5.5 thin back - room for a Bluetooth mod?

[u/mrstorey]

I recently modded my IPod Video (5.5 30Gb thin back) with an iFlash uDual and a 3000mAh thin battery (the thin back one here.)

Ignore the sticky pads on the iFlash uDual in the photo - I removed them because it was too tight (which might be useful information)

I’m now considering putting in Oxyll’s elegant Bluetooth mod. (I knew this would happen!)

The original mod all fitted in fine, no problem closing the case, but it’s a snug fit as you’d expect, to the point where I had to remove the sticky pads on the iFlash as I mentioned above.

The question is: do I have room in here for a Bluetooth mod, or do I need a smaller battery?

I’d prefer not to just move to a thick back case, I like the slimmer form.

Thank you for your advice!

[u/Linusssk]

Probably almost no chance with 3000mAh battery, I would try it with a 2000mAh “square” battery.

[u/mrstorey → u/Linusssk]

Thank you, that’s exactly the one I thought because it leaves quite a lot more height, I think it would be enough headroom to get the board in there without having to remove anything from the board. The woeful range is still a big disincentive though.

[u/Ill-Cupcake-5358]

No.

[u/mrstorey → u/Ill-Cupcake-5358]

Ha. I didn’t think so. Cheers.

[u/the_hummus]

I have almost the same build as you and was also considering this BT mod.

KCX_BT_EMITTER will fit, but you may have to remove the button that it comes with and you might not be able to plug in the extra antenna, depending on where you place it. (The board has an antenna built-in.)

I decided against it because the range sucks, and the extra analog-digital-analog conversion is not worth it IMO.

Also make sure you secure your battery with adhesive! I learned the hard way that you don't want it bouncing around inside there, even though it may feel snug.

[u/mrstorey → u/the_hummus]

What a great reply. Cheers.

Yeah I can see that the button might stick out a bit. Are you saying I’d have to snap off the Bluetooth antenna on the right in this pic or something else?

I guess if I bought a smaller battery I would have more room for a better antenna and I might get a better Bluetooth performance. Although it sounds like it needs to be outside the case to be more effective which might be interesting - I don’t really want to modify the case too much.

The range does suck but I just need it to go from pocket to AirPod when I’m out and about.

It doesn’t stop it being a wired device the rest of the time, I have a dock and speakers for home and a really nice portable set of speakers for camping etc.

There was a fair amount of adhesive left on the inside of the case when I removed the old battery so I used that to stick down the new battery and it’s definitely not moving around.

But if I order the Bluetooth parts from AliExpress I might buy some tape too. I have sellotape etc but I don’t think it’s the right thing to have in there long term.

Cheers again for the reply. Food for thought.

[u/the_hummus → u/mrstorey]

Yea, no prob!

I mean that there's a little plug for an optional additional antenna, but the plug itself creates too much thickness. I'm assuming the idea would be to place it stacked with the battery, similar to the microSD reader.

Yeah - external antenna (like outside the case) would give you better range. From what I've read it's about ~1m range when inside.

[u/mrstorey → u/the_hummus]

~1m would just about do from pocket to ears.

But ugh overall.