DIY

SPY

PARABOLIC MICROPHONE

This dollar store DIY spy mic lets you listen from afar. By Jim Lee

This is a ridiculously easy way to build a parabolic microphone using dollar store items. You’ll attract lots of attention walking around in public with this rig. I usually welcome the inquiries, and let people listen to what I’m doing. Kids especially love it.

MATERIALS

1. Make the dish.

Use wire cutters to snip away the 4 plastic holders that connect the hat’s umbrella to its headband (Figure A). Slice the top of the plastic knob off the top of the umbrella (Figure B), and clean up the hole with a knife or reamer. Cover 1 gore of the umbrella near the center with a trapezoidal piece of the gaffer’s tape. Cut a small X-shaped incision through the tape and umbrella; this will be the reinforced hole that the microphone wire will pass through (Figure C).

Umbrella hat Make sure the umbrella part is vinyl, not fabric, which doesn’t reflect sound as well.

9" paint roller handle

Small microphone I used RadioShack’s discontinued Stereo Hands-Free Tie-Pin Microphone (#33-3028); but any decent small microphone will work. Dollar store purists can instead use earbud headphones as a microphone, or do surgery on a $1 hands-free cellphone headset. The sound won’t be as good, but you’ll have a true $3 parabolic mic.

Gaffer’s tape or other tape with a rough surface Cable ties

TOOLS

Hammer, wire cutters/side cutters, hobby knife and razor saw, permanent marker, reamer (optional), file (optional), laser pointer (optional)

Photography by Jim Lee

136 Make: Volume 14