DIY Radio
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Jul 2023
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DIY Radio
I've had this for about 2 years now but I thought I'd share. All that is needed was a couple speakers, speaker wire, a car radio, a short 2x8 (or 10 but can't remember), screws to hold it all together and a power wire that hooks into a 12v power inverter. Since I first built it I have put on a different head unit but otherwise nothing has changed. I got the first head unit from a friend who took it out of a tractor for free and the current one from my daily. The speakers were from a 2017 Ford escape and the rest is just stuff I had laying around.
Lead Driver
Joined: Nov 2020
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From: Sportsman's Paradise
We used to do that back in our teens when were helping restore a few old 60's Camaros. Yank what ever junk it had in it, if it worked we would either mount it almost exactly like that to a board and make some cheap boxes for the speakers out of cardboard to give it that little bit of thump lol.
One of the guys got really creative and decided to use an old ice chest which worked better than anything else we'd made to that point, the resonance of the ice chest cavity surprisingly made cheap speakers sound decent, enough for the shop anyway.
If you really want a DIY radio, check out this , soldering required. Bought one for one of my aspiring electronics tech gr child. Decent sound and loud enough to aggravate mom and dad
One of the guys got really creative and decided to use an old ice chest which worked better than anything else we'd made to that point, the resonance of the ice chest cavity surprisingly made cheap speakers sound decent, enough for the shop anyway.
If you really want a DIY radio, check out this , soldering required. Bought one for one of my aspiring electronics tech gr child. Decent sound and loud enough to aggravate mom and dad
Hotshot
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 11,950
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My favorite cars was a '71 Gran Torino sport with bucket seats. I drove a lot and back in those days many of us put CB radios in our cars.
I took some 1/4" plexiglas and cut two brackets, screwed them onto the sides of the radio, and dropped it into the console. Getting power to it and hooking up the antenna was a snap.
So open up the console and the CB was sitting there, ready for use. Park the car and close the console and except for the antenna mounted to the car no one knew of the extra hardware.
I took some 1/4" plexiglas and cut two brackets, screwed them onto the sides of the radio, and dropped it into the console. Getting power to it and hooking up the antenna was a snap.
So open up the console and the CB was sitting there, ready for use. Park the car and close the console and except for the antenna mounted to the car no one knew of the extra hardware.
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Jul 2023
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I don't know if I'm going to do it yet or not but because I collect radios and speakers every chance I get I might build something similar into my desk. I'll share if I do so. Some would say to just go get the right speakers for your computer but I like the idea of it being built into the desk.
Lead Driver
Joined: Nov 2020
Posts: 7,128
Likes: 1,945
From: Sportsman's Paradise
I don't know if I'm going to do it yet or not but because I collect radios and speakers every chance I get I might build something similar into my desk. I'll share if I do so. Some would say to just go get the right speakers for your computer but I like the idea of it being built into the desk.
Logistics Pro
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 4,865
Likes: 497
My only concern would be a stable and safe conversion from 120 volt AC to 12 volt DC.
It would give me something to do with the half dozen outdated car stereos I have sitting around.
It would give me something to do with the half dozen outdated car stereos I have sitting around.
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From: Sportsman's Paradise
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