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Make Your Own Microphone 3/9/07
You bought all the stuff to make a Burble, now you're screaming, " I WANNA BUILD MORE STUFF!!!" Alrighty then, here's a cool project for ya. Its pretty fun, and not as complicated as it sounds. In fact, its very simple and cheaper to buy the pieces-parts than to buy a factory mic. This is a raw, what-you-record-is-what-you-get microphone without the filters that are in store bought mics. Here's how I did it. First you'll need your shopping list: (look out radio shack, here we come! 1) We'll use the iddy-biddy box for this. Project Enclosure # 270-1801... 3x2x1"....$2.29
2) PC Board... If you don't have a piece left from your Burble, you'll need to get one. Component PC Board # 276-149... $1.79
3) Phone Jack... If you don't have the extra one from the Burble 2.0. 3-Conductor Stereo 1/8" (3.5mm) Phone Jack # 274-249 (pkg. of two)... $2.29
4) A Microphone, of course. PC-Board Condenser Microphone Element # 270-090... $2.59 I like these the best. They're very easy to work with, they have clear playback, and they have a sensitivity of -64 +/- 2dB.
5) And lastly, you'll need a cable to hook it to your recorder. 1-ft. (30.48cm) Shielded Stereo Audio Cable # 42-2497... $4.99
Box................................$2.29 PC Board.....................$1.79 Phone Jack..................$2.29 Microphone Element...$2.59 Cable............................$4.99 Grand Total.................$13.95 (+tax) This is still cheaper than some store bought computer mics....Priceless. Actually, the hardest part of this project is drilling holes in the box. First, I'll show you the Breadboard work. This will give you an idea how the components are hooked together.
Yep...that's all there is to it!! (I put the legs on the phone jack for the breadboard) Ok, lets get started... 1) Prep your box... Start with marking all the holes you'll need. I like to have the jack on the end. This makes it easier to handle and set down, plus you can hang it around your neck if need be...well, depending on the size of your recorder, of course. a) Mark along the lines from the inner slots, and mark an "X" indicating the center. Poke a dent in the center with a nail, awl, or some other sharp pointy thing. BE CAREFUL!! b) Starting out with an 1/8" drill bit, drill a pilot hole. c) Use a 1/4" drill bit to finish the hole for the phone jack.
2) Ok, now for the fun part...you get to wreak havoc and drill holes all over the box. a) We'll use the back set of slots, nearest the jack, for the PC board. Start at the other end of the box, and mark lines using the outer indentations of the slots. This will give you about an inch to play with. Mark an "X" to find the center, then run a line down the middle.
b) Grid off the square about 1/4" from each side of the center line.
c) Mark the centers of the four corner squares, and start poking, beginning with the center mark, and each corner.
d) Poke dents for your drill in the remaining intersections. BE CAREFUL!!!
3)Grid off both sides from the PC board slot to the last mark. You should have 8 equal size blocks on each side. Start Pokin'...BE CAREFUL!!!
4) Ok, the box is ready, lets do the top. We'll mark off everything first, then do all the drilling at the same time. a) Put the lid on the box, and mark it where the first line is on both sides.
b) Find your grid, poke your holes...BE CAREFUL!!
c) You might want to use different size drill bits. For example, the front of the box is pretty small, so a 3/32" bit is good.
d) The holes on the sides and top are more spread out, so we can use a bigger bit. An 1/8" drill bit will do the trick. DO THE SIDES FIRST. e) Drill the top on a piece of wood so you don't tear up your table. BE CAREFUL!!
Ok...there's all the your holes. The box is finally finished. (what a pain in the ass that was, huh?) The PC Board Make a template from the cardboard from one of your packages. The same way we did for making the Burble.
1) Take out the template, and mark the end of the PC Board.
2) If you don't have a Dremmel to cut your board, and using a knife was difficult the first time, you can use a hacksaw blade. DON'T FORCE IT!! Just go easy, LET THE SAW DO THE WORK.
3) You'll see the board is just a hair too big on the sides, so some even sanding will take it down to the proper size.
4) Ok, the board is ready, the box willing, and we're able. Heat up that Soldering iron!! 5) Hopefully you still have some wires left over from the 9volt battery connectors you got for your Burble. If not, you know where to go...(radio shack) 6) Cut the RED wire in half, about 2 inches long, and strip the ends about an 1/8" inch a) Cut one BLACK wire the same as above. 7) The hook up for the phone jack is the same as with the Burble 2.0...solder the RED wires to leads 1 and 3...then the BLACK wire to lead 2.
8) Look at the back of the package for the mic element, and mark the leads + and -.
9) position the mic element into the center of the PC Board with the POS. on the left hand side...Solder it in place.
10) The two RED wires will be soldered on either side of the POS. lead of the mic. NOT TOGETHER. 11) The BLACK wire will be soldered to the NEG. lead.
12) Take 'er for a test drive. Plug in your cable and into the recorder, and speak a few adjectives. If all went well, you'll hear your voice crisp and clear.
13) Assemble everything, and there ya have it!! You're good to go with a brand new microphone, you can say you built yourself.
It will work with either a cassette recorder or a digital recorder... If you're feeling really froggy when you build this one, you can get creative and add mic elements. You can hook up 2,3,4....my personal best is 6...BUT, the incoming signal became TOO INTENSE for the recorder to handle, and its built-in noise filters cancelled out the mic. My crowning achievement was making a "Duel Frequency" Microphone that records BOTH Acoustic and Ultra-Sonic sound at the same time, hooking up two condenser mic elements and an ultrasonic transducer in series...
~~~copyright 2007 Dr. Ken
None of this material
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