Electronic gurus, what iam trying to do is

In my RV9A I have a handheld Icom A-6 radio for a backup in case I were to lose my power to my in-panel Garmin GTR200 com radio. I just bought a ga two plug headset with Bose XX with Bluetooth. What I want to accomplish is to plug the matchbook size Bluetooth transmitter (3.5 mm jack) into my handheld speaker jack and transmit the audio out to the transmitter to my Bluetooth headset. At a electronic store which has three models for under $35. One is capable of either transmitting out on Bluetooth frenquency to a Bluetooth device or receiving from a Bluetooth device and taking that signal and sending it by way of the 3.5mm plug to a amplifier with speakers. So I plugged this Bluetooth transmitter into my handheld speaker jack (as noted next to the socket) to listen to ATIS on the ground through my Bluetooth headset. It seemed to pair but I could NOT get ATIS audio to come through the ear pieces. One person I asked said maybe impedence or the radio is a 300 ohm output on the 3.5mm jack of which I haven’t a clue what their talking about.
I thought this little unit (plays for 10 Hours on-a charge ) would be perfect to for just listening on Bluetooth ear buds or headset in the hangar or going for a walk or listening for incoming traffic a Oshkosh or your home airport.or even if you have a shelf Aviation radio this little broadcasts up to 30 feet for one model.

Ron in Oregon

Troubleshooting requires checking one thing at a time.

Make sure the new device works, by plugging it into a 'normal' audio source and transmitting to a known-good receiver.

Then move the transmitter to your plane, and check for good audio to the same known-good receiver.

If all's still good, *then* try to pair it to your headset.

edit: the handheld almost certainly has a mono jack; the bluetooth device almost certainly has a stereo plug. Make sure that you're not shorting out the handheld's output.

To add to the last comment,
You can purchase a small adapter for the radio. It will convert the mono plug to a three conductor. That way you are sure the mono audio out is fed to both stereo channels and no shorting is happening. I would not worry about the 300 ohms. It would only mean setting the volume a bit differently. One last thing. An adapter plug for the handheld, to connect to aviation headset is imperative. If a main radio fails in an RV... you will almost never be able to hear a handheld speaker. And the mic would be noisy at the other end too. Not noise cancelling at all. Good luck.

flightlogic said:

To add to the last comment,
You can purchase a small adapter for the radio. It will convert the mono plug to a three conductor. That way you are sure the mono audio out is fed to both stereo channels and no shorting is happening. I would not worry about the 300 ohms. It would only mean setting the volume a bit differently. One last thing. An adapter plug for the handheld, to connect to aviation headset is imperative. If a main radio fails in an RV... you will almost never be able to hear a handheld speaker. And the mic would be noisy at the other end too. Not noise cancelling at all. Good luck.

Click to expand...

According to the manual for the IC-A6, some versions come with the adapter cable; for those that didn't, the part number is OPC-499. See https://www.icomamerica.com/en/downloads/DownloadDocument.aspx?Document=40 , page 34.

Charlie,Nick & Dave I will run those tests. Dave thanks for the manual for the A6. I went to part #10 (specs) page 30 lower right corner shows jack to be the 3.5mm jack,8 ohms and 3 conductors. So Nick would this be a stereo circuit or mono?

Ron in Oregon

ron sterba said:

Charlie,Nick & Dave I will run those tests. Dave thanks for the manual for the A6. I went to part #10 (specs) page 30 lower right corner shows jack to be the 3.5mm jack,8 ohms and 3 conductors. So Nick would this be a stereo circuit or mono?

Ron in Oregon

Click to expand...

Stereo; mono would be two conductors.

Followup: look at this diagram.

Take note of the Stereo Headphones and Mono Microphone (the latter is the same as mono headphones).

Depending upon the construction of the mono jack, it's possible that the circuit isn't complete. The tip would connect to the left channel of your Bluetooth adapter; no problem. If the mono jack has its ground contact high on the connector, it would connect to the sleeve (ground), giving you a complete circuit. If, however, the mono jack has it's ground connector lower (nearer the tip), it could be making contact on the ring instead of the sleeve--that is, the right channel. With no connection to ground, you'd not have a complete circuit, which would result in the "no audio" you're experiencing.

In short: get the right adapter cable. Dollars to donuts it'll solve your problems. Not as convenient as Bluetooth, but I've also had reliability problems with Bluetooth, and if this is your emergency backup, the last thing you need is to have it be unreliable (and heaven forbid it be during a real emergency, say something like a fire that made you shut down the panel--you already have enough to deal with).

Thanks Dave, illustration is great,I’ll have to check the plug rings. When I went to Frys.com and searched Bluetooth transmitter there is a whole host of transmitters. If there’s someone who has done this hookup please help. Dave you got me on a journey to go back 40miles to the store and try several other Bluetooth transmitters. That wouldn’t happen for another three days for me. Thanks
Ron in Oregon

ron sterba said:

Thanks Dave, illustration is great,I?ll have to check the plug rings. When I went to Frys.com and searched Bluetooth transmitter there is a whole host of transmitters. If there?s someone who has done this hookup please help. Dave you got me on a journey to go back 40miles to the store and try several other Bluetooth transmitters. That wouldn?t happen for another three days for me. Thanks
Ron in Oregon

Click to expand...

It would be a function of the jack in the radio, not the plug on the transmitter. It wouldn't hurt to try it with one other transmitter just to verify the transmitter isn't bad, but there's no reason to make a 40-mile drive; go to your local Wal*Mart (or whatever) and try one other; it'll answer the question of whether your current transmitter is bad. If it is the jack on the radio, you're just out of luck for Bluetooth, and will have to use the cable.

Ok thanks I’ll do that.
Ron in Oregon