Cool find at Radio Shack.

[Darth Ramsey]

Lately I have been researching the many different ways people have installed sound amplifiers into their helmets. I saw a video on youtube by drunken mynock that inspired me to install one in my bucket. I found a few different pcb amplifier kits available online, but decided to try to find something local. I found this kit at Radio Shack called the Velleman Super stereo Ear Model: MK136  | Catalog #: 277-098.It has right and left mic inputs and outputs the stereo channels separately. Which is just what I wanted. Most the kits with two mics are mixed  into mono out and I didnt want to use two separate amps. The kit was only $15.99. 

 

 

It is very easy to assemble and comes with good instructions. All you need tool-wise is soldering iron(40 watts or less), nail clippers (to cut off excess wire after soldering), and solder (I used 60/40 clear flux on this project, but you can use whatever you like). Assembly only took about an hour and a half.

 

 

 

 

I got my old sony headphones and mounted them onto the ear bolts with lock nuts. Then I installed the two mics just as I had seen others do it, on the sides behind brow trim. 

 

 

 

I wrapped amp in electrical tape and mounted it with velcro. It sounds great and saves me room since i am using only one stereo amp.

 

 

 

This is my first post and I didn't intend this to be a tutorial since there is already many ways to do this. I was just stoked to find something useful at Radio Shack for once.

 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Nice work, well done

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

Impressive.

 

Most impressive!

[kylebeagle[TK]]

Sweet... Nicely done!

[I'm Batman[501st]]

Excuse my electronics newbie-ism, but does this amplify external sound (ie: people talking TO you), so you can hear them better?

[Cantina Security[501st]]

Yes these are awesome, I have one from SkyMiner, he built it and shipped it to me. Very useful electronic.

[ryan0275]

Is it really that hard to hear when wearing a bucket?

[Clamps[TK]]

Is it really that hard to hear when wearing a bucket?

I have a kit that Skyminer build, he is part of my garrison. I started using it back in November, and I would call it game-changing. Being able to hear the sounds around you clearly in stereo from up to 25 ft away, I love it. The mics are small and occupy the smallest open teeth area on the frown. invisible to anyone not looking for them.

 

 There will be some troops where you just don;t want it (say during a symphony performance) but for most events, cons and the like, not having to say HUH? all the time is great. 

 

I loved it so much I put a 2nd kit in my Tusken.

[walt[501st]]

Awsome stuff here...i also got his kits...

[usaeatt2]

STELLAR!  Guess who's going to Radio Shack on the way home?

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

So uh.....

 

Did someone go to Radio Shack on the way home yesterday?

[usaeatt2]

Left work and found out Radio Shack closes at 8PM.  Missed it today too.  It's on the list and there's always tomorrow!

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

LoL... Dirty Rebel Scum sympathizers...

[tk9805]

I've always used the mini-amp from Radio Shack coupled with mini speakers mounted behind the "tusks", but I may swith to one of these. Looks pretty simpole to do. Thanks for the info!

[usaeatt2]

Apparently, these kits are not big sellers in my area. Fortunately, before going to any store, I searched for the kit by store location on the Radio Shack website, within a 50 mile radius of my zipcode. None of them have it in stock. THAT saved me a bunch of time and frustration. Good news is, you can order it online and have it shipped to your local Radio Shack for free.

[Bulldog44[TK]]

You can order them through Amazon but the shipping costs the same as the kit itself. So for a few more bucks its delivered right to your doorstep. 

http://www.amazon.com/Super-Ear-Amplifier-Kit-MK-136/dp/B0006HJSLE

 

[TK8776 jgarrettg]

I just ordered one.  Been looking for something like this.  Thanks for posting about it.

[Texasfitz[TK]]

I found this same kit at Fry's Electronics (if you have one in your area).

[TheDutchGuy]

Found this exact same kit at a dutch online shop, for just €9,99! I havnt even ordered anything yet to start my journey but im tempted to get this already xD

 

What kind of battery life are you getting with the triple AA batteries? 

Edited September 11, 2014 by TheDutchGuy

[Poe]

Really nice work

And, heeeeey... There's even a Swedish seller for this thing. Now I'm really impressed

[TheDutchGuy]

So i recently picked up one of these, put it together in little under an hour... I have not soldered the mics to the board as im planning to encorperate them in to the bucket as seen above But if i put the mics in their place the mic connected to MICR is actually transmitting to the left ear... anybody else have this? Its not a big problem... i just gotta remember it when i hook it up in the bucket.

[ukswrath[Staff]]

So i recently picked up one of these, put it together in little under an hour... I have not soldered the mics to the board as im planning to encorperate them in to the bucket as seen above But if i put the mics in their place the mic connected to MICR is actually transmitting to the left ear... anybody else have this? Its not a big problem... i just gotta remember it when i hook it up in the bucket.

 

I just purchased mine I'll let you know if I have any similar probs. Sweet! another gadget. With all the electrons floating around my bucket I might start glowing green. lol

 

UPDATE: Hey I had that problem and found I didn't solder the wires to the correct terminals (reversed the polarity). Once I corrected the wiring the mics worked correctly. On another note this little jewel is a bit bulky but well worth money. Kinda fun to put together, haven't assembled a circuit board since high school. 

Edited September 26, 2014 by ukswrath

[ukswrath[Staff]]

So i recently picked up one of these, put it together in little under an hour... I have not soldered the mics to the board as im planning to encorperate them in to the bucket as seen above But if i put the mics in their place the mic connected to MICR is actually transmitting to the left ear... anybody else have this? Its not a big problem... i just gotta remember it when i hook it up in the bucket.

 

See above post, my bad

Edited September 26, 2014 by ukswrath

[ukswrath[Staff]]

2nd update:

 

I love this thing, I just bought another for my ATA helmet. I had to make a slight modification to mine because I run a multi-volt power (charger) pack but I just hate batteries in my helmet. I just installed a 9v to 4.5v converter regulator and wired it to my existing power supply and waalaa!. Gotta love technology. 

 

Also,  if anyone is interested I mounted my mics inside to the actual ear portion of the helmet. I drilled a hole in each side of the helmet behind the ear (from the inside out). I then drilled 4 tiny holes (using a 1/32 drill bit, I think, I'll recheck that) in the blacked out portion of the rank button on the ear. The holes obviously act as an inlet for sound and their so small you don't notice them. Finally, hot glued the mics in place. Works awesome.

 

Thanks again for the tip.

Edited September 29, 2014 by ukswrath

[OnlineJeff]

I picked one of these up.  Pretty easy to put together.  If you don't solder stuff - youtube a few tips.  It took about an hour to put together and works really well.

I've got fans and batteries in the tubes of my helmet already so I'm not 100% how I'll set this up in the helmet.  I may wire the mics behind the brow trim and then have the actual project box behind my chest plate - not sure yet...