MUSIC

AB

CD

Fig. A: The Sony PSone screen is a great, hackable display perfect for installing in a boombox. Fig. B: Use a Dremel tool to cut out a rectangle in the speaker grill to accommodate the display. Fig. C: Use RTV black

the lofty retail prices enjoyed at the time. Now, they are invariably under $5 at garage sales, with the earlier cassette (as opposed to CD) models being the more robustly optioned units. Having a shelf of boomboxes, I use them for all sorts of projects, including the audio system for my Urban Guerilla Movie House (see MAKE, Volume 11, page 48).

My first boombox hack was to add a TV. I picked up a Sony PSone screen (an option for the first-generation PlayStation). This is a great, hackable NTSC screen available on eBay for a fraction of its original cost. HIN T: The case screws are hidden under the speaker grills (Figure A).

I made an LCD-screen-sized cardboard template and sacrificed one speaker. When cutting soft plastic, go slow with the Dremel cut-off disc as plastic would just as soon melt as be cut (Figure B).

When mounting loosey-goosey, depackaged components, I often use RTV (room-temperature vulcanizing) black silicone from the auto parts store as a glue (Figure C). Its attributes are so great that I should write a sonnet about my RTV devotion. It is nonconductive, so it’s a great insulator. It’s also a great shock mount, as it dries like a piece of cast rubber. In addition to being a swell adhesive, you can use it like caulk to fill gaps and mistakes!

130 Make: Volume 12

E

silicone from the auto parts store as a glue to attach the display to the boombox. Fig. D: Heed all warning signs regarding electricity! Fig. E: An RF tuner provides a television signal.

DANGER: By the very nature of case modding, you are removing safety measures, electrical shielding, and engineered protections (Figure D). This is no place to be cavalier! Be sure that electrical connections remain shielded and that the final product is sealed up safely.

The secret weapon of the TV Boombox is the XO Vision XT-3000 TV tuner (about $70). Made for the car video market, XO is a flexible, compact, and elegant RF tuner solution. It’s got 2 AV inputs, remote control, IR remote receiver, and antenna input, and it’s so energy efficient that I was able to power it with a 12V DC 300mA cellphone power adapter (Figure E).

Broadcast FM from
Your Stereo or iPod:
For an attractive and inspired distributed
sound system, sprinkle boomboxes all
over your estate and use a cheap
consumer transmitter. —Mr. J

Mister Jalopy is a mediocre welder, a fair shade-tree mechanic, and a clumsy designer, and has never touched a piece of wood he hasn’t ruined. However, he still gets a lot of love at hooptyrides.com.