I think these would be easy enough to make. I have plenty of ammo cans, some left over RaaMat sound deadener. I'd need speakers, an amp, minijack hookups and some sort of power supply. I can't imagine that it would be hard.

I think this is cool, but it is not $600 pounds cool. Not when I can make one myself. Help me find the components to make one. The box pictured uses a 70 watt amp, and a battery pack to be mobile. I think I'd rather be able to plug it in, but having batteries would be nice for backup.

Zach

The battery looks like one that is used for backup power for a home security system. Not sure how you would be able to charge it up though.

Hell ya thats cool. Look up military auctions, ebay, or those roaming gun shows, you can pick up the ammo box there.

As for the speakers and such, ebay for one of those water tight sony or any boom box where the speakers look like they are removable. Plus you get all the internal goodies and probably even a cd player. Dewalt work site radio might work... then you have an 18volt backup battery with all the charging stuff built in.

I have nearly 15 empty ammo cans in my attic. I don't need any more.

I want to make the guts.

Zach

That is very cool! What about just dismantling a CDplayer-boom box and inserting the guts into the ammo box?

What are you looking for as far as power output and stuff like that goes? If you can find neodynium speakers they use special light-weight magnets, that could be good if you want something portable.

This may be the simple way to go unless your really knowledgeable in audio, dacs, tuners, amps, trace circuitry, resistor, capacitors ect.. ect so much so that you could fix any broken unit. I would do it this way.. You can find screwed up cosmeticaly still working boxes on ebay for cheap gut them into your ammo box, use mdf, and maybe some pillow fill to encapsulate at least the speakers for bigger solid sound.. Radio shacks have a pull out drawer display usually in the back corners of the store whihc have alot of the supplies you would need for such project, including power set ups that use normal everyday batteries,,. switches, knobs, resisiotrs, capacitoprs, lighting ect ect..

Here is all you need for the amp. Left Coast Simple Stereo I have the first one ever made in my 914. It works great and is really small. Add one of these a pair of speakers and a small 12V battery and you have a nice system in an ammo can.

a $50 boom box or ipod alarm clock will give you everything you need.


forget harbor freight... radio shack is your new best friend

Think you can find all you need here
http://www.mcmelectronics.com/?gclid=CJf-1...CFRknawod0xMiaA

Check out this ammo box conversion pplus it has the details of the project, I googled ammo box convert and they use them for everything harley saddle bags and emergency communication devices..

http://home.comcast.net/~buck0/combox.htm

Click to view attachment

I found motorcycle 100W amps on line for ~ $32 by a company called Shark. Using that, all I would need is a way to convert 120v to 12v, and speakers.



Zach

Motorcycles run 120?

Where's the original link to the ammo can pics you posted?

No, bikes run on 12v. Which is why I need an adapter if I go that route.

Here is the link to the Gizmodo piece:
http://gizmodo.com/5486045/thodio-a+box-bu...for-your-bunker

Zach

in good ol' california anyway we need to concentrate on filling those empties back up with real ammo. we have a year before legislation will make out of state purchases illegal and have to fill prints, papers and a fee for 50 (?) max. rds. a mo.

cool looking idea, not really trying to hyjack or rant, but gotta ad

piss off a liberal, buy a gun

Zach, you need to figure out if you want a 110V or 12V portable system. The 12V with the battery would be easy enough to do, just get a 12V plug in wall transformer to charge it. All I need to know if you use that amp is what the input amperage is. A small transformer and a bridge rectifier will work to charge it if need be. A system that runs off 110 will need a little more filtering so you don't get noise. A PC power supply usually works well if you have one you can gut.

Buy some cheap computer active speakers. It will run on 12V(wall adapter), have an amp and speakers. All for under $20. You just need the battery or use 12V from your car. Cut it apart for parts.

Don't kill my thread, please.

So anyway, I keep looking and finding things, and the DIYer in me is going nuts....

Some one on another board told me about Parts-express.com... and wow.

I found a set of speakers

(4 inch, Specifications • Max. music power: 120 watts • Nominal power handling: 25 watts • Frequency Response: 35 Hz to 30 kHz • Sensitivity: 87 dB • Impedance: 4 ohms • Dimensions: 4-1/8" • Mounting depth: 1-3/4".)

I found the grills:


and I found 2 potential amps. Both are small, 30 watts (15wpc) 12vDC powered. One is very DIY, the other is more complete.

The finished one comes with battery and plug in power, but the volume control is molded in so I would have to set it in advance since the amp is hidden.

And then there is this little gem, and it just set my DIY heart on fire.

I would have to do some soldering, but I could mount it anywhere in my ammo can. It has a separate volume control, so I'd be able to mount that in the outsite of the case for easier volume control. But I'd have to buy an AC adapter for it, and a battery pack.

If I go with the more complete amp, the whole thing will run ~100 in parts. Actually, but will cost about $100 in parts, as the DIY amp will require me to buy the adapter and batter pack.

Zach

The link I put on earlier had 4" pyle speakers for 15 bucks. I have a 12VDC power supply in the garage you can have. The grills look like muffin fan grills, available through MCM as well i think. The power supply i think is 4 amp at 12 VDC and is pretty small. MCM should have the 12VDC gell cell battery as well.

I could build this easy, so I can guide you in doing it. You can use my badass soldering iron

What caliber ammo cans do you have? The one they used was was a .50 BMG, so that sucker is massive. I know my 7.62 cans are probably too thin to house all that stuff.

I have both 50 cal and 30 cal cans. i am going to try and use a 30 cal can. With the RaaMat for deadening I will still have 3.25 inches internal.

My speakers only need a mounting depth of 2 inches, and the amp need a depth of under 2 inches as well. I am going to have plenty of room in the smaller ammo can, but if not, I'll use a bigger one.

Mike, I ordered a better soldering iron (then the one I have, dunno about yours) to bring my order to the point where it was free shipping. But, i will still be looking for your guidance as I bough the total DIY amp that I am going to have to solder the connections for.

I was able to find everything on that site - including the 8AA battery pack that I am going to use for the battery power.

I also picked up a relay for my 914 hella horns, seeing as I broke the one I was using on Tuesday.
Zach

Correct me if I am wrong, but aren't you an electronics mo-fo from the coast guard? Is your bus not at Zach's place? Could you not personally guide Zach in the fabrication of this?

Please don't tell us that you are like those two college roommates that don't really like each other...

need to add a 1/4" jack for cigar box cable.....just saying....

Mike's way busy, and I am trying not to add to his distractions. He needs to get his bus done so he has something to drive.

That said, he has most of hit electrics equipment here so I am fully planing on scamming solder and flux and shrink wrap and whatever else I may need. And I won't turn down advice either.

Zach

I think that as long as you put a 1/8 adapter on your 1/4 input we will have no problems. I'd be interested to see how this sounds with you CBG.

Zach

I am getting the hint that Zach wants my buss gone
Why else would h be helping me so much

Zach, the solder, flux and iron are in my suby

The Parts-express catalog is great! I like the stuff there too!

It needs a USB port CD Player

use an Altronix model # smp3 power supply/charger. it takes a 16.5 VAC plug in transformer (plug it in the wall) and puts out 12VDC up to 3 amps. it also charges the battery.. good luck ,Dave

that's so 1995

ipod dock in the lid tho

On Saturday, Joe came over for dinner and was asking me where I would put a sub for bass.

Its not going to be this build, but it did get me thinking. (I know, dangerous - right?)

Okay, for an 8 or 10 inch sub, I'd need a bigger ammo can.
A 20mm can would do the trick. Dimensions are L 17" x W 7" x H 15."

I would have room for the sub, 2 midrange speakers and 2 high range speakers.

I could use a larger amp. There are several 100 to 250 watt "cool to the touch" motorcycle amps out there designed to work in enclosures where they get ZERO airflow. These will all fit in a 20mm ammo can. I *think* a 2 channel motorcycle amp will work with a sub, but I don't know for sure. it would take more looking.

I'd have to buy the 20mm can, but they are cheap. I have no idea how I would cut an 8 inch hole, and have it look good. I would have to use some sort of grill, I'm sure, since I don't have a mill to make the hole nice and round. If I did 3 speakers (sub and 2X5 inch speakers) I could probably build the whole thing for ~130 (or $60 if I scavange parts from the small one). Its an idea. One that I will look into further if I find I enjoyed making the smaller one that I have already bought parts for.

Zach

are you adding this to your winter build project list?? Cool idea!!

Nope. This is a separate project. Because I don't have enough to do already.

Zach

Just a little project update, since its too wet out to do real tuning on my car...

Basic components. Some stuff is not shown (grills, and the amp - which has not arrived yet)
The ammo can is not the standard 7.62 NATO can, but rather a German can that I had picked up at some point. Maybe East German. I'm not sure where exactly it was made, but it is very similar (but a little different) to the MG34 cans used by the Germans during WWII. Could also be Bulgarian, but it is different from the Soviet cans... At any rate, I picked it for use as it is just a little bigger NATO 7.62 cans.


Holes are cut, and the front is painted the base color.


Masking off last nights paint, and cutting out the stencil.


Stencils painted. Not perfect, but not bad. The volume knob is goig to be placed where the center button in the Radiation symbol is.


RaaMat sound deadening installed on the metal surfaces.


And now I am waiting for paint to dry enough to mock the speakers in and drill their mounting holes. Given how wet and humid it is this weekend, it will probably later this evening or tomorrow before I am able to do that. Paint is drying SLOOOOOOWLY.

By the end of the weekend, I should have everything ready to go but the amp - and that is not done yet only because they have not gotten it to me yet.

Zach

And... the front side of the case is done.

I drilled the speaker mounting holes and got them mounted in. Looks pretty damn cool if I do say so myself. I wish the amp was here so I could build it. I could have been testing it out by Sunday!







Well, what do you all think of the face?

I have some OD paint to touch up the rest of the case, but I am not sure that I want to do that. I kind like the old patina on the rest of it.

Next task will be to make the amp, mount it somewhere, and figure out a way to mount the battery pack so that it can be changed as needed. But I can't do that until the amp is built and in place.

Zach

Zach, I think leave paint as is where is. It kinda has an eastern block - old school- ghetto feel, and I cannot think of another creation on our planet that can achieve that.

Now that is cool!

Way cool!

A thought... the can is metal... heat sink the amp to the can.

How did you end up cutting the holes? Nice job...

......ZACK.when do you go into production!!!!!, I want mine sunflower yellow , all four sides,radiation symbols all four sides,a soft rubber pad on the bottom---so i can put it on the roof----when I go to the concourse events.(not).............mm.

I have a couple of old VW bus emblems if you need a new necklace

Nice work Zach

dont forget a yellow neon 12v mini tube so the case emmits radio active beams

Wow, fantastic customer service from Dayton Audio.

The small amp I want to use has been back ordered for two weeks, and when I talked to the drones at parts Express, they were not helpful in letting me know if it was ever going to come in. They had pushed back the arrival date twice since I bought it.

So, on a whim I called Dayton Audio this morning - they are the folks the designed and wholesale the amp (it is, of course, produced in China).

Not only did the woman that I talked to on the phone get back to me to let me know she had confirmed that the amps were going to be in house this afternoon, she let me know that she would be happy to forward mine along directly instead of sending it to Parts Express first.

The amp was NOT expensive, at all of $19.00 total, and Dayton does not do retail - only wholesale. I am a small fish to them, krill even. But Donna (the associate I spoke with) took my call, did the foot work to track down the facts and was willing to send it to me direct (and just credit P.E.). All I had to do was get her my P.E. invoice number and zip code. I was ready to walk on the sale this morning, but I'll be looking for more Dayton products now for future projects.

Zach

Zach,

did you finish the last ipod project for your car?? i never got to hear it?? Is this boom can going in the car to take its place?

Yes and no. I put in the 70watt amp, and wired it to some speakers tht I got from Morh the fit the stock grills. it is wired in. And I tested it once to see if it worked (it does) and then I never used it again. Last year I was driving the car with ear plugs, so I figured music was a lost cause.

I am hoping that since I have put in more sound deadening, that I might be able to drive without plugs. But, I am not going to add any more audio stuff to the car until I think that I will use it, so I did not buy or install the sub I was thinking about doing.

Cool project...

Okay, so here is the finished product:





The iPod can be mounted in or out of the can. I have a pouch in there that I made of some left over sheet metal. The entire inside of the can is also sprayed with rubberizer. it sounds pretty good until you really crank the volume. Way better then the little PC speakers that I had been using.

Zach

Looks great Zach, cant wait to hear it.

I dare you to put it on ebay