Rich Oakley
Well-known member
As you may have noticed, I occasionally sell a Blaupunkt radio or two on the forum. Most of these radios have a 6-pin MONO DIN socket on the rear allowing you to connect to an external device such as an ipod or MP3 player. You can then play your ipod tunes through the radio.
People very often ask me where to obtain the correct MONO cable from to connect their ipod to the radio. The cheap and easy option is to buy a 6-pin DIN to 3.5mm jack socket 'straight through' cable. There are several different types (ie: with different wiring configurations) but you can get the correct one from a few places for £15 or so. HOWEVER, these cables are a pain in the arse! If you wish to switch between ipod and radio functions, you have to fiddle behind the dashboard and literally unplug the DIN connector at the rear and then re-insert it when you want to listen to the radio. Very inconvenient.
The solution? A 'switched' adaptor. I will be making up a handful of these adaptors over the weekend if time permits. The switched adaptor solution has one cable with a DIN connector that plugs into the back of the radio- at the other end of this cable is some switching circuitry in a box with an input jack socket. This (grey) cable with box remains always connected to the radio.
A second cable (black cable) is then used to connect from the jack socket on the box to the ipod. When this second cable is disconnected, the radio is functional. When you connect this second cable with ipod attached to the box, the box switches over from radio to ipod. It's a really neat solution!
Price, £30 posted.
6-pin socket...
People very often ask me where to obtain the correct MONO cable from to connect their ipod to the radio. The cheap and easy option is to buy a 6-pin DIN to 3.5mm jack socket 'straight through' cable. There are several different types (ie: with different wiring configurations) but you can get the correct one from a few places for £15 or so. HOWEVER, these cables are a pain in the arse! If you wish to switch between ipod and radio functions, you have to fiddle behind the dashboard and literally unplug the DIN connector at the rear and then re-insert it when you want to listen to the radio. Very inconvenient.
The solution? A 'switched' adaptor. I will be making up a handful of these adaptors over the weekend if time permits. The switched adaptor solution has one cable with a DIN connector that plugs into the back of the radio- at the other end of this cable is some switching circuitry in a box with an input jack socket. This (grey) cable with box remains always connected to the radio.
A second cable (black cable) is then used to connect from the jack socket on the box to the ipod. When this second cable is disconnected, the radio is functional. When you connect this second cable with ipod attached to the box, the box switches over from radio to ipod. It's a really neat solution!
Price, £30 posted.
6-pin socket...
