SPY TECH
A B
CD
Fig. A: Components clipped together for initial testing.
Fig. B: Mics extended from listener PC board.
Fig. C: The listener and transmitter share connections to
the battery pack. Fig. D: Cut through the pages to hollow
out the book.
GUT AND EXTEND PREPARE THE BOOK
Shed the extra bulk by unscrewing the listener and Choose a hardcover book that’s big enough in all 3
transmitter’s plastic housings and taking out their dimensions to enclose the system’s components.
guts. Note the locations of all the controls: on/off, The dust jacket should be in good condition. Pick
volume, balance, tuning, and so on. Hook everything a title that won’t draw undue attention from your
back up with jumper cables, drawing power from intended target. You don’t want them to notice the
2 AA batteries in a holder (Figure A). Test again. book and start looking through it!
I decided to move the listener’s 2 microphones from Skip a few pages and set your components
their original position to the book’s outside spine, centered side-by-side on a front-facing page. Draw
because the spine is generally exposed whether the a rectangular outline of the components with a ruler,
book is in a bookcase or just laying around. adding ½"– 1" all around, making sure there’s still
To do this, desolder the mics from the PC board, ½"– 1" of book left around the edges. This outline
being careful not to damage them or any nearby will become your compartment. Cut a piece of
electronics with too much heat. Use hookup wire to cardboard about ¼" smaller all around, to serve
extend the leads of both mics by about 6", and resol- as the compartment’s floor.
der the extended leads back to the board (Figure B). I used an X-Acto knife and a ruler to cut the rect-
While you’re at it, extend the power leads from angle through the pages, cutting down about
5"
the transmitter and listener by about 6" as well. each time and stopping within ¼" of the back cover.
Protect all the new connections with heat-shrink I used a binder clip to keep the cut pages out of the
tubing (always slip it on before soldering). Attach way while I worked downward (Figure D).
the power leads from the 2 components and the Two previous MAKE articles also describe
battery box, joining all the reds (positive) and all the book-hollowing techniques: “Palm Pilot Notebook”
blacks (negative), as in Figure C. Twist the conduc- (Volume 07, page 138) and “Uncle Bill’s Magic Tricks”
tors together, solder, and cover with heat-shrink. (Volume 13, page 60).
Photography by David Simpson and Linda Kennyhertz; Sam Murphy (H)
90 Make: Volume 16
