TheRadioBoard

This is a birthday gift for my daughter. I used a little MP3/FM panel mount insert that feeds two dual 386 amps I built. The knobs are machined from solid copper and the enclosure is solid red oak.

The speakers can detach from the pedestal and hang on the wall from the keyholes I milled into them. Using 2" oak gives the speakers better bass. You would be hard pressed to find small 3" mini stereo speakers built with solid wood and that heavy.

It took a few tries to find a small panel mount MP3/FM console that actually works. This one accepts SD, USB and mini USB. It's a 3.7 volt unit but I'm feeding it 4.8 from the 12 vt input.

The FM is very clean even with the small 14" telescoping antenna and picks up at least a dozen stations. I live 60 miles from the closest FM transmitter.



I put in two AUX ports for a CD player.





I also got my daughter a small FM transmitter that attaches to her Ipod that can be played over it also. It has a pretty decent range for the size of it. She can also use it on her Kindle.




And a remote. The USB port can also charge her Ipod.

Nice work. Having worked with one now, do you think the MP3/FM things are decent?

This one is but the other two I tried are not so good. 4.8 vt works great on this one but burned out another one I tried.

I'd like to see a better quality MP3 type console be made for DIY projects. But for $7 it certainly works well (for now). The 12 vt wall wart cost more then the console and components for the amps.

DealExtreme.com has some pretty interesting stuff for very low prices. If you don't mind waiting 3 wks to get it with their free shipping. Although I placed a recent order and opted to spend an extra $1.70 for faster shipping. We'll see how much faster it arrives.

I ordered a couple more consoles to use in an AM transmitter for my vintage tube radios to play FM or MP3 on them.