Introduction: Customized Scart Coupler for Extracting Audio
This is my first Instructable, and of course I forgot to take step-by-step photos, But I hope you'll get it anyway.
I have way too many scart devices in my house. DVD-player, Network Media Player, VHS video, Wii, etc. and not enough Scart inputs on my TV, (I know, I know... "Why haven't you switched to HDMI yet, loser?") Well, maybe some day, but that's really not what this instructable is about anyway :-)
Of course I budge them all together in a scart switcher, so they all fit into the same scart input on my TV. No biggie, But I also have my surround sound amplifier, which takes 3 different sources of audio input, 1 '5.1' input (which of course is dedicated to my DVD player) and 2 standard stereo inputs (and one of these stereo input is already dedicated to a DAB radio...). This leaves me with just one stereo input that I have to decide on who should get: My Network Media Player, my VHS or my Wii. And I can't. I just can't. So why not get all of these devices to use the same audio input? I already have them using the same scart cable, so What I wanna do is to take the audio from the scart cable and feed it into my Surround amp. Simple, right?
I have way too many scart devices in my house. DVD-player, Network Media Player, VHS video, Wii, etc. and not enough Scart inputs on my TV, (I know, I know... "Why haven't you switched to HDMI yet, loser?") Well, maybe some day, but that's really not what this instructable is about anyway :-)
Of course I budge them all together in a scart switcher, so they all fit into the same scart input on my TV. No biggie, But I also have my surround sound amplifier, which takes 3 different sources of audio input, 1 '5.1' input (which of course is dedicated to my DVD player) and 2 standard stereo inputs (and one of these stereo input is already dedicated to a DAB radio...). This leaves me with just one stereo input that I have to decide on who should get: My Network Media Player, my VHS or my Wii. And I can't. I just can't. So why not get all of these devices to use the same audio input? I already have them using the same scart cable, so What I wanna do is to take the audio from the scart cable and feed it into my Surround amp. Simple, right?
Step 1: What You'll Need
You'll need
- 1 Scart Coupler
- 1 Stereo Mini-jack connector
- 3 lengths of wire (too long will make it hard to fit, too short will make it hard to solder)
- Super glue
- Soldering iron
- Soldering tin
- Drill and an 8mm Drill Bit (aint got no idea what that is in inches, so look it up if you need it)
- A set of mini-jack headphones for testing
- 1 additional Scart cable
- 1 Scart Coupler
- 1 Stereo Mini-jack connector
- 3 lengths of wire (too long will make it hard to fit, too short will make it hard to solder)
- Super glue
- Soldering iron
- Soldering tin
- Drill and an 8mm Drill Bit (aint got no idea what that is in inches, so look it up if you need it)
- A set of mini-jack headphones for testing
- 1 additional Scart cable
Step 2: Install the Mini-Jack Connector
The coupler I got was a modder's dream: It snaps open and closes again without hassle. Depending on the type you get, you may brake it when opening it (if you do, you should be able to superglue it back together, when we're done)
Now look at all those wires. Nothing fancy here, right? The first thing we do is to install the mini-jack connector (by the way, I used an old one from a mini radio that wasn't working anymore, just de-soldered it from there - one of the terminals broke of fin the process, and had to be tweaked... that's why mine looks so bummed out) Find the place you want to install it, drill a hole to fit it in and super glue it in there.
Check to see if the coupler still closes like it should.
Now it's soldering time....
Now look at all those wires. Nothing fancy here, right? The first thing we do is to install the mini-jack connector (by the way, I used an old one from a mini radio that wasn't working anymore, just de-soldered it from there - one of the terminals broke of fin the process, and had to be tweaked... that's why mine looks so bummed out) Find the place you want to install it, drill a hole to fit it in and super glue it in there.
Check to see if the coupler still closes like it should.
Now it's soldering time....
Step 3: Solder the Wires
Start by soldering the 3 wires to the mini-jack-connector terminals. There should be 3 terminals, right, left and ground. (Ground is the one in the middle, if you need to check which of the others is left or right, you could do this by sticking in at set of headphones and applying a small current - like from a battery - and listen to which side of the headphones makes a sound)
Now basically you just solder these new wires to their corresponding wires on the scart coupler, right to right, left to left and ground to ground.
Looking at the diagram on Wikipedia, you should be able to see which connections to use. Be aware, though: it would be tempting to use the left and right Audio Output connections, but that's wrong. You need to see this from the TV's point of view. The sound that goes into the TV is the sound that we're trying to tap into, so you need the Audio Input instead. Right is connection 2, Left is connection 6 and Ground is connection 4.
Now basically you just solder these new wires to their corresponding wires on the scart coupler, right to right, left to left and ground to ground.
Looking at the diagram on Wikipedia, you should be able to see which connections to use. Be aware, though: it would be tempting to use the left and right Audio Output connections, but that's wrong. You need to see this from the TV's point of view. The sound that goes into the TV is the sound that we're trying to tap into, so you need the Audio Input instead. Right is connection 2, Left is connection 6 and Ground is connection 4.
Step 4: Testing It Out
Well, if done correctly we should be finished now. Test the rig before putting it back together: Take a scart cable from, i.e. your DVD player, stick it into the coupler and put in you headphones. If you don't hear any audio, try to put your scart cable into the other side of the coupler.
NOTE: This is now a one way coupler. You need to have your input source on the same side where the wires were soldered on.
Put the thing back together, (glue it together if you broke it in step 2), As it IS a one way coupler, I marked it with "IN" and "OUT", just in case. Insert you scart source into the "IN" plug, one end of your additional scart cable into the "OUT" plug and the other end into you TV. This leaves you with a nice plug in the middle of it all, where you can hook up your Audio device (in my case my Surround amp)
NOTE: This is now a one way coupler. You need to have your input source on the same side where the wires were soldered on.
Put the thing back together, (glue it together if you broke it in step 2), As it IS a one way coupler, I marked it with "IN" and "OUT", just in case. Insert you scart source into the "IN" plug, one end of your additional scart cable into the "OUT" plug and the other end into you TV. This leaves you with a nice plug in the middle of it all, where you can hook up your Audio device (in my case my Surround amp)