Aspen Radio Project
Posted: September 7th, 2023, 8:13 am
So I've been working on a radio project for a while 
It's sat on a shelf for a bit over a year, but now I'm working on it again 
So to explain what this project is:
I daily drive a car from the '70s, more specifically a 1977 Dodge Aspen (Sedan, Jade Green), and along with it I have the factory original AM-only Radio (FM was a luxury option for this) It worked, but I have portable radios with better signal than this one did
Anyways, I wanted to get a radio with BlueTooth so I can listen to my phone. I thought about just getting a $10 single-DIN AM/FM/BT/SD/USB/AUX radio from eBay, but I can't stand how modern radios look in older cars, and those "Retro" radios that cost like $300 are designed to period match 50's cars, not 70's. So! Clearly the only sane and sensible option is to design a whole new board that can fit into the old radio, use all the old radio knobs, and still be AM/BT. Best option.
Anyways, the first board came in the mail yesterday! I got it more so I knew it I got all the measurements correct for the tuning unit and the volume/power knob. Here's some pics!
Well, the board arrived a little early, I don't have ALL the AM circuitry to install yet, but that's actually fine because SOMEONE got some measurements wrong
The Volume/Power knob is a bit off; I can brute-force it in, but only if I also don't have the tuner assembly installed, which I got the whole right side perfectly off by +0.100 inches. And I know how I did this as well, I hand-measured from the outside of the contacts, but on the PCB CAD software I measured from the center points. classic mistake I'm sure will never happen again Anyways, we make test boards for a reason, and I can work around these annoyances with a little cutting. Here's a pic I tried to take of that measurement error:
Over time as I slowly work on this, I will update this thread. If someone has questions, I will answer what I can. (Also this project is 100% why exists)
It's sat on a shelf for a bit over a year, but now I'm working on it again So to explain what this project is:
I daily drive a car from the '70s, more specifically a 1977 Dodge Aspen (Sedan, Jade Green), and along with it I have the factory original AM-only Radio (FM was a luxury option for this) It worked, but I have portable radios with better signal than this one did
Anyways, I wanted to get a radio with BlueTooth so I can listen to my phone. I thought about just getting a $10 single-DIN AM/FM/BT/SD/USB/AUX radio from eBay, but I can't stand how modern radios look in older cars, and those "Retro" radios that cost like $300 are designed to period match 50's cars, not 70's. So! Clearly the only sane and sensible option is to design a whole new board that can fit into the old radio, use all the old radio knobs, and still be AM/BT. Best option. Anyways, the first board came in the mail yesterday! I got it more so I knew it I got all the measurements correct for the tuning unit and the volume/power knob. Here's some pics!
Well, the board arrived a little early, I don't have ALL the AM circuitry to install yet, but that's actually fine because SOMEONE got some measurements wrong
The Volume/Power knob is a bit off; I can brute-force it in, but only if I also don't have the tuner assembly installed, which I got the whole right side perfectly off by +0.100 inches. And I know how I did this as well, I hand-measured from the outside of the contacts, but on the PCB CAD software I measured from the center points. classic mistake I'm sure will never happen again Anyways, we make test boards for a reason, and I can work around these annoyances with a little cutting. Here's a pic I tried to take of that measurement error:Over time as I slowly work on this, I will update this thread. If someone has questions, I will answer what I can. (Also this project is 100% why
exists)