Tooling Tuesday - #pounderland special

A little break from the norm this week. I went to #pounderland (Poundland, a shop where almost everything is £1) and found a cheap speaker / amplifier that could prove handy.

So what is it?

A £1 speaker that uses a line in (3.5mm headphone socket) to connect to devices.

How is it powered?

The speaker is powered using 2x AAA batteries (3V.)

But we can also power the unit from a 5V source as the 8002 audio amplifier chip supports this voltage. {datasheet}

Can I hack it?

Sure!

Speaker connections are made from the speaker to pins SP1 and SP2 on the PCB. These are badly soldered onto the board, a little too close to the GND (V-) of the headphone jack for my liking. But we can resolder our own speaker (upto a 3Ω 3W speaker.)

The supplied speaker is tinny, sounding like a fly in a tin can, but if all you need are simple beeps and boops, then this might be just the thing!

The headphone jack can be desoldered and a fixed connection can be made, should you wish. The switch can also be replaced with something more in keeping for your project, just bear in mind that the switch needs to lock in place, a momentary switch is no use here!
There is also an LED on the PCB, this glows red when the speaker is on. For a giggle you could always solder a flashing LED :)

Taking it apart

There are only three screws to remove and then we are "in like Flynn" (c) Dave Jones EEVBlog
The PCB is simply held in place with a plastic peg so we can just snip that away, snip the power wires and we have liberated the board, which means we can use it for cosplay!

Did you say cosplay?

Yup! Taking the kit out of the case means we can easily solder this board into a wearable project, and power it from a suitable power source (Yeah I'm thinking of #pounderland USB powerbanks too!) which can be integrated into the costume / prop. So now our props can have sound!

Hey Les does a WS2812 ring fit in the case?

I got this WS2812 set of rings from ABX Labs at Liverpool Makefest, so many pixels in a small space!

It is funny that you ask, as yes it does fit. Specifically the 12 pixel WS2812 (commonly referred to by the Adafruit name Neopixel) fits around the lip of the internal frame. So with a little hot glue, we can secure the ring in place!

If we also remove the electronics, there is just enough space for an ATtiny85 board, which we can use to control the WS2812 LEDs!

Conclusion

For £1 we have a fun little project enclosure and a workable speaker with a decent small amplifier! This can be used in quite a few hacks!

Happy hacking!