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Help with DIY CB amp

Posted by Sean Stimac on May 5, 2010 at 3:05pm in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion
Hey, I'm new and a not really a musician, but am trying.

I'm working on my first CBG and want to make an amp for it.  I know almost nothing about electronics, but I'm pretty sure I can figure it out with your help.  Here's my question:

I'm looking at tiny amps and it looks like a lot of folks are using one or two LM386 semiconductors.  I've also read that they were commonly used in portable tape players.  I was at some of the local thrift stores yesterday and one of them had a couple of tape decks for home stereo systems, each was $7.  Would I be able to scavenge all or most of the electronics I need from one of these?  Thanks

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Replies

  • Sean Stimac May 7, 2010 at 9:11am
    My fault, I didn't check it carefully enough. My apologies, I'm in the wrong.

    wesley carl said:
    I thought that is what I did The info I gave you is for a board, or complete kit. I buy the board and rewire it to my own requirements
  • Sean Stimac May 6, 2010 at 10:23pm
    Chester Winowiecki said:
    Don't forget to share the improved schematics with us! (That is, if your friend doesn't mind....)

    Sean Michael Stimac said:
    I've got a retired friend that owned an electronics store for a few decades. He answered my questions this afternoon. He's making some improvements on some schematics that I found on the net. I'll get it built in the next few weeks or so. Thanks for the help.

    Oh yeah, for sure. We're both open source advocates. The original schematics are open source and available to anyone interested and I think any derivative has to be open source. What we're concentrating our efforts on is swapping out the two 386's from the ruby and little gem mkII plans and replacing it with a single semiconductor (cheaper and more efficient?), adding bass and treble controls (adding two capacitors, two resistors, and three pots), cleaning up the sound a little bit, and hopefully making the thing a little more efficient because the new parts are going to be a bigger drain - I want a decent battery life, but may have to step up from a 9v to a 12v, maybe include a charger. We'll see what we come up with over the next few days.

    Sorry to the folks that pointed me towards stores to buy stuff. I don't buy what I can make, I thought I made that clear up at the top, but I guess not. I didn't ask where to buy amps, I asked if I could source parts from the huge tape decks. I'm just going to buy new parts though, they're cheap enough anyway.

    My goal is $25, but I might go over. I'll keep a price list as I go, that way when this dude is finished you folks will know exactly how much it cost so you can head out make one yourself.
  • Chester Winowiecki May 6, 2010 at 9:05pm
    Don't forget to share the improved schematics with us! (That is, if your friend doesn't mind....)

    Sean Michael Stimac said:
    I've got a retired friend that owned an electronics store for a few decades. He answered my questions this afternoon. He's making some improvements on some schematics that I found on the net. I'll get it built in the next few weeks or so. Thanks for the help.
  • Sean Stimac May 6, 2010 at 8:00pm
    I've got a retired friend that owned an electronics store for a few decades. He answered my questions this afternoon. He's making some improvements on some schematics that I found on the net. I'll get it built in the next few weeks or so. Thanks for the help.
  • Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates May 6, 2010 at 11:57am
    mintyamps.com

    -WY
  • Michael Gajeski May 5, 2010 at 10:09pm
    cassette players work really well for amps. All you have to do is find the cassette head, which will have two wires running to it. Disconnect those two wires and connect them to a 1/4" input jack.
  • Chester Winowiecki May 5, 2010 at 7:37pm
    If you want to scavenge from the thrift store, look for set of computer speakers. You can use an adapter to go from 1/4 in mono to 1/8 in stereo and you're all set. If you want to get into making your own, you can tear it apart later and use the parts, most likely it has a 386 or similar chip inside.
  • Sean Stimac May 5, 2010 at 3:07pm
    Oh, yeah I guess I should mention that I took a look at the Little Gem Mk II plans and they look fairly simple. Can I gather those parts from the thrift store? Or at least parts that would be an adequate substitute. The average deck appeared to be up to 10W, but I'm looking for something smaller that I can run on a 9v in the backyard this Summer.
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