I had one of those little Anker bluetooth speakers on my back patio so I could have the same music outside as inside. Bluetoothed to my A/V receiver. It was a bit on the edge of its range, but did OK... until it rained on it and killed it.
Now I have one of those little micro-amps (2x45w) with bluetooth and want to hook it up to some outdoor speakers. I can't get the bluetooth to work anywhere close enough to the back patio. There is a little wire (I guess coax) sticking out the back labeled BT antenna. I'm assuming that extending that won't do any good since I would just be changing the frequencies it picks up, right?
I just recall back in my CB days, antennas were always some fraction of one full wavelength. The hot ticket for a while was a 108" whip since that was half-wave.
I guess I'm wondering... is it possible that the little BT antenna is like a 1/16th wave antenna, and if I take it from 2 inches to 32 inches, wouldn't that increase gain? I just don't know how to figure out what to do to help it reach. It's only about 12', but it isn't line-of-sight. Moving the A/V receiver isn't really a possibility.
Bluetooth runs on 2.4Ghz so you can use a high-gain WiFi antenna. If the antenna is removable and uses an SMA jack, it's easy, otherwise you'll have to do some soldering.
Not removable. It is a bit of wire that sticks out the back of the amp. I can solder.... ish. Not an expert, but I have good equipment. I typically do the 850-degree, solder this 16 gauge wire to a crimp connector, or the 500-degree solder this ribbon to a 22- gauge wire. I suppose I can melt a circuit board and void the warranty as well as any other.
I'll pull it apart and see what I find. The goal is to get this up and running in a few days, so if Amazon comes through I might have a chance.
So if I get some coax and a 2.4G antenna (maybe 9dB?) I can extend the antenna? Might it work if I just make a longer antenna? I'm afraid if I just get the antenna and it doesn't work then I've done this all for nothing.
I wouldn't try extending the antenna, just replace it. You could solder an SMA connector to where the antenna comes from and then attach a high-gain WiFi antenna there, I did that with a 2.4Ghz quadcopter remote once and it worked well.
Are there any Bluetooth music boxes with a removable SMA antenna ?
Just wondering :)
Yes, but pricey. This is a cheapy $34 amp from Pyle just to get tunes to some $32 outdoor speakers.
Cheapest one I found with an SMA was $178. The problem is, SMA is extra expense and bluetooth sucks for audiophile applications, so about the time you get pricey enough to have a configurable antenna, you're into nicer stuff that thumbs its nose at BT.
For now I mounted it in the kitchen and drilled all kinds of fun holes getting the speaker wire out to the patio. It's a pretty stable connection for now.
