Push Cart Stereo

[WSDragonAlex]

I need help with my push cart for the teams robot. I want to put sound into the cart. I have limited underspace because we had to buy a small cart to work from. I have about 12 in by 6 in by 4 in high to work with. Does anyone have sound system suggestions or do you know if i can hook speakers up to a portable cd player?

[Katie Reynolds]

FIRST asked teams to not have stereos, etc. in the pits this year ...

- Katie

[John Bono]

Again, they said no LOUD music, although I suspect the rule was directed towards those on carts. If you really want a specific song to play for your entrance, request the DJ play a specific song.

[Matt D]

In a response to a question on the Official FIRST Forums, someone asked if you could request music to be played when you enter the field. Their reply:

We are sorry, but this is not really an option. There are too many teams at the competitions and too few staff members to be able to manage such requests.

[nevek89]

You can get some amplified speakers at Radio Shack. They can run off of batteries or AC. They can hook up to a cdplayer via mini jack. Or you can run 12 gauge speaker wire to a homemade amp connected to a 1000 watt subwoofer and get some real power out of it. You would probably want to use a car battery for that though

Unless you want to be tethered by AC. You will need amplified speakers, discmans dont put out enough power to go loud enough.

The best way would just be get a mini boombox that can run off a bunch of batteries.

[Cory]

Just get a CD player and hookup some small speakers to it. I have a setup like this at home, and it is plenty loud, loud enough that if you turned it full blast, youd definitely be violating the music rules.

Cory

[evulish]

A CD player with car speakers hooked up to it would be like turning your cd player up half-way and using crappy headphones as speakers. It's not very loud

[John Bono]

Speaking of carts in general--that's the biggest thing we should've done last year, comfort wise. Who would've guessed we'd have to carry the thing two hundred yards across the stadium anywhere. The worst part has to be that the 1/2" aluminum plate was frikkin' sharp--and painful with 70lbs. behind it on the side I carried...

[johnscans]

hook up your computer speakers to a discman. i have my old comp speakers hooked up to a like 20 discman in the bathroom( i sing in the shower) and it is super loud. u crack the cd and hte spakers up, you will violate the rules. enjoy.

john scans

[kevin.li.rit]

You could make your own 12 by 6 box with both speakers and woofers in the same box!

[evulish]

You could make a speaker out of old hard drives. You can be certain it won't get taken away by FIRST But it is pretty cool to watch.

[yangotang]

Originally posted by evulish
You could make a speaker out of old hard drives. You can be certain it won't get taken away by FIRST But it is pretty cool to watch.

Heheh.. i saw that somewhere.. i tested it myself also out of old crappy harddrives, it works semi-decently, but maxes out at around 60dB

[K. Skontrianos]

If you can fit them, car stereo components would probably suit this setup best. I don't think you can fit the battery in there, though. However, car stereo equipment is designed for this type of use, so go with it if you can. You could even use an old robot battery for your power.

[Vincent Chan]

Originally posted by evulish
You could make a speaker out of old hard drives. You can be certain it won't get taken away by FIRST But it is pretty cool to watch.

Can you point me to something that teaches how to do this? It sounds interesting...

[Joel J]

Originally posted by Coffeeism
You could make your own 12 by 6 box with both speakers and woofers in the same box!

My advice: don't make your own box unless you know what you are doing. You may get away with making a sealed enclosure, assuming you get the dimensions right on the money, the holes are properly drilled, the glue works, and the screws actually stay. Sounds simple, but it really isn't. Attempting to make a ported enclosure as an amateur is simply out of the question.. what is the result of messing up either type of enclosure, you ask? Your woofer eases into distortion effortlessly, much like the PA system on a school bus. Also, don't combine a speaker and a sub woofer in the same enclosure, unless you know what you are doing.. again, its just asking for more trouble.

I suggest you find a pre-assembled enclosure. In such an enclosure it would be a good idea to have the following types of speakers: sub woofer, midrange, and tweeter; but it doesn't matter much in this case. In addition to your enclosure you generally want an amplifier, and some source from which your music will originate (an old/new head unit from a car, most portable CD-players, etc). That should be a good starting place.

PS: if you don't want a system thats too loud ::breathes in:: you can get some decent computer speakers from any store that sells them. Please shy away from that though .