Adding Remote Control to a B&O Linear Turntable

Ross Hershberger (RHERSH12), laid up with a bum foot, is going crazy with the cool stereo hacks. He’s fixed a severed tweeter wire and rebuilt a 1960’s tube amp kit. Now he writes:

I’m planning a foolish mod to a turntable that you all might be interested in. I recently repaired two Bang & Olufsen linear tracking turntables with tonearm problems. These things are absolute engineering marvels, but after 25 years, the belts and lubricants need renewing. I noticed that the control panel that initiates all of the arm functions; START, STOP, CUE UP/DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT, terminate in a simple, hackable cable. A little research turned up a kit RF remote control on eBay that would be child’s play to interface with the control’s connectors. It’s also cheap, at US$30, and controls up to 12 functions. This would give me full remote control over the turntable from up to 1km away! 1000 meters is overkill, but I really need to be able to hit ‘pause’ from my desk when the phone rings. It would be nice to be able to skip a track too, while I’m in the back yard listening to records, or just to show off. I plan to document the modification in photos, and if it looks interesting, I can write up a narrative of the process. [You can tell, I’m sure, that I have way too much time on my hands stuck here in the house with a busted foot.]

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