Never bother attempting to shorten your remote cable

[Kebabrov]

Hey all,

Just tried shortening it by cutting the cable in half then resoldering the wires onto the remote's PCB. I never used the remote in the first place, so figured I'd have nothing to lose... and thank god for that. Its really difficult to do. There are about 13-14 wires that you have to solder, and about 5 of them look almost exactly the same... copper coloured with a vaguely coloured stripe being the only difference between them. That aside, its really difficult to solder the wires back onto the PCB without having to cut too much of the black plastic wire cover away. Since the wires are so short, its hard to position them correctly onto the copper pads on the pcb. If you did cut a lot away, you'd have coloured wires protruding from the remote, which will look bad!!! it would be much easier that way anyways. futhermore, i doubt the solder connections will be decent enough, so the sound quality might degrade and the remote may not even work had the job been completed.

as for the remote, its been decommissioned, and placed in the rubbish alone with all my other failed experiments.

[meowsqueak]

I admire your courage. When I attempt things like this, I always take time (usually far more time than the job will involve) to plan the entire operation. I make sure I document the status quo as much as possible. In this situation, I would use a meter to map out the wires before I cut them.

My sympathies for the 'failed experiment' - I hope you learned something positive from this. Don't let it put you off hacking things

[BroChaos]

hehe, thats cool that you tried. thats a lot of wires in a tiny spot, probably takes some pretty decent tools to do properly. perhaps you should take pics of inside and everything, before you throw away, in case someone else wants to try in the future.

[COOL888]

Did you drink enough beer to do this job?

[miwe8]

Why don't you see if the dead remote is of any use to the guys on the Rockbox firmware project.

[Tang]

Originally Posted by miwe8

Why don't you see if the dead remote is of any use to the guys on the Rockbox firmware project.

Agree with this... Won't be usefull for the moment but when it'll be the time to think about remote displaying for sure Rockbox will be interested by your dead remote...
Contact them Kebabrov it's the best thing to do now since your remote is dead...
Regards,
Tanguy

[linus]

I'd love to have the dead remote, so I can tear it apart and draw schematics. Please consider donating it.

[Kairyu]

Wow, brave you are. I'm taking electronics and I might've done the same eventually if you didn't tell me there were that many wires =P.

But hey, at least you can say you tried.

[Kebabrov]

hmm, not a bad idea. fortunately, i dont have many other failed experiments, so getting it from the bin was quite easy

dont expect it to ever work again, since i somehow managed to get solder jammed in the switch for play, and ripped off the LCD screen in my moment of rage. I've put the LCD back where it should be. If you want to have a look at the PCB, you're more than welcome to it, but there arent any wires connected that go from the remote to the main unit. The solder pads are labelled tho.

linus, PM me (i'll be a uni all day, and at the pub all night, so wont reply till about saturday afternoon)

[iops]

hi tangguy,
is da h340 [b] able to support bluetooth headphones/eraphones in da future???
thankx

[DeadMan]

Bluetooth again. What I would like it NOT Bluetooth headphones per se as they would likely be crap quality and look weird. I'd much prefer a bluetooh remote to plug my own phones into. Just a lappel type remote with a headphone out and a built in mic so you can use it with a mobile phone.

[kekybobo]

hey all. i know its a bit late now for ya kebabrov but wouldnt it have just been easier to wrap the excess cable around the player, and using the flap on the case (the one that keeps the player in the case) to keep the wire in place. its not ideal but i find it does the job.

[Mr Whippy]

I guess someone could open their LCD remote and map out the correct wiring..although doesn't fix the short length of cable between the casing & PCB.

I can get the draw out wiring diagram from a H140 remote (I have a meter)..should be identical. I've taken the single screw off, but it won't open up.

[linus]

Originally Posted by Mr Whippy

I guess someone could open their LCD remote and map out the correct wiring..although doesn't fix the short length of cable between the casing & PCB.

Kebabrov donated his remote to the Rockbox project, and creating schematics is on my, unfortunately very busy, agenda.

[Mr Whippy]

But do you still need the wiring diagram?- from the PCB to the connector? (he did say that some of the cables were similar, and unable to tell which is which)

[FlameGrilled]

Having got used to working with compact pcb's, surface-mount components etc, 'umbilical' cables (a fond name for multi-wire cables like talked of here, as they remind me of umbilicies) - yes a beer or two helps, decent tools and a damned steady hand helps.

Also, failing eyesight dont contribute much either

Have gutted iMP-250 and SP-250 remotes a few times, to remount in other containers for frame or bar mounting for bikes mind...

My favourite (not) was a radio with a remote handset that had a two-inch diameter screw-fit connector set to link the two together and a matching diameter connecting cable... you dont wanna know how many tiny wires were inside that beast

And yes, the day i had to wire in a new connector pair for the radio, it was a total utter demonic b*tch of a job - especially out in the field with an electrician's big-bit soldering iron

[Mr Whippy]

What fun!