SmartPhone or IPod Touch Windshield Mount

Intro: SmartPhone or IPod Touch Windshield Mount

Using a $5 GPS windshield mount from the flea market a few "Super" magnets and some Sugru ( http://sugru.com/ ) to make a holder for my iPod Touch. By changing the hard case and attaching the manets with Sugru this should work with any SmartPhone too!

STEP 1:

I wanted to make it iPod easy to remove from the mount, so I chose magnets.

STEP 2:

I picked up a hard shell for the iPod.

STEP 3:

First I tried to glue the magnets with "Super Glue" Cyanoacryate. No luck, the curve of the hard case made it imposable to stick to a flat surface like the mount.

STEP 4:

So I grabbed an old Friend Sugru! I moulded the Sugru around the magnets and covered with plastic wrap.

STEP 5:

The plastic wrap allowed me to mould the Sugru and magnets in a uniform thickness by pushing the hard case onto a hard surface. After I removed the plastic wrap and trim the Sugru to a nice shape. Setting the case iside and allowing it to cure overnight.

STEP 6:

I added magnets to the mount.

STEP 7:

I found that I could slip the magnets into the "clip" part of the mount .

STEP 8:

And by sticking another magnet on top, I now have a flat face to add the iPod hard case to.

STEP 9:

Now I can snap my iPod into its case, and the case will stick to the windshield mount.

STEP 10:

Comments

[rundmcarlson]

Any magnetic field can induce a current in any conductive wire. The effects of this are mitigated in many flash memory applications because of their small size. However, caution should be used in scenarios like this where the object may shake and rattle, because the induction occurs only with a changing magnetic field. If this were sitting on a stationary desk at home I wouldn't worry about it, but with a mobile application like a car, it could damage certain devices. Also, anyone with a galaxy note device, or any other device with a magnetic tablet screen (can use a special pen to draw with) should NEVER put their device near a magnet, as it will create dead spots in the screen's drawing input. The touch input would work fine, but the pen would cease to function near where the magnetic field was interfering. The effects can be temporary or permanent depending on exposure time.

[kentkb]

Wow great comment! I think I should experiment with an old iPod or other touchscreen.
Perhaps I will find a used device at the flea market and do a torture test.
Thank you.

[grahambob68]

My smart phone ( htc desire s ) has a magnetic compass as well as GPS, It can also measure magnetic fields around it and some apps available are metal detectors. They would be affected by magnets but does anyone know if these magnets would have any lasting effects?

[kentkb]

Wow! your phone is sure fancy! How does the compass and GPS work inside the car? You have a lot of magnetic things likre the high energy ignition system and speakers. Your car may even have metal roof too.
I looked (googled) pretty much on the subject, and did not find any warnings, in fact I turned up some "wallets" for the Blackberry that have a strong magnetic latch on them.
GPS is electronic not magnetic, I believe, but the compass... do you have to hold it flat for the compass? Perhaps it is electronic too.
I was not able to test it with every type of phone.
As my grandpa used to say: "When in doubt, throw it out" So perhaps this hack is not such a good idea given the phone you have.
Thank you for the comment.

[grahambob68]

the compass part of my phone works while GPS is disabled, GPS and satnav work fine in the car. The magnetic compass part only seems to be affected when close to metal objeccts, typically less than 50mm, but magnets do affect it, but they don't affect the GPS compass (ie, when GPS is active the magnetic compass is off) I think it's similar to the cheap adventure watches you can buy that have a built in electronic compass, I don't think they rely on satellites.
I just wondered if you knew if magnets could cause any lasting effects.
thanks anyhow.

[kentkb]

Sorry, I do not know of any long term effects on electronic compasses, I do use this with a iPod touch a few times a week, and have not seen any problems.
Thank you for checking in again.

[gnelson2]

why not just sugru the ipod case to the stand that way when you hit a bump it doesnt fly off the mount

[kentkb]

Yes! Sugru would do a great job sticking both parts together, but if I change phones ( mmmm iPhone 5 ) all I have to do is buy another ( cheap) hard shell and add the Sugru and magnets to it, and the windshield mount will not be altered.
Thank you for a great question!

[zazenergy]

great work!

[kentkb]

Thank you, zazenergy.

[Truehart]

Maybe somebody smarter than me can calm my fears, but as awesome as this 'ible is, I'd be afraid to put rare earth magnets that close to my phone. Yeah, their great at holding things, but that's exactly why I don't want them near my computers.

[kentkb]

Good question.
I looked around the net and found some discussion of this :
 Magnets affect magnetic media. most cellphones do not have magnetic data media in them, just SD cards which are electric, most modern storage devices, such as SD and CompactFlash memory cards, are immune to magnetic fields. "There's nothing magnetic in flash memory, so [a magnet] won't do anything," says Bill Frank, executive director of the CompactFlash Association. "A magnet powerful enough to disturb the electrons in flash would be powerful enough to suck the iron out of your blood cells," says Frank.
That magnets damage computer chips is generally a myth. For proof, dissect a hard drive. Inside are two of the largest magnets generally found in residential homes.
Putting a piece of metal close to the phone's antenna is never a good idea since it affects the reception and may force the phone to transmit with higher power to maintain a connection with the base station.
But there is no long term damage to the phone (except, perhaps quicker draining of the battery.)  As soon as the metal piece is removed from the phone's vicinity, the phone will be back to working normally.
The only magnetic thing in a cell phone is the speaker, though I moved a strong magnet around the back of my  2 iPod Touch's and a iPad,  I was not able to affect the speaker sound, plus I usually use headphones, or Bluetooth.
Thank you for the comment.