I was wondering if anyone has figured out how to bluetooth their CB into a bluetooth intercom (Scala, Chatterbox, or the like)? I have heard you can do it but it will be a listen only. I want the full CB and think I figured out a way to do it. Just wondering if anyone has beaten me to it.
I have good news and bad news. In theory this works, however I need to tweak it some.
The problem I have run into is with the volume all the way up you can barley hear the cb. When you key up others can barley hear you. I think the problem lies within the size wires we used. I will tweak this in the up coming weeks. So far this is what I have done.
Once again this is needs some tweaks.
I wanted to be able to use my stock CB unit in conjunction with my Cardo Scala Rider G4 Power Set. It took me some time but I finally completed the task. I made this product for my Dad’s motorcycle (2007 Yamaha Royal Star Venture), but it should work on any intercom system using a standard 5 pin plug as they are wired the same.
The Search:
I started searching the internet for a solution to this problem and stumbled across this forum and read many people want this same feature. I think as of now the only option is from J&M and the system cost around $1,000USD! I have also seen where some people used store bought adapters (5 pin to 3.5mm adapter) and in doing so discovered they could only hear the CB. The wiring in the store bought adapters will not allow for a microphone input.
The Idea:
I located wiring diagrams of the stock 5 pin plug and a product called a Blue Tooth Adapter. The Blue Tooth Adapter (BTA from this point forward) I used is the Cardo BTA II (see link below). You can use other brands but be careful in your choice. The BTA is designed to plug into a non-bluetooth phone and allow the phone to connect to another bluetooth device, like a bluetooth ear mic (or in our case motorcycle blue tooth headset). Make sure you DO NOT buy one that is to transmit only! You will need the device to be capable of both transmitting and receiving. You will also need a 5 pin connecter plug (see link below).
The Steps (Please if you are not good with wiring or soldering do not attempt this on your own)
Once I had the two items I pulled the top of the BTA. Inside the device you will see a battery, a circuit board, and the coiled wire that has the 2.5mm plug attached to the other end. Three wires connect to the circuit board, on mine they were colored white, red and black. The wires were labeled: white is +microphone, the black is the common ground and the red is +speaker. Be sure to take note what color the wires are and what they do (they may be different for your application). With that taken care of you can reseal the unit.
The next step was to cut the 2.5mm plug off the end of the wire. Take the bundled wire and strip off the insulating outer cover. This will reveal the 3 wires you noted in the previous step. Strip the insulation off the 3 wires so you have the bare wire exposed. Using the CB 5 pin wiring diagram (see link below) you may now solder the wires to the individual pins in the 5 pin connector plug. Make sure you solder the wires to their respective locations. In my case the white (microphone wire) will be soldered to the pin labeled 1 (see link below), the black (ground wire) is soldered to pins 4 and 2 (see link below) (this will ground the mic and speakers), and the red (speaker wire) is soldered to pins 5 and 3 (see link below) (this will allow you to hear the CB in both ears).
Please if you are not good with wiring or soldering do not attempt this on your own. It takes some knowledge, quite a bit of soldering skill and some specialized tools. You have very little room to work and if not wired correctly it will not work properly. Also, if you use other parts or products other than I have I do not know for sure if they will work. I have not tested any other brand BTA’s or other brand headsets at this time.
Thank you
J. Yates
CB 5 pin plug wiring diagram:
http://venturers.org/Tech_Library/attachments/cbwiring.pdf
5 pin plug adapter
http://www.frys.com/product/1570803?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG
Blue Tooth Adapter:
[ame][url=http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d.html/ref=redir_mdp_mobile/191-4266561-3880738?a=B000LGUAU8]http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d.html/ref=redir_mdp_mobile/191-4266561-3880738?a=B000LGUAU8[/ame]
I will update my next steps in days or weeks to come. Wish me luck.
J. Yates
