amackay

Thank You!!!!!It was a lot of fun putting it together :)

Thanks!!!I couldn't agree with you more there :) I've always found that the auto wrecker is the ultimate place for reusing someone else's "trash". I always find a scouting mission in the auto year to be a fun (and cheap!) way to spend a Saturday morning. I try to find things that your typical weekend mechanic wouldn't usually be interested in, but that still have some usefulness left in them :).Cheers!

Thanks! I'm a bit of a self taught electronics dabbler with some woodworking skills to boot - so I like it when I can merge the 2 together :) I certainly now understand the issue around the phasing - I'm going to keep the current radio wired just to the single channel for now - since I don't really notice the missing stereo channel when it's playing - but I did grab another radio (same model) at the u-pick yard this past weekend. Basically this one will be a guinea pig for experimenting with the phasing - I'm actually a bit curious on what it does sound like wired in phase versus out of phase on a single speaker (and if I "blow it up", well, it was only $10 and I can salvage parts from it). If it survives the experiments I probably will make a Version 2 of the radio with 2 spe...see more »Thanks! I'm a bit of a self taught electronics dabbler with some woodworking skills to boot - so I like it when I can merge the 2 together :) I certainly now understand the issue around the phasing - I'm going to keep the current radio wired just to the single channel for now - since I don't really notice the missing stereo channel when it's playing - but I did grab another radio (same model) at the u-pick yard this past weekend. Basically this one will be a guinea pig for experimenting with the phasing - I'm actually a bit curious on what it does sound like wired in phase versus out of phase on a single speaker (and if I "blow it up", well, it was only $10 and I can salvage parts from it). If it survives the experiments I probably will make a Version 2 of the radio with 2 speakers - I'm actually leaning towards a Bookshelf style with the speakers in separate enclosures, but we'll see what strikes my fancy when it comes time to build. You'll probably see my final decision in a future Instructable :) I really glad you like my Instructable - I'm actually quite pleasantly surprised at the discussion it's sparked (and it's not a bad thing when you learn a thing or 2 in the process)Cheers!

I never considered trying a laptop power supply - but actually that may be a better choice than a Wall Wart since they run at a higher amperage and likely are better shielded - and they are starting to get pretty common these days too actually.I see that the supply you reference is select-able for 12 Volts and that's the key thing here - we can't just use any laptop supply since a good number of them are greater that 12 Volts (for example, the Dell laptop that I have has a 19 Volt supply). So we should make sure it's a 12 volt supply lest we blow up the radio :). If I can get my hands on a 12 Volt laptop supply I might actually swap it in place of the Wall Wart. That may solve some of the concerns that some folks have raised in the comments.

That definitely would be the safest bet if you want to be 100% certain.Out of curiosity, I did some digging on the story around the early 2000's E-450 that I pulled that radio from. From what I can tell, that particular radio was used by Ford from 1998 to 2003 - including in Crown Vic police cars :)If the radio was designed in say the late 80's / early 90's that would put it around that time line - so if an auto manufacture kept a particular model unchanged for a long time - Ford Econoline vans and Crown Vics certainly seem to fit that criteria :) - you might be able to get a more recently built radio - but you certainly need to know your cars. But if you're not a "gearhead", I definitely agree that something from the 80's would be the way to go.Cheers!

Thanks!I just had the radio playing for any hour - the wall wart Is warm - but I wouldn't call it hot (I would say it was a typical temperature for a "working" wall wart). I've been leaving it plugged in continuously since I built it a few weeks ago now (basically the lights are on and it's displaying the time 24/7 whether the radio is playing or not) - no ill effects so far...If that is a concern - you can always go to a higher amperage supply.Based on the feedback I gotten in the comments, it sounds like you really need to do your research on the make and model of car to see if you do need a code or not (In the case of the Ford radio I pulled - the code wasn't needed)Cheers!

Wow - For a project where basically just I wanted to "put a few bits together and listen to some tunes" I'm getting a good education on the art of car audio :) I'll be honest - I didn't realized that there was a real science behind making the radio in your car sound good. I'll give that site a browse - As I mentioned earlier, I'm getting some ideas on a "Version 2" of this project.Cheers!

That's a good tip.My basic premise was with this was to use something that was really not very popular with the automotive crowd - So I went as basic a radio that I could find. But yes, it seems that most of the late model car radios these days seem to be driven by steering wheel controls. I guess the basic rule would be - if it has audio controls on the steering wheel - take a pass on it. Thanks!

Oh OKIt really sounds like you really need to do your homework on what makes and models to look for before you head out to the yard

Ah! Actually I bet the sound quality would be pretty good with the hollow case (would sort of like tower speaker cabinet)

That's true and if all you had was AC power supplies, you can probably "dead bug" the diodes - would be pretty simple. Likely could solder it in where you be connecting the power wires to the wiring harness in the cabinet.

Thanks!!!!With car radios there's actually a capability to run 4 speakers off it. I did think a wee bit about running 2 speakers, and like you said, running the speakers out of the side of the cabinet versus the single speaker out the back. I decided against it mainly since the speakers would be fairly close together and I figured that I would probably lose any stereo affects. And secondly I did want to cut down the power requirement so that it could work fine on the Wall Wart, so running just the one speaker would have helped there too. With that same thought in mind I also went with a little bit of a lower power speaker too (The stock speaker in the van was 25 watts)If I was to build another one I would actually try and make as an old school "book shelf" stereo with speake...see more »Thanks!!!!With car radios there's actually a capability to run 4 speakers off it. I did think a wee bit about running 2 speakers, and like you said, running the speakers out of the side of the cabinet versus the single speaker out the back. I decided against it mainly since the speakers would be fairly close together and I figured that I would probably lose any stereo affects. And secondly I did want to cut down the power requirement so that it could work fine on the Wall Wart, so running just the one speaker would have helped there too. With that same thought in mind I also went with a little bit of a lower power speaker too (The stock speaker in the van was 25 watts)If I was to build another one I would actually try and make as an old school "book shelf" stereo with speakers in separate enclosures. The extra space freed up from the speaker in the radio cabinet could probably house a more beefed up power supply . In that case I could also look at moving up to a more "fancy" car stereo too. (Say, you may have given me an idea for another instructable :) )Yes, Wall Warts aren't the most well designed power supplies. I didn't really find any hum on the FM band - which is what I listen to anyway - but yes, definite hum on AM. I did consider adding some toroids to the power wire on the supply, but like I said it wasn't a priority for me to have AM. But no argument here - a linear supply would be a more elegant solution.Cheers!

Thanks!You'll never know unless you try :) Cheers!

Thanks!!!!I never thought about the PC power supply, and actually I'm a bit surprised that it wouldn't work. If I was to take a guess, I know some supplies have some smarts built into them so that they don't supply power unless it detects a load - and maybe the radio didn't provide enough of a load for it. But on the positive side - the wall wart would be a lot less bulky than the PC supply would be :)

Thanks!! Well, one of the main things I wanted to do with this particular project was to try and make some use of the stuff that's been accumulating in my junk box. Just as luck should have it I've accumulated a fairly impressive collection of these wall wart supplies - I suspect a lot of people have that problem :) The trick is the higher the amperage the better, At 500mA the radio seems quite happy - though the lights on the radio will flicker to the beat of the music if you really crank the volume on it :)

Thanks!Thanks for the tip on the filler! - there is no shortage here is sawdust here :)That's been a particular pain for me - I was getting some success in wiping down the area with a wet cloth immediately after applying the filler and then sanding - but sometimes the filler would still show up when I did the staining This sounds like a very simple thing to try so I'll give it a shot next time :)You could also try the u-pick yards like I did - in this case the radio only cost me $10 (It's actually a flat rate for any radio - so you could go as plain or as fancy as you want). I kind of like poking around the yard because you can see some interesting stuff there - so it's cheap entertainment too :) Who knows - you might just find the radio that was in your Blazer (Actually I think I k...see more »Thanks!Thanks for the tip on the filler! - there is no shortage here is sawdust here :)That's been a particular pain for me - I was getting some success in wiping down the area with a wet cloth immediately after applying the filler and then sanding - but sometimes the filler would still show up when I did the staining This sounds like a very simple thing to try so I'll give it a shot next time :)You could also try the u-pick yards like I did - in this case the radio only cost me $10 (It's actually a flat rate for any radio - so you could go as plain or as fancy as you want). I kind of like poking around the yard because you can see some interesting stuff there - so it's cheap entertainment too :) Who knows - you might just find the radio that was in your Blazer (Actually I think I know the radio you are talking about - and I have seen them in the yard that I go to.) Cheers!

Thanks!I'm with you - it seems like a shame to toss things out that seem to still have some usefulness left in them. We just need to think out side of the box a bit to find that use :)I have a few other ideas up my sleeve.... Just need to find the time to make them :) Cheers!

Thanks Jason! I have it playing now as I type this - Now that you mention it - It does kind of remind me of the one that was in the old truck that my Grandfather had :)

Sounds like fun!I would be interested in these categories:- Workshop- TechThanks!