Panasonic RX DS20 Ghetto Blaster Bluetooth Full Speakerphone Modification

[@hansdebets1204]

I bought my RX-DS20 in 1987 and I can tell you: It still works and sounds as on the day I bought it! This is a great machine. Even the remote control works without problems after 31 years.

[@GillyTech]

Are you willing to sell me the remote control? I have one of these and I am trying to complete it. Also may even mod it with bluetooth like this one!

[@codebeat4192]

Nice unit (Panasonic/Technics made great stuff in the past), worth to keep like many boomboxes from the past, i have many right now. On some I did the same like you did, adding a bluetooth module. The problem of bluetooth is that it is digital, can introduce high frequency switching noise or can easily cause a ground loop by tapping the wrong ground point. To avoid this and not need to include a separated power source, you can use an isolated DC/DC converter instead (to 'lift' the ground). I have great experiences with the MORNSUN B0505S (there are also other brands like Murata however more expensive), a tiny blocky component with four legs that can deliver max 200mA of power, enough to power a bluetooth (BLE) device. Totally silence (noise gone), really great. I use also some filter caps on the output for stabalization, 470uF and 0,47uf to reduce any dip or ripple. No need to include another power supply. Great video, great subject and you did and do great repairs. However sometimes for me difficult to watch because you handle the subject with some roughness (turn, slide, push in not such an elegant way). I know you do this with this respect, your intention is respect and to repair however there could be more sense to 'value' when handling it with care and respect. I think when you change the roughness into a more gentle handling, you will get more viewers. The subjects are great, repairs are great and change the last thing to "repairing some junk" in "repairing some piece of art" simply by handling differently. Hope you understand my 'concerns' and understand what I just trying to say. Take care and repair! ;-)

[@Orest383]

🇦🇹🇺🇦😎🤔🤗😇👍👍👍✌️✌️✌️

[@ronniepirtlejr2606]

I used to have a JVC DC 7 boombox. My mother bought it for me from a pawn shop for $175.00 in 1984. That thing rocked! It had soft start and Rewind cassette player with Dolby noise-reduction . A full size record player. AM FM radio. It either took 6 or 8 D size batteries if you were on the go, Duracell would last only about 2 hrs, maybe 2 1/2 if you were lucky, so mostly I would just Carry it, then plugin. Besides it weighed about 50 lb with batteries. It sounded great! I miss it and considered buying one to work on, but even with my so so electronic skills, that thing would probably be a headache to restore for even someone that is a master electronics repair person. Those Japanese mechanisms that are on the inside of, some high end boomboxs from 1980-1992 can be quite deceiving, Especially a Beast like the DC 7! That sure would be great to see you work on one of those Dave! :-)

[@ronniepirtlejr2606]

Sounds great ! Nice mod! I've seen on a another video, A guy took some epoxy covered Transformer wire then wrapped it around the existing Transformer about 6 or 7 times (cannot be done on all Transformers) he got 5.2 volts isolated and connected it to his Bluetooth. This was on a reall old stereo around 1950. Your way is just as easy, but I just thought I would throw that out there as an idea for people doing this. A big thumbs up!

[@JerryEricsson]

Cool project. I did one sort of like that, years ago when I got my first Commodore 128, I purchased a Radio Shack stereo with subwoofer under monitor speaker system. We have used it over the years for most anything and everything, it's last job before conversion was romote stereo speakers from our hi-fi in the living room to the dining room where my good wife of 50 years has her pc and spends most of her days. Well the caps finally went on it, and she was headed for the trash heap when I got in a large shippment from the Electronic Gold mine, in the pack were enough new high quality caps to completely recap her, so she is now awaiting the recap. I have already installed the bluetooth and had her in the RV but the hum was getting to bad. She should be back up and running once more however when I have a chance to do the recap!

[@sergiu1624]

Adjusting the tape speed should be very easy on this one. There should be a hole or two (the 2nd is for adjusting the BIAS) underneath the tape deck, on the belly of the unit. All AR300 mechanism's have this option in this position.

[@andypalm7061]

Nice project. I love those high quality older units. Now I want to do one!

[@MsCori76]

You now have a one of a kind boom box with Bluetooth from that era. I wish I could install a Bluetooth thing like you did on my factory car stereo which has AUX.

[@12voltvids]

You certainly CAN. The bluetooth module I used on this boombox has a line level output. It can feed anything. One of my other projects was to plug in a bluetooth module into that FM stereo transmitter I built. My daughter has that in her car, so she can play her phone through the factory stereo. I put the entire thing inside an old VHS tape box, and power it up with one of those cell phone battery boosters. It lasts her about 3 weeks between charges. I told her to go to the dollar store and get a car USB adapter, and then she can run it from the lighter plug. She just keeps the unit in her glove box and plays her phone through the FM radio. Since your car deck has an AUX in, just connect it to that.

[@MsCori76]

12voltvids - Thankyou, I’ll try that. 👍🏻

[@psionl0]

A pity you had to make the bluetooth AC only. A unit like this is ideal for camping and when the mains power is out, this is often the only entertainment that you can get.

[@TonyBanks21]

Fantastic Video, I once owned one of these,back in 1990which sadly was stolen from me in the pub. Great to see your Blue tooth adaption. Brings back memories for me.

[@tyronenelson9124]

And don't be fooled into thinking that's a lossless bt receiver, because they are all pretty standard modules, it would be just another selling point

[@kakureru]

aww, so much missed opportunity. Give it the works, lithium ion power source!

[@SuperBoobaloo]

On my Android phone you can select what audio is streamed to a BT device. You just disable "Phone audio" and enable "Media audio".

[@garethmilne6887]

I'd maybe have used the dc supply rails for the amplifier and use a buck converter board to power the bt module. That way it'd run only when the unit is turned on and would run on batteries or AC. Good vid. Cheers

[@12voltvids]

I did pull from the DC rails and it created a ground loop. I tried to pull from the secondary winding, as well as from the main 9 volt regulator through another regulator. Noisy. A buck converter may have worked, but it may have also created a ground loop as that doesn't isolate the ground. As soon as I connected the ground it started humming. So the solution was to just go with a completely separate supply. This unit will never be used on batteries. It never has, and it never will because it draws so much power that the batteries all 10 of them are only good for a few hours anyway.

[@michaellowery1559]

Loving your channel Dave, good work!

[@vincentwilliams4732]

Wonderful video I really enjoyed upgrading this unit with you 😃

[@ragge13]

I have two Panasonic. One RX-DS45 made in Japan 1991, very good sound on that one and it came with a remote control, but it was very expensive when it was sold in Sweden. And i have one that i found in a dumpster years ago, RX-DS660 made in Singapore 1991, this one you have removable speaker and also have good sound. But sounds are individual, I like the sounds of these Panasonic for what they are.

[@12voltvids]

It sounds pretty good for what it is.

[@Odessia-ij5ys]

I have a few Panasonic models One still under repairs lack of parts front cabinet piece

[@codebeat4192]

Do you know the CD-unit model number? It is not specified in the service manual, it seems to be based upon the panasonic RX-DT55 mechanism.

[@paulb4uk]

Panasonics often have really good speakers i have a fair few getto blasters sharp sanyo and hitachi 3d super woofers some have aux in some do not i plan to fit blue tooth modules to mine .One of my sharps has the back to back tape mech there are 2 motors two fly wheels and 3 or 4 solenoids the most complex deck i have electronically operated deck has some sort of problems engaging play, solenoid clicks .You could use a cheap usb power bank with a usb port mounted at the rear of the unit to charge it then again you would also have to fit a switch .

[@CPUTests]

Why don't you take some time and choose another power source for the BT board? I am sure that there are plenty of sources on that board that are switched along the logic. That way when you have the radio off but with batteries those batteries would not drain and the service would be much better done.

[@12voltvids]

I don't use batteries in this. I tried 4 different power sources in it, and as soon as I powered the BT receiver I got noise, what sounds like digital noise as it did the first time when I tried to power it directly from the logic board. I got exactly the same noise when I took the power from the regulator, and the unregulated side of the power supply. So I just threw in a separate switching power supply. If the unit was to be used on batteries everything would work except for the BT board. I may try a different BT board in it as this one may be kicking noise back on the VCC that is getting into the audio.

[@craggercragger8989]

Cool project, Dave. I have a Philips Fidelio (I reckon it sounds better than the Panasonic does, we'll have to do an abroad trip one day for a bake off.) - I've been meaning to do a similar mod to give it Bluetooth. I have replaced what was a faulty iPod dock connector with a Micro USB to power my Google Cast Audio adapter but found the 5v supply I used gives similar amounts of noise as you experienced here. I will sort it properly, one day. Meh, maybe. :D

[@mariodanielpucheta4283]

Hola, me puede decir de cuanto es el transformador interno? porque se quemo. Gracias

[@markmarkofkane8167]

I like that. It's bigger and better than mine. Panasonic is a great brand. I hope to install a bluetooth board someday. P.S., how does the sound compare to the Bose wave system?

[@12voltvids]

It compars very nicely with the Bose wave radio. The RX DS20 was without question the best sounding portable Panasonic made. They had larger units with detatchable speakers, and even one with a bi amp, but they didn't sound as good as this. If I remember it had a 20WPC amp. I bought this new as a gift for my aunt, and she used it for years in her house. When she passed away I got it back, and intend to keep it, as it is completely functional, and now has a bluetooth speakerphone built in.

[@reddragon27284]

Lol did something similar a long time ago to an old 80s toshiba. Probably doesn't sound as good as that Panasonic but sounds better than most mid-range Bluetooth speakers.

[@georgebliss964]

I would be tempted to try a 7805 soldered directly onto the 17v point when you go back to correct the tape speed.

[@12voltvids]

George Bliss I did try a 7805 and it hummed.

[@inamurato]

From the beginning of the video, I was thinking "Why doesn't he apply a separate power supply?" :) That said, I can't help wondering what could have generated that noise when you tried the regulator board.

[@tyronenelson9124]

That unit is not mid 80's its early to mid 90's

[@12voltvids]

I believe it was late 80's but couldn't find a date. By the 90's Panasonic was into the MASH and 1 bit converter.

[@tyronenelson9124]

Ok, ive always wandered what MASH meant because what i know Technics used that

[@dandywelsh0139]

1989-1991

[@markmarkofkane8167]

I figured it had to be late 80's to mid 90's. I didn't see my first CD player until 1986, and it wasn't portable. (I realize that CD's existed since about 81-82, but wasn't common in the USA.)

[@zx8401ztv]

Well done, it just had to be done :-D, it was going to work if it liked it or not :) I fitted a walkie-talkie into my mates raster blaster, it worked really well lol.. Earth loops and isolation can be a bloody pain with some circuits, and if you dare to connect a laptop to an amplifier without using an audio isolation transformer, the dam switchmode brick psu really imposes itself on the audio, bzzzzzzzzzz lol.

[@coondogtheman]

What's a Raster blaster? I googled it and the only things I found were the apple II game and some type of TIFF catcher whatever that is.

[@zx8401ztv]

(Rastafarian) mostly people from jamaica in the u.k, known mostly by dredlocks and a big portable stereo (raster blaster) back in the 1980's.

[@coondogtheman]

I have a Magnavox D8443 Ghetto blaster boombox that I am restoring. Some parts I cannot fix on it but I would like to get the tape player running I just need a belt. I added a line input to the right side because the original didn't work and you can switch it between the radio and aux. Here's an old video I made of mine. kzbin.info/www/bejne/mXzLZaRtqKh6qJY The quality isn't the greatest as I didn't have the equipment or the skills to properly shoot videos. Here's a better one. kzbin.info/www/bejne/j2OUY3immc2WsMk This isn't my video.

[@zx8401ztv]

Depending on the type of belt needed, sometimes you can raid old video recorders of there belts. As long as you used screened cable for your line/aux input, it should be fine :-D. My old mate ran a long line-in cable across the room to his tv, so it would be amplified through his stereo...... he didnt talk to me about it so he used ordinary speaker wire, yep the result was BZZZZZZZZZZ. Low voltage high impedance signals can be interfered with too easy by any local magnetic feilds, like the mains at 50/60 Hz or passing a audio cable too close to a transformer.

[@coondogtheman]

zx8401ztv maybe I can use those stupid elastics that kids use to make those bracelets as I happen to have some. I could test it out.

[@kardeef33317]

I think you could use pin 4 to turn on a mosphet that is connected to the main power... unless I missed something. Iam still learning electronics, if thats a bad idea could ya fill me in on why not.. I stll have a lot to learn and thanks for the great vids, I have learned alot.. Wish I could afford more then a buck to send ya on pantreon.

[@circuitblog01]

nice job but i will do it in a different way if this is my set i will build a power unit for it that is more stronger in this way this really a very nice audio set god bless you my freind

[@HDXFH]

Nice boombox too, used mine to record to cassette via bluetooth :p

[@12voltvids]

Thats a great idea for music stored on the phone. The way I wired it to the aux plugs makes those plugs available as an output so the bluetooth could be output to say a computer audio card to record streamed services to a phone.

[@jamestom2510]

Hey what BlackBerry phone are you using ? Oh you just answered it..lol I miss my BlackBerry days, these devices just worked

[@12voltvids]

I have had many. Still use one to play music for testing bt. Still have my Android priv but haven't used it in years. Been rocking a Samsung for over 4 years now. Have a s20fe in the box waiting for this one to die before I use it.

[@subkarpaty]

where to get 5V for bluetooth because I also plan to add a dt75 to my panasonic?

[@lloydparks2248]

Awesome video DAVE ! I'm gonna order some of these boards..... check out " Teddy Hashee " he does a lot of ghetto blaster mods . cheers

[@SuperBoobaloo]

Perhaps a module without the unnecessary amplifier circuit with a lower power consumption might have been OK on those other power rails: www.icstation.com/bluetooth-audio-module-bluetooth-receiver-universal-audio-module-p-12506.html

[@nandoroman9215]

We're can I get the lithium tv box??

[@ivanigorpollick6690]

good job,,the lcd is damaged

[@MarshallSmith27]

where do you get your microphones

[@coondogtheman]

Can you use a 5 volt regulator on the 9 volt rail to power the Bluetooth board? I did a mod like this but I modded my boombox to take audio in through the CD player audio out, It was missing so I used that. there was a 7.5 volt power for the CD mechanism and I tried a few 12 volt USB chargers and only one of them worked. Seems to work fine. Should I worry about ground loop from the audio connection and ground from the power or are those two connected anyway.

[@God-CDXX]

lm7805 or lm317 will work use the mane amp gnd point and as short a ground wire as possible

[@12voltvids]

That is what I hooked up to the power supply, a 3 terminal regulator. I got nice clean 5 volts, but a ground loop ensued and I got a nasty hum. Yes it was loud because the volume was cranked up, but even with the volume down the 60hz hum was unacceptable. I would have rather powered it from the internal power supply, and even though I only showed when I tried to power it from the regulated 5v supply and got the buzzing, and when I powered it up from the main unregulated DC through a 3terminal regulator and got a big hum, I tried a few other points including the switched supply for the amplifier through a 3 terminal regulator, and it was also noisy.

[@12voltvids]

I tried about 5 different power points, and there was noise on all of them. So the solution, independent supply works. A DC-DC converter would also do the job, but I need to isolate the ground from the chassis.

[@Synthematix]

Panasonic and jvc made some of the best ghettoblasters, this is worth a full professional restoration of the cabinet, noo i bloody hate bluetooth, dont ruin a classic with that junk

[@tinicum54]

Mounting made easy with hot snot, lol.

[@12voltvids]

Just be carefull not to get that hot snot on the circuits or it may not work.

[@Orest383]

🇦🇹🇺🇦😎🤔🤗😇👍👍👍✌️✌️✌️

[@cognetic]

Great Scott solved the buzzing noise with a 5v ground isolator - B0505S-1W. That's what I've been doing to my boombox Bluetooth upgrades. Way, way, way easier, simpler, and better than this video solution. The Great Scott video is a must watch for anyone doing these upgrades! kzbin.info/www/bejne/pJDFkGN4jLVjo6s

[@12voltvids]

I didn't have an ground isolator on hand when i did the mod. It works fine to this day and this old radio is used regularly.