Micro USB to 3.5mm jack cable (boaty)

B

Babylon

Well-Known Member
Joined
7 Jan 2008
Messages
4,401
Location
Solent
Visit site
I've just bought a beautiful new Roberts portable radio for the boat. (Its a Duologic, FM/DAB, takes 4 D batteries with 100 hours life, alkeline or rechargable directly from mains and has knobs for tuning and volume rather than silly buttons. The reception and sound quality is excellent. I stick to FM, mainly classical or R4, especially as it uses less battery power.)

It has a 3.5mm jack for audio in, and I want to be able to play (amplify) music I've loaded onto my Nokia 6700 mobile phone, which has a micro USB.

Anyone know where I can get a lead that comprises at a male 3.5mm jack and a male micro USB?
 
You can't.

Your radio has an analogue stereo audio in jack.

your phone has a digital Universal Serial Bus interface.

The two don't mate without a lot of electronics in between.

Does the phone not have a headphone jack? in which case connect that with a lead with a stereo 3.5mm jack each end.
 
Last edited:
Are you saying the Nokia phone uses a micro USB connector, not for USB, but for analogue audio?
Click to expand...

Probably also uses it as a charging point.

But not actually that, since

Technical Details

Converts your Nokia's Micro USB stereo output to a standard 3.5mm socket

NOTE: This adaptor is not compatible with the Nokia 6700 or the Nokia 6600i Slide
Click to expand...

OK, maybe I should have read a bit further...
 
Last edited:
ProDave said:
Well no point having standards then if manufacturers are going to *******ise them.
Click to expand...

Reading the reviews, it sounds like a textbook example of why ignoring (indeed, willfully abusing) such standards is a bad idea. People who plugged this into the "wrong" phone had their headphones overheated and destroyed. I assume what happened is that the phone the cable is intended for provides an analogue audio signal on the conductors that the USB standard says ought to instead be a power supply. Plug it into the "special" phone and all is OK; plug it into a real USB port on any other device (including a different phone from the same manufacturer) and you get half an amp of juice straight into the delicate coils of your headphones.

The original USB spec was elegantly designed so that any configuration that could be physically plugged together would also make sense electrically and at the protocol level, so that it would all "just work" and the non-technical users it was intended for would never notice what a complex beast it actually is under the covers. It's still hanging on in there, but a lot of manufacturers seem to be doing their level best to break it.

Pete
 
I would just saw the back off the phone and solder a bit of screened cable across the loudspeaker terminals. Solder a 3.5mm jack plug to the end of it and Bob's your uncle.

I hope this helps.
 
I checked the Nokia Europe web site, and searched for the 6700 mobile phone. According to the list of accessories there, your sales pack included a 'Nokia Stereo Headset WH-501' which has two parts: a micro USB cable connected to a black rectangular 'Audio Controller' with a 3.5mm socket, and a normal headset with a short cable and 3.5mm jack.

So find your Nokia headset, remove the 3.5mm jack from the socket, and plug a 3.5mm male-male cable between that and your radio.
 
There are some very cheap MP3 players. Put the music on that and all you need is a male to male 3.5mm jack.
You even get a bonus back up of the music.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top