ebay bargain: panasonic rx-dt680

[daniel7y]

hey guys

i just bought this boombox from ebay for $13! pretty rapt, looking forward to picking this one up. as a bonus it's only a ten minute drive away.

i bought it to use and actually take out with me. after some research on the forums i discovered that surprisingly it doesn't have a line input, but you can use the line out jacks as a line in if your playing a data cd. i'm wondering if it's possible to somehow add a line input, without using the data cd trick. only concern is that if the cd player happens to die... as it is an old unit. plus it would be good to have a proper line in. anyone tried modding this box?

would be good to hear some opinions and any information you guys might have. this will only be my second box, after selling my jc2000... however i actually plan on using this one unlike the JC.

cheers guys
daniel

 

[Fatdog]

Congrats, Daniel. The DT680 is a very nice boombox and for only $13 you can't go wrong.

 

[daniel7y]

well i got it today, it sounds pretty good for what it is. definitely can't complain for $13. it's in great condition, everything works and it came with the remote.

also, even better, i successfully modified the unit so it has an aux input. i basically cut the audio wires between the tape deck and amp and added a closed circuit 3.5mm socket. so the signal from the tape deck flows through as it should until you plug something into the socket, it then breaks the circuit and the input comes from whatever device you have plugged in. the socket is flush mounted on the back of the unit.

i didn't come up with this idea on my own, someone on another forum did a similar thing (instead with RCA jacks and a toggle switch), and he supplied schematics and what wires you need to cut. unfortunately i misunderstood the wiring chart and spliced the wrong wires initially, but i neatly soldered them back together, problem solved.

overall this took me 4 hours... i'm sure it could be done much quicker if you have more experience in this sort of thing. i was being very careful and wanted a neat and professional looking job. happy to say it turned out great... doesn't look like a hack job.

only problem my dt680 has is that tape deck 2 plays way too fast. sounds like its on high-speed dub mode... does anyone know if this is an easy fix? i'm not that fussed as i don't plan on using the tape deck... but it would be nice to fix. any suggestions?

if anyone is interested i can take some pics

 

[Fatdog]

Did you take any pics while installing the mini socket?

 

[-GZ-]

 

[daniel7y]

here are some pics guys... the first pic is where i spliced the wire, about an inch away from the tape deck. the two wires at the top are left and right channels, leading to the main pcb, the one single wire is the ground. the other electrical tape is just holding together the remaining wires keeping it tidy.

the other pic is of the socket... being a closed circuit there are five terminals, two sets of left/right and ground.

also posted a pic of the jack flush mounted on the rear of the unit. there might have been better places to mount it, but it would have required removing more boards and wires... i didn't want to in fear of stuffing something up. where it is now was the most easily accessible place.

does anyone know why the second tape deck might be running so fast? i'm afraid maybe i knocked a switch or something and made it run at high speed constantly. i couldn't find anything though. if i record tape to tape at high speed, deck 2 just stays at the same high speed, but deck 1 matches the high speed as it should. deck 1 will go back to the normal speed, but deck 2 is stuck on high all the time, record and playback.