The thing I hate about the ATPro.....

[SavingThePast]

Is no longer a problem! I kept telling myself if I ever owned another I was going to modify the headphone connector. Well, I received my new ATPro today and decided to get to work. I have a few ctx male and female connector from when I was doing some headphones(my current go amphibians use the ctx connector also) and I decided it was time to put a female connector to use and get the headphone cord out of the way. That darn cord used to drive me nuts with my other unit. Long story short, here are some pics of my new setup..completely waterproof still this way as I never could understand the hp adaptor and losing the waterproof feature...even uses a little screw on cap like the ctx does so if you want to take it in water without headphones you can. my next step is to put a ctx male connector on the end of the transmitter of my new set of Auvio wireless headphones so I can also be wire free when wanted...What do you all think? To me, this is how Garrett should have done it to begin with..

 

[88junior]

Nice job looks very good!!

 

[jughed440]

Nice job!!!..and I have to agree that the factory connector location is a very poor (cleaner word than what should be used) design. Tightening it with two fingers is about impossible. Other than that, the AT Gold is a great machine.

 

[mudpuppy]

Now THAT there is a killer mod!

Where can a guy get that female plug? I bought the blue headphones as an option when I got my Pro, the stock land headphones came along with the package, so I cut that Male plug off of them and soldered on a 90 degree jack to use them on my F70, so I have a spare male plug right here!...all I need is that Female plug, and I would certainly attempt what you have done! Great!

Garrett (or some plucky guy) could make this assembly in a kit form too I suppose, with an easy and waterproof way of connecting the Female...that there is an outstanding mod and would come in very handy...Nice Work!
Mud

 

[SavingThePast]

Now THAT there is a killer mod!

Where can a guy get that female plug? I bought the blue headphones as an option when I got my Pro, the stock land headphones came along with the package, so I cut that Male plug off of them and soldered on a 90 degree jack to use them on my F70, so I have a spare male plug right here!...all I need is that Female plug, and I would certainly attempt what you have done! Great!

Garrett (or some plucky guy) could make this assembly in a kit form too I suppose, with an easy and waterproof way of connecting the Female...that there is an outstanding mod and would come in very handy...Nice Work!
Mud

Thanks all!!! I had to do something because I have owned two different ATs and I hated the headphone setup.... The female connector can be purchased here mud... http://www.mouser.com/Search/ProductDetail.aspx?R=12-08BFFA-SL8001virtualkey52340000virtualkey523-12-08BFFA-SL8001

 

[SavingThePast]

Now THAT there is a killer mod!

Where can a guy get that female plug? I bought the blue headphones as an option when I got my Pro, the stock land headphones came along with the package, so I cut that Male plug off of them and soldered on a 90 degree jack to use them on my F70, so I have a spare male plug right here!...all I need is that Female plug, and I would certainly attempt what you have done! Great!

Garrett (or some plucky guy) could make this assembly in a kit form too I suppose, with an easy and waterproof way of connecting the Female...that there is an outstanding mod and would come in very handy...Nice Work!
Mud

If you do it, here is how I did. I first cut my cable from my headphones off at plenty of length to have room to work once fished out the back side of the tube. I then drilled the hole at the front for the wire to enter the tube. I cant remember the size of the bit but what I did was take an old pc cd drive apart and take one of the rubber shock absorbers out. That is the little black rubber thing the cord goes through and it is the perfect size..I measured my drill bit off the size of the hole it was in the cd drive and then drilled the shaft. Before I fed the cord through the shaft I drilled two really small holes about an 1/8" from the back edge of the tube back at the arm cuff. one on top one on bottom. I did this to make pins to hold the connector after it was installed so I wouldnt have to worry about it spinning if the epoxy were to come lose. I then fed the cord through, suadered up the connections(dont forget since its a female instead of male you will be saudering on the pins on the opposite sie you are used to if doing the males). I checked just to make sure headphones were working once connected and then proeceeded to fill the inside of the connector with epoxy before finally screwing it together. After that I then took the same small drill bit I used for the holes at the back and once I put the connector inside the shaft to where it was flush at the rear I went through those same holes and drilled into the plastic connector just a hair. I then took a needle and cut out two small pins that once inserted through those holes would be flush with the shaft(have to be because your armcuff has to go over them). once I had it all set I pulled the connector back out of the shaft, mixed some epoxy, poured it around the end of the shaft and then inserted the connector back into it and then shoving the little pins into the holes. the epoxy runs all around the pins and into the holes making for a solid connection which you should have now worries of the connector ever spinning. make sure to clean up before the epoxy dries with some contact cleaner and you have your new connection which looks like it came from the factory. that connector is an exact fit for the hole at the back of the tube... sorry for the rant but I hope that helps...

 

[mudpuppy]

Thanks STP! I've bought some 90 degree stereo jacks from B&H Photo Video...I buy a set up that has 3' of wire and a 90degree jack on each end for @3 bucks...then, I cut it in half and solder the wires, shrinktube the whole mess onto the headphones I use on my land rig....I sent the other remnant with the plug to another forum member here who wanted to do the same thing....I believe Tabman also did something along this fashion to convert the Pro to a 1/4" socket?

So... that jack of yours is does NOT fit a standard AtPro headphone? Just checking to be sure...I will be looking at this project over the winter, and would like to simply plug in my blue Garretts into that plug..of course, I guess a person should just go ahead and get some GrayGhosts..(i only use my Pro in the water, so whatever I do has to be somewhat waterproof)....I hear some good things about the GG's..thanks!
Mud

 

[SavingThePast]

Thanks STP! I've bought some 90 degree stereo jacks from B&H Photo Video...I buy a set up that has 3' of wire and a 90degree jack on each end for @3 bucks...then, I cut it in half and solder the wires, shrinktube the whole mess onto the headphones I use on my land rig....I sent the other remnant with the plug to another forum member here who wanted to do the same thing....I believe Tabman also did something along this fashion to convert the Pro to a 1/4" socket?

So... that jack of yours is does NOT fit a standard AtPro headphone? Just checking to be sure...I will be looking at this project over the winter, and would like to simply plug in my blue Garretts into that plug..of course, I guess a person should just go ahead and get some GrayGhosts..(i only use my Pro in the water, so whatever I do has to be somewhat waterproof)....I hear some good things about the GG's..thanks!
Mud

no it doesnt mud... you will be switching everything over to the connectors that are used on the ctx... Like my gg amphibians- they have a ctx male connector on the end instead of the garrett one... here are the male ctx connectors even though they are sold out at the moment... http://www.mouser.com/Search/ProductDetail.aspx?R=12-08BMMA-SL8001virtualkey52340000virtualkey523-12-08BMMA-SL8001

 

[mudpuppy]

Ok... thanks....I guess a fellow could just run those headphone wires straight into the tube without a plug on the end?.....you know, cut the main headphone wire to the proper length plus 5", drill the side hole, snake it through, resolder it right back to the headphones and wrap?....of course a guy could never change or disconnect the headphones after something like this, without cutting the wire and starting all over.....looking back, that may not be a problem for me, and it would certainly eliminate that goofy wire flying all over the place, getting in my way all the time..

Oh, hey STP, before I forget...I also got rid of those camlocks! Took them both off and threw them away! makes it easier to change the batteries and adjust the shaft without them getting in the way all the time! Plus, that lower one silted up to be danged and a guy needed a pair of Channelloks and a hammer to get everything free...I like that streamlined look you came up with, no wires flying all over the place..sweet!
Mud.

 

[SavingThePast]

Ok... thanks....I guess a fellow could just run those headphone wires straight into the tube without a plug on the end?.....you know, cut the main headphone wire to the proper length plus 5", drill the side hole, snake it through, resolder it right back to the headphones and wrap?....of course a guy could never change or disconnect the headphones after something like this, without cutting the wire and starting all over.....looking back, that may not be a problem for me, and it would certainly eliminate that goofy wire flying all over the place, getting in my way all the time..

Oh, hey STP, before I forget...I also got rid of those camlocks! Took them both off and threw them away! makes it easier to change the batteries and adjust the shaft without them getting in the way all the time! Plus, that lower one silted up to be danged and a guy needed a pair of Channelloks and a hammer to get everything free...I like that streamlined look you came up with, no wires flying all over the place..sweet!
Mud.

as long as a person didnt care to ever be able to switch headphones that would work perfect and still give you a fully waterproof setup without the dang stock headphones wire dangling all over the place...

 

[SavingThePast]

Wireless setup finished! I went for the cleanest look possible. Removed headphone jack from inside transmitter and saudered in wire lead instead. I used a 10k ohm resistor inside the ctx male connector when installing it so I wouldnt have to use an inline volume control to get the atpro to shut off its internal speaker...

 

[Leslie(nova scotia)]

Still have to go the old way though for aquatic endeavours. Very resourceful modification!

 

[Ytcoinshooter]

Very clever mod. Yeah the hp wire is an annoyance and Im always playing with Velcro cable ties to keep it from tangling me up. I leave the GGA's on full time, sold the Blues and kept the stock hp as a backup.
HH - Bruce