I've run into yet another of those things I need that don't exist I drive a taxi for a living, specifically a different minivan every day all of which have in common that they are falling apart. Some of the AM/FM radios work, some have CD players, and some have nothing at all. Every once in a while it would be nice to listen to my own music at work, but obviously I can't wear headphones or earbuds while driving, and even if I could they would get uncomfortable fairly quickly. So, I need something with the following specifications... Full MP3 player functionality including menus, user interface, etc. Speakers of adequate volume to be heard over road noise Batter capacity to last at least 12 hours, or the ability to charge over USB. Sufficiently durable to survive bouncing around in my book-bag and getting thrown against solid objects after a really bad day. Reasonably priced (no more than $50-$100) My first thought was "Hmmm, maybe this would be a good use for one of those microcontrollers on the market these days", but that seemed too difficult. My next (and current) thought is that I could find a cheap MP3 player and integrate it with a speakers and a battery. This would have the advantage of using the existing user interface on the MP3 player, and the player and battery could both charge from a single USB port through a USB hub. I think. The way I'm imagining this is to get a suitable enclosure, 2-3 speakers (left and right in the upwards facing side and a smallish woofer facing sideways on one of the large faces), A suitable potentiometer for volume control, a Gel cell battery, and a suitable MP3 player. The player would be mounted flush with the top of the enclosure, with the left and right speakers to the, um, err, left and right of it. Inside would be a battery to power the speakers, a USB hub connected to the MP3 player and the battery charging circuit. A 3.5mm cable would move the noize from the the player to the speakers, and, in theory, that should about do it. If I use computer speakers with a built-in amplifier circuit powered off USB that would simplify the wiring. At this point it's just an idea, but I thought I'd throw it out there and see what Bit thought of it.
Hi there, Do you have a smartphone ? If yes, then you could use it rather than having to buy a MP3 player. Secondly, instead of using batteries for the speakers, get USB powered speakers and get a USB power cigarette lighter adapter (I don't know the actual name of this device, it plugs in the cigarette lighter of the car and has a USB output). I'm sure all of the vans have a cigarette lighter socket. That's my opinion.
smartphone / tablet and a bluetooth speaker sounds like a decent idea. Grab a cheap mount that can clip into a air-vent to hold your phone, or grab one of those adaptors that secure to the windshield (like the GPS suction things) for your phone, and away you go. Only limitation with that is you'll either need to have the media on the phone / device or if you plan to stream stuff, you'll go through quite a bit of data.
Cordless, portable and rugged a construction or jobsite radio. That is just one example. Most major tool brands have a radio that wrks with their battery system.
Hmmm, so basically build a stand-alone amplifier and use my existing phone. OK, I can see that working. Basically I would be taking a pair of USB powered computer speakers and putting them in a more portable form, which would certainly make the wiring simpler. Thanks all for the input.
