potentiometers with an on-off switch and, depending upon the value of the pots, it should work fine as a headphone volume control.

For each set of three pins, the inside pin should be the wiper and the two outside pins should be the fixed ends. You can use a meter to verify that and the value of the pot. Something like 10K should work.

The set of two pins is the on-off switch.

You can follow the diagram below, from here:http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-stereo-volume-control-moduleeasy/
gram below and instead of the toggle switch for mute, use the set of two pins. If you use an output jack, as in the diagram, you can test if it works by plugging your headphones into the second jack. Once you have tested it out, you can proceed to connecting the output to your amplifier.

A simple search will provide you with many additional examples.
Thanks, I will have a look at this later today
 
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