diy portable radio

[shanky887614]

im gutted, ill have to either put the radio in on a slight angle to fit it in.

i forgot to take into account the cable connector on the back of the radio. ill either put it sticking  through the lid or buy the taller 50 cal ammo box ( i didnt realise they did slightly bigger ones as well)

i got a 5ah 12v sealed lead acid battery from a place on the way home that fits perfectly and will allow room for the speakers, i just need to buy the rocker switch off amazon etc then ill be ready to test build it

[smjcuk]

If it's any consolation, the radio in my Fiat is the same; sticks out by an inch i.e. they didn't leave enough room for the cables.

And yes it came like that, new...

[G7PSK]

I find the best source of 18650 Lipo cells is old laptop battery packs. Most of the packs that fail only have one dead cell out of 6 or 9.

[shanky887614]

ok this is the case im going to use



along with these speakers



ill use this battery and i have space for at least another one if i wanted to go overboard with speakers etc




radio itself says it has 4x55w outputs (18a ish) but i dont belive that, the headunit has a 10a fuse on it i need to check the paperwork if that is just for the perm L or what

ok ive got most parts now

radio
battery
cable
charger
connectors etc

just waiting on delivery of

case
speakers ( got some old ones in garage i can test it with)


depending on the sound i might box it in or line it.

[tron9000]

How much was ammo tin? Thinking of using one for a low power portable charger/inverter

[shanky887614]

How much was ammo tin? Thinking of using one for a low power portable charger/inverter

£15 there cheap (thats for 50cal ammo box)

[shanky887614]

ok, ive finally got the bigger case and im going to change the design again.

here is a quick sketchup of the design

this is the front view



(top two holes are going to be 4" speakers (100mm across)
bottom one i think ill put a 6" in (cause i can)

this one below is inside, the big square box at the back is the radio and the smaller one is a 5ah 12v battery (i might swap it to a lot bigger battery now i have the space)



(the line across the bottom is how far the 4" speakers stick out, i havent removed that from when i used the same model for the smaller case)

[tron9000]

looks good, make sure you don't cut your tweeter holes too close to the lid, otherwise it may not shut. Also remember to take into account for wiring, takes up more space than you think sometimes!

[shanky887614]

looks good, make sure you don't cut your tweeter holes too close to the lid, otherwise it may not shut. Also remember to take into account for wiring, takes up more space than you think sometimes!

will do, im an electrician by trade so im going to be using tri-rated singles for power etc and from experience ive got enough space to stash my charger in there.

the amount of space availible will depend on the depth of the speaker

[shanky887614]

i thought i should update on progress

everything works and this is the finished look, the aerial aerial is removable and comes out of the back.

[tron9000]

looks good. More photos?

[shanky887614]

ill upload some better ones later when i get home

[Deathwish]

Why battery powered, why not solar and clockwork wind up ?.

[shanky887614]

deathehish because it might spend all day inside besides running off a sealed lead acid battery is very simple.

at some point im going  to add an external port to charge the battery (i might add a relay or similar in and a transformer so it will run off my 18v drill batteries)





i couldnt find the 4mm black pins at the time so i improvised (i have found them now and will use nylon nuts with them)

at some point i want to get an iso connector that will fit the radio and do it properly and wire it seperately for the memory (SW+L are linked atm)

[shanky887614]

update:

ive had it running the odd day and had it going from 8am-3pm (7 hours) constantly at reasonably loud volume.

ive got another battery as well now as a spare in there, im going to put a 18v-12v transformer in there so it can run off my makita drill batteries as well.


at the moment i recon i have had it running off the one battery for 10hours or so, that puts the running current at roughly 0.5ah.

[shanky887614]

another update.

ive seriesed up two 12v 5ah batteries to get one 12v 10ah supply, a lead to plug a charger in as well so i can charge it without removing the batteries (900mah charger and radio draws 500mah so all good)

ill make a drawing later to explain myself better.  (motorbike charger by the way)