Fun with Bluetooth

Sunday Oct 29, 2006

Well, it looks like I had a bit too much time on my hands today.

Mike Davis (with whom I used to work back in my Honeycomb days) was kind enough to donate his old Jabra BT250 Headset to me a few weeks ago. I'm sure he had no idea what I planned to do to it.

It is completely unrecognizable at this point, though it still functions beautifully. I spent the day with a Dremel , my Metcal soldering iron, and an old AT&T Phone Handset. (I am sure that many of you can already see where this is going ... )

What I ended up with is a fully functional Bluetooth headset hidden inside the AT&T Handset. The buttons are a tad difficult to get to, but I did drill holes in the shell so that they are accessible (else how would I pair it with anything, right?)

Here's what it looks like, finished ...

Yeah, looks like a regular handset. But it works a treat! And for those of you wondering ... while I was in there I upgraded the battery from the measly 150 mAh Li+ battery to a mammoth 750 mAh Li+ battery left over from a dead Sun SPOT.

But how do I charge it you ask? Well, I wondered that too ... so I had to come up with a solution befitting the entire project ...

Yes, the phone-cord is now the charging cord! Just plug it in and it charges -- takes a bit longer than the stated 2 hours, since I upped the battery capacity so much -- but it charges perfectly.

Now all I need is one of those Cool Shoulder Rests so that my handset can be hands-free again. (If anyone wants to donate a black one, let me know!)

So, a couple of more pictures of the project ... phone porn? This is the handset with the mic and speaker hot-glued in

And this is the whole thing all taken apart on the desk, as I was testing the charging system before soldering it all together....

Yeah, I know. I need to get a life. But it was fun, and now I have my very own cool Bluetooth Headset!! Thanks Mike!

[(1) Avoid fried meats which angry up the blood. (2) If your stomach antagonizes you, pacify it with cool thoughts. (3) Keep the juices flowing by jangling around gently as you move. (4) Go very lightly on the vices, such as carrying on in society, as the social ramble ain't restful. (5) Avoid running at all times. (6) Don't look back, something might be gaining on you. -- S. Paige, c. 1951]