Using a standard RCA '3-to-1' with the Pi

[Snoutmol]

Does anybody know if I can use this RCA cable to somehow connect my Pi to a TV?

The black end of the cord won't fit into the Pi, but I also can't find any place to put the black end in the TV. Does this thing even work with a Pi?

Thanks!

[aTao]

Yes, but you are not going to like it....

If your tv has phono (RCA) in then you can plug one phono (any will do) into the RPi, another into the tv and short out tip and 2 rings on the jack (perhaps with some tin foil).

I did say you wouldnt like it..

Or, if you dont need the cable then split out each of the phonos as far as the cable permits (right back to the jack as far as I can see), cut the cables and splice 2 together to make a phono-phono cable. Again, thats if your tv has phono in.

[Mobius]

What you will likely need is a single RCA to RCA cable for the video. If you also want audio to the TV, then you will need a cable that has two RCA plugs on one end and a single stereo headphone style plug on the other end. These are commonly available cables. or you can make your own.

[Cloudcentric]

What you have there is 3 Phonos to an Audio Jack Plug which seems designed for a special purpose..........

If your TV has Scart Socket get a Scart Adaptor something like this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Scart-to-SVHS ... 0703556576

Then you will need a Yellow RCA Cable, something like this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10m-YELLOW-RC ... 0688101635

Also an Audio Out to 2 Phono Jacks like:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/75CM-Gold-Pla ... 0932267922


I have a cheap bargain basement shop not far from me which sell these types of items.....

[malakai]

The cord I believe from your comment is using a 1/16" end and is typically sold with some Digital Cameras to hook them up to a TV so you would need a 1/16" to 1/8" adapter just to get it to plug into the audio jack. Radio Shak or Tandy sells converter plugs or did when I bought one years back. It still wouldn't work or might get audio out but the cost of the converter would be as much as an 1/8" jack to RCA Audio style plugs.

[Snoutmol]

Yes, but you are not going to like it....

If your tv has phono (RCA) in then you can plug one phono (any will do) into the RPi, another into the tv and short out tip and 2 rings on the jack (perhaps with some tin foil).

I did say you wouldnt like it..

Or, if you dont need the cable then split out each of the phonos as far as the cable permits (right back to the jack as far as I can see), cut the cables and splice 2 together to make a phono-phono cable. Again, thats if your tv has phono in.

Thanks, I think I'll try to do this strange solution. I'm a total noob, however--can you explain the blue text some other way? I don't quite understand how/what to "short out a tip", and the tin foil seems kind of scary

The cord I believe from your comment is using a 1/16" end and is typically sold with some Digital Cameras to hook them up to a TV so you would need a 1/16" to 1/8" adapter just to get it to plug into the audio jack. Radio Shak or Tandy sells converter plugs or did when I bought one years back. It still wouldn't work or might get audio out but the cost of the converter would be as much as an 1/8" jack to RCA Audio style plugs.

Yes, this did come with a digital camera. I'll just by an additional plug/converter if I can't find out how to use the one I already own.

[aTao]

short out tip and 2 rings on the jack (perhaps with some tin foil).

I'm a total noob, however--can you explain the blue text some other way? I don't quite understand how/what to "short out a tip", and the tin foil seems kind of scary

Sure...

For what you have is a tipple jack, you can get mono and stereo too.
The conventional names for the connector parts of the jack are tip, ring and sleeve.
The tip is the point, the sleeve is the connector nearest the cable, any others in between) are rings.
For a mono jack then the standard wiring would put ground (and cable screen) on the sleeve and signal on the tip.
For stereo, again, ground (and screen) on sleeve, right on tip and left on the ring.
For stereo and video (as you have) the ground in on sleeve and all the signals are on the tip and 2 rings.
So, to get a signal in one RCA (phono) and out of another, the grounds are already connected at the sleeve. And if you connect the tip and 2 rings together (possibly with a bit of tin foil) then the signal will be passed from one RCA to both others.

You might want to be careful that the tin foil* does not touch the sleeve or anything else really and that the spare RCA (phono) also does not touch anything else. Dont worry about blowing things up if it does short out, these signals are low power with a resistance built into the circuit, plenty good enough to make sure there is no damage.

[Snoutmol]

Thanks for all the help, people! I ended up just buying a new phono cord, and it works perfectly.