Picture_This!

With this COVID-19 thing going on, I’m not having problems finding fun projects at home while I “shelter.”

Months ago Dave, a friend who has helped me make a few other projects, gave me a inexpensive little music amplifier. OK, it was cheap being under a dollar. I wanted to build a magic wand for a set of grandchildren. Once completed it was suppose to flash lights and make sounds. The amplifier was needed to make louder sounds.

Then COVID-19 happened and our wood shop was closed down for health and safety reasons. My project was placed onto hold.

Since then my wife has needed a set of speakers for her desktop computer. She practices her exercise routines and needed a bigger sound than what comes out of her computer. Amazon.com sells what she needed for under $30 dollars in many cases. I decided save money and make what she needed using a tiny amplifier like Dave gave me.

Just before the wood shop was closed down I had ordered 5 similar items for about 8 bucks off Amazon.com. Each had an on/off /volume control switch. Since the project wasn’t going forward they had been sitting in garage for months.

I had everything needed so a new project was born.

After assembling wires and electronic parts the unit was tested. It worked and the only thing else needed was a case. After seeing what creative things some other makers have done I decided to use an old pill bottle to house everything. It worked out great, almost.

My testing had use a battery to power the unit. For some reason my USB powered unit didn’t work on Margo’s computer. So that meant it needed troubleshooting, and had to be pulled out of pill bottle. Once removed I noticed a wire wasn’t soldered correctly. OK, that gets fixed and it’s still not working. Troubleshooting again shows I destroyed the amplifier because the power polarity from USB cable was wrong. Out of the pill bottle comes everything again. Another new amplifier replaces the burnout one, everything goes back into pill case and BINGO, I’m the man! It works, finally.

Now for $25 bucks I could have avoided all the hassle and Amazon.dot would have dropped off computer speakers at my front door. But I had other plans.

For the cost of two amplifiers laying around in the garage, approx. $3. Everything else like the speakers, USB cable, tools and solder I already had around the house. Total time about 2 hours with all my mistakes. And let’s not forget a little frustration.

But it’s something I made myself and it’s one of a kind. It ain’t pretty but it sure does work.

To all the makers out there I give thanks to them as the inspiration to build something.

• That’s a GF1002 amp bottom center. The amp didn’t come with a knob and one can be seen protruding out bottom of pill bottle. Also out of the top of bottle can seen a USB power cable, two wires leading to stereo speakers, and a stereo input cable.