I had a problem. That problem was not wanting to use the front panel audio on my case but wanting to be able to swap between headphones and speakers without getting to the back of my PC every time.
I looked on Amazon and the solutions I found were $15 and $30. Upon finding out how “simple” electrically it was, I went to the local Radio Shack, which was having a closing sale, intending to get a DPDT switch and three 3.5mm jacks. Well as it turns out someone cleaned them out of the jacks I wanted so I improvised by getting a cheap headphone splitter dongle, hoping to at least scavenge the jacks.
The following is what ensued.
The plan.
The parts.
Inside the splitter.
The switch was huge relative to the splitter.
Simple unsoldered mock up and proof of concept.
Inside the splitter after attaching all wires how I needed them. I suck at soldering and the original wires were so very fragile.
After making sure it all worked still I filled it with hot glue and held it together while it set.
My solution for mounting the toggle switch. Yes, a pill bottle cap.
Rear of cap.
Shortened up the bottle and put a split in it to get it over the wires later.
Nasty, frustrating soldering work done
All together and mounted (rear).
Ta-da!
Still not sure what I’m going to do about the wires in the back but it functions and that makes me happy.
By the way I spent less than three USD on this.