4 replies to this topic

[jonajuna]

dismayed with the quality of the powered speaker mount from arkon and disgusted at the price of off the shelf or bespoke options, i decided to build my own

i made use of the piddle poor headset that came with my MDA compact II, a set of "ipod2 type speakers and a couple of handsfree mics from expansys http://www.expansys....asp?code=128638.

after sitting with a pair of snips and carefully cutting away the plastic from around the volume control on the headset (its glued together) i freed up the contained PCB. removed the wires to the mic/headphones and soldered on a stripped end of the input for the "ipod" speakers (you wiill need to double up the ground for these as the headset has seperate left and right channel ground wires).

the same for the mics after cutting off the plug on the end (the bare wire is ground, the shielded wire is pos).

insulated it all up with copius amounts of tape and then fed all the wires through the car and hid the speakers under the dash. all you see in the car is the 2.5mm plug and a bit of its cable coming out of the dash and the 2 mics which use velcro to attach to your ceiling lining

works fantastic and of course also boosts the system sounds for ringtones, audio and sat nav guidance.

costs?

headset (included)
2 x mics @ £4.95 each
"ipod" speakers approx £15 but i got mine free from a sales rep

so even if you buy the headset, max cost of £35 or £30 if you go with just one mic

dont try to run the speakers off the cigar lighter if you have the MDA comapct II on charge from it at the same time, you do get a power buzz feedback, at the mo, im running the speakers off off 4 rechargable AAA's but am going to wire in a separate cigar lighter to the ignition power supply to overcome this problem (and have them power down with the ignition)

[LSmith4285]

Do you have any pics of the process or finished product?

Thanks

[jonajuna]

LSmith4285, on May 2 2006, 09:00, said:

Do you have any pics of the process or finished product?

Thanks

not of process, but could do of the finished ie installed, "product", but really not a lot to see, imagine the 2.5mm plug and 2 inchs of the cable that is on the end of the freebie headset that comes with the MDA CompactII sticking out of the dash, that really is all there is too see, plus of course the tiny mics that are on the roof lining.

but ill do some pics (ignore the state of my car, i hate people who throw rubbish out of the windows, so i throw mine on the car floor instead!!    ) and try to draw a diagram with paint of how the PCB looks with the little solder bobs marked out accordingly, although saying that, the exit side of the PCB is clearly marked up anyway .

give me a day or 2

[kaf]

I did something similair but connected it into the car stereo - not ipod speakers

One of these will get rid of the ground loop (hum) - the connections are phonos but it does work

http://www.maplin.co...o=33172&doy=5m5

Edited by kaf, 05 May 2006 - 10:36 PM.

[jonajuna]

kaf, on May 5 2006, 23:33, said:

I did something similair but connected it into the car stereo - not ipod speakers

One of these will get rid of the ground loop (hum) - the connections are phonos but it does work

http://www.maplin.co...o=33172&doy=5m5

any idea what is inside that isolator as they call it? suspect it would be cheaper and certainly smaller, to make the gubbings up myself.

now that im a dab hand with a soldering iron and all that