Hey guys, its been a while, good to see the forum still up and going strong. Wish i could stop by more.. but with work and school full time its really hard.
This is kind of OT, but i figured someone here (swez?) might be able to help.
I have a few extra 6x9s and 5.25 speakers just sitting around, and i need some tunes in my room and for parties, so i got an idea for a project. I want to build a small portable stereo out of my spair parts. I plan on getting a cheap HU off ebay and making a box for it and the speakers. Im also gonna get a power car antenna and put in in there, just for kicks. I have a pretty good idea of how im going to do evrything except for powering it. I want it to be able to run off of batteries for when i cant plug it in. this is where im a little fuzzy...i assume a 45x4 HU will suck up alot of juice, and i want to keep this thing as light as possible so a car bat is out of the question. Any ideas?
Replies (11)
ttocs on 08/31/2004 11:30:40
so you want to carry a system, pwrd off of something larger the a car battery? I think I would just go buy a boom box rather then lug that around....
uochronos on 08/31/2004 14:55:46
ya a boom box would work better here and cost less probaly... for a battery you would need something the size of a car battery other wise there would be now reason to bother powering it you would just drain anything smaller.
and for pluging it into the wall you would need a ac to DC converter and that well not be cheap... my dad found a 5amp converter and runs a HU in his shop but its from the 80's and only 20x4 probaly 10x4rms and it dims at high volume when it hits...
i would say you would need at least a 15amp converter if you can come up with one this may work though.
Buickman94 on 08/31/2004 15:56:08
I hear what you guys are saying...good points. But i already have a converter for the AC to DC so thats not a problem, and i have the speakers just sitting around. Basically, im making it cause its "something to do"...i have most of the stuff, and i think id be cool. its more of a novelty then anything else, but i still want it to work. Running off batteries isnt that important, i was jsut wondering if there was another option that i hadent explored yet other than a car battery. Mabye i gave you the wrong impression ttocs; it is a system, but when its done i dont plan on having it that much bigger then a strandard boombox. its not like im going to be lugging some huge 150lb thing around...
uochronos on 08/31/2004 16:19:43
where did you get that big of a ac to dc converter? and how much was it i have been looking for one for something else
ttocs on 08/31/2004 17:17:05
they have them at the rat shack......
Solar pwr would make it into an interesting project and conversation piece....
Buickman94 on 08/31/2004 18:07:54
I have no idea where it came from, my dad had it from a while back. Im not sure how many amps it is either, im gonna need to do some research and find out how many i actually need. as for the solar power, nice idea but way too expensive
swez on 08/31/2004 22:29:23
Most HU's will operate on 12 volts, but the typical current draw is ~10A. at full power. Any power supply used will have to sustain power enough to meet that need.. 12 volts x 10 amperes = 120 watts.
Small power transformers will do 12 volts fine, but the current output will be less than 2 amperes in most plug in models. Not enough current to keep the amplifiers powered up.
Swez
uochronos on 09/1/2004 01:55:29
ya thats why i asked where one was located... took me and my dad months to find a reasonable priced one that put out 5 amps..
swez on 09/1/2004 09:04:15
A small battery charger is an option. The kind used to trickle-charge a car battery will work. It's small, light weight, very portable too. Most can deliver about 8A. of current as well. The only possible issue is AC ripple current getting into the power line to HU. Adding a filter cap to filter out AC ripple is possible if what you have on hand is a bit noisy or "dirty power".
Swez
Buickman94 on 09/1/2004 14:16:33
Im going home this weekend form school so ill be able to check out how many amps its rated at. If i remember corrctly, its somewhere around 10 amps at 12 volts. I beleive its made by radioshack; its an older unit, but looks something like the picture in the link below.
http://www.fcsurplus.ca/shopping/shopexd.asp?id=149
I know that what i have will work just fine, i was just looking for an option for when i dont have an outlet to plug it into, guess i dont really have any options there...
swez on 09/1/2004 18:03:23
If that is what you have at home, it should work. Only thing is, you will either need to plug into a 12o volt socket. This looks like a DC power regulator and has only DC output... fine!
Just have to have an input source to power it... looks like a AC wall outlet only will do.
Swez
This is kind of OT, but i figured someone here (swez?) might be able to help.
I have a few extra 6x9s and 5.25 speakers just sitting around, and i need some tunes in my room and for parties, so i got an idea for a project. I want to build a small portable stereo out of my spair parts. I plan on getting a cheap HU off ebay and making a box for it and the speakers. Im also gonna get a power car antenna and put in in there, just for kicks. I have a pretty good idea of how im going to do evrything except for powering it. I want it to be able to run off of batteries for when i cant plug it in. this is where im a little fuzzy...i assume a 45x4 HU will suck up alot of juice, and i want to keep this thing as light as possible so a car bat is out of the question. Any ideas?
Replies (11)
ttocs on 08/31/2004 11:30:40
so you want to carry a system, pwrd off of something larger the a car battery? I think I would just go buy a boom box rather then lug that around....
uochronos on 08/31/2004 14:55:46
ya a boom box would work better here and cost less probaly... for a battery you would need something the size of a car battery other wise there would be now reason to bother powering it you would just drain anything smaller.
and for pluging it into the wall you would need a ac to DC converter and that well not be cheap... my dad found a 5amp converter and runs a HU in his shop but its from the 80's and only 20x4 probaly 10x4rms and it dims at high volume when it hits...
i would say you would need at least a 15amp converter if you can come up with one this may work though.
Buickman94 on 08/31/2004 15:56:08
I hear what you guys are saying...good points. But i already have a converter for the AC to DC so thats not a problem, and i have the speakers just sitting around. Basically, im making it cause its "something to do"...i have most of the stuff, and i think id be cool. its more of a novelty then anything else, but i still want it to work. Running off batteries isnt that important, i was jsut wondering if there was another option that i hadent explored yet other than a car battery. Mabye i gave you the wrong impression ttocs; it is a system, but when its done i dont plan on having it that much bigger then a strandard boombox. its not like im going to be lugging some huge 150lb thing around...
uochronos on 08/31/2004 16:19:43
where did you get that big of a ac to dc converter? and how much was it i have been looking for one for something else
ttocs on 08/31/2004 17:17:05
they have them at the rat shack......
Solar pwr would make it into an interesting project and conversation piece....
Buickman94 on 08/31/2004 18:07:54
I have no idea where it came from, my dad had it from a while back. Im not sure how many amps it is either, im gonna need to do some research and find out how many i actually need. as for the solar power, nice idea but way too expensive
swez on 08/31/2004 22:29:23
Most HU's will operate on 12 volts, but the typical current draw is ~10A. at full power. Any power supply used will have to sustain power enough to meet that need.. 12 volts x 10 amperes = 120 watts.
Small power transformers will do 12 volts fine, but the current output will be less than 2 amperes in most plug in models. Not enough current to keep the amplifiers powered up.
Swez
uochronos on 09/1/2004 01:55:29
ya thats why i asked where one was located... took me and my dad months to find a reasonable priced one that put out 5 amps..
swez on 09/1/2004 09:04:15
A small battery charger is an option. The kind used to trickle-charge a car battery will work. It's small, light weight, very portable too. Most can deliver about 8A. of current as well. The only possible issue is AC ripple current getting into the power line to HU. Adding a filter cap to filter out AC ripple is possible if what you have on hand is a bit noisy or "dirty power".
Swez
Buickman94 on 09/1/2004 14:16:33
Im going home this weekend form school so ill be able to check out how many amps its rated at. If i remember corrctly, its somewhere around 10 amps at 12 volts. I beleive its made by radioshack; its an older unit, but looks something like the picture in the link below.
http://www.fcsurplus.ca/shopping/shopexd.asp?id=149
I know that what i have will work just fine, i was just looking for an option for when i dont have an outlet to plug it into, guess i dont really have any options there...
swez on 09/1/2004 18:03:23
If that is what you have at home, it should work. Only thing is, you will either need to plug into a 12o volt socket. This looks like a DC power regulator and has only DC output... fine!
Just have to have an input source to power it... looks like a AC wall outlet only will do.
Swez
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