13 replies to this topic

[WhatTheTech]

This tutorial has been moved to the [HOW-TO]s subforum above. This thread is for the discussion of the above tutorial. If you have any comments to add to the tutorial, please do so here.


THANK YOU!

Edited by Mr.D., 16 March 2013 - 04:26 AM.
Tutorial Promoted!

[polkaholga]

I got myself original bluetooth spare parts ( power harness, antenna + module ) from the 2011 iMac.
I glued some screws inside my G5 case right behind the front mesh to attach the antenna there.
Works perfectly, no interferences or any problems at all.

[riza]

Just wanted to say thank you for your idea it worked.

[WhatTheTech]

polkaholga, on 20 January 2013 - 09:16 AM, said:

I got myself original bluetooth spare parts ( power harness, antenna + module ) from the 2011 iMac.
I glued some screws inside my G5 case right behind the front mesh to attach the antenna there.
Works perfectly, no interferences or any problems at all.

Glad to hear it worked nicely for you! I have a feeling that there are other factors involved (aside from placement alone) because I did extensive placement testing with a bluetooth signal tool, and in my case, the front resulted in dropped data. I guess everyone just has to play around and find the sweet spot for their case!

riza, on 14 February 2013 - 11:38 PM, said:

Just wanted to say thank you for your idea it worked.

Riza,

Glad it worked out! I wouldn't call it my idea - I wasn't the first to come up with it - but I'm glad this tutorial in particular worked for you!

[polkaholga]

WhatTheTech, on 15 February 2013 - 02:55 PM, said:

Glad to hear it worked nicely for you! I have a feeling that there are other factors involved (aside from placement alone) because I did extensive placement testing with a bluetooth signal tool, and in my case, the front resulted in dropped data. I guess everyone just has to play around and find the sweet spot for their case!

I needed to play around to find the "sweet spot". It wouldn't work when i tried at the bottom of the case ( needed to reconnect on every boot & lots of signal losses when on ) or anywhere near the rear end ( no signal at all ).
And finally where it is now was too a lot of testing ala "little bit more to the left & little more to the right" etc etc...

Another reason maybe could be that i use an iMac antenna, definitely bigger then the MBP ones and probably better in receiving/sending, who knows ?

[WhatTheTech]

Placement is definitely a conundrum. I also use the iMac antennas, and found on my all-aluminum Lian-Li case that it HAD to be lined up with one of the holes, or outside of the case entirely. I'm currently working on a mod that will use a wi-fi antenna for ultra range and signal quality, but with Chinese new year everything slowed to a halt

[Klaus (Spain)]

Thank's for the great tutorial. I got it running!

Just a tip if somebody has difficulties to find a BT-modulo with cable: I found a appropriate for the module I used (it seems that not all have the same connector) in a broken DVD drive (from a PowerMac G5). It is the cable that connects the motor that moves the optical assembly. You can see it here:


The module I used is this one:


Here you can see it connected:


And that it is easy to solder the cables (I broke the motor and cut the small cables that went to the coils) can be seen in the attached photo.
Hope that may help.

Cheers - Klaus

Attached Files

•  _K511065-a800c10.jpg   121.97K   2 downloads

[BALDY_MAN]

just made myself one. the only difference is i put a pigtail on the card and added a wifi antenna i can pick up a phone  5 yards away

[WhatTheTech]

Nice! That's what I'm working on right now, and I have a couple of enormous wi-fi antennas that I'm going to try out

[BALDY_MAN]

@What The Tech it don't need to be  big.  the one  i use it about 120 mm in length

[WhatTheTech]

BALDY_MAN, on 16 March 2013 - 12:39 AM, said:

@What The Tech it don't need to be  big.  the one  i use it about 120 mm in length

Oh I know it doesn't have to, but I'm wondering what sort of reception can be had with a bigger antenna

I have a pair of bluetooth headphones - I wonder how far I can wander around the house with a large antenna for bluetooth...

[Mr.D.]

with a large antenna on the headphones too - then you'll be stylin'!

I get right at 30 feet with my BT speaker and BT dongle - neither have an antenna. I can however, tell when the battery is low on the speaker - it starts to loose sync and sounds like a skipping CD player.

[WhatTheTech]

Mr.D., on 16 March 2013 - 09:06 PM, said:

with a large antenna on the headphones too - then you'll be stylin'!

I get right at 30 feet with my BT speaker and BT dongle - neither have an antenna. I can however, tell when the battery is low on the speaker - it starts to loose sync and sounds like a skipping CD player.

As do my headphones - also when the batteries are low I turn my head a certain way while jogging so that the receiver has to go through me to get signal from the phone in my pocket...lol

[Snipeye]

I was wondering if any experimentation had been done with either:

http://www.ebay.com/...=item27d1f67bd1

or

http://www.ebay.com/...=item2ec72ba156

The first one looks like it has USB slots right on the thing... I just dunno if it would work.  I'm interested in getting bluetooth 4.0 built in to my hackint0sh...