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-
- HALLMARK CARD REDBOX PLANS
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-
- Looks like its that time again... Welcome AOLers, heres some of your
- first look at these plans. Remember... I dont mail them out, please
- don't ask. They are available through FTP from vincent2.iastate.edu
- (login: anonymous.mabell)
-
- File: 10.dollar.red.box
- Author: Toxic Avenger (toxic@phantom.com)
-
- I bought the guts to a hallmark card at 3 pm yesterday, before 5 I had
- a working box... Heres the instructions for the compleat idiot (or
- those
- just having trouble)
-
- Be forwarned, I am told that not all cards used the same color scheme
- for the wires, so the colors I speak of in this file might be wrong.
-
- This file is archived at vincent2.iastate.edu (login:
- anonymous.mabell)
-
- Materials:
-
-
- ---------
- 1 Hallmark digital recording card (~$8, card store)
- 1 1/8 inch mono phono plug (~$1 or in a junk bin)
- 1 SPST switch, or momentary contact NORMALLY OPEN (~$1 or junk bin)
- The QUARTER.VOC File (and access to a sound card to play it, and
- software that lets you loop it)
- 1 case of some sort (I used a case from a DAT, but anything you can
- put the stuff in will work. Perhaps the case from a Data Tape or a
- 8mm Video tape, or just a casette)
- 1 Tube of silicone sealant (epoxy will probably do, I just happened to
- have silicone on hand)
-
-
- What to do:
- ----------
-
- 1. Remove all components from the plastic thing inside the card, this
- includes sliding the battry pack out of it's drawer.
-
- 2. Cut the following wires:
-
-
- Both wires going to microphone (both are green, mark which one goes
- to the center of the mike)
- Both wires to the battery pack (red and white)
- Both wires to the switch mechanisim (green and black)
-
- 2a. (OPTIONAL) It is a wise idea (if you are fairly experienced at
- soldering/desoldering on small PC boards) to desolder all the wires
- and replace them with ones of a thicker gauge. THe ones that hallmark
- supplies are just too damn thin and have a real tendancy to break at
- connections. REMEMBER, the wires in this card are supposed to be
- protected in the little plastic grooves that you removed them from.
-
- 3. Discard the switch mechanisim.
-
- 4. Wrap the battery pack in electrical tape (I used red tape just to
- be cheesy, since the box is clear)
-
- 5. Solder the SPST switch to the black and green wires that used to go
- to the original switch (polarity is NOT important)
-
- 6. Solder the phono plug to the 2 green wires. Polarity shouldn't
- really be important, but to be on the safe side, the wire that ran to
- the center of the mike (I told you to mark it) should go to the TIP of
- the plug.
-
- 7. Connect the battery. (This battery pack puts out 6.25VDC, I suppose
- you could replace it with another battery, but why bother?) POLARITY
- IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT!. The red wire goes to the Positive terminal,
- and the white goes to the negative. On my box, if the pack is laying
- flat, with the exposed part of the batteries pointing up, the positive
- terminal is the one on the left (if you are facing the terminals) I'd
- use a multimeter just to be sure.
-
- 8. Glue the pc board to the top of the battery (this saves space and
- hassle later, but is not necessary for operation)
-
- 9. Program the thing...
-
- I used the QUARTER.VOC file (sorry, i don't have a copy of it in
- any other format) and I looped it 10 times, with a random delay of
- between 5 and 1 seconds between each quarter (who puts them in at
- regular intervals anyway?)
-
- Plug the phono plug into your soundcard, turn the volume Waaaaaaay
- down (trial and error will give you the proper volume) and play the
- voc file (after setting the switch on the pc board to the record
- position, and flipping the SPST at the beginning of the VOC file)
-
- 10. Test it...
-
- Best way to test is to call a long distance Directory Assistance
- (I'm partial to 808-555-1212 which is Hawaii)
-
- If it doesn't work, go back to step 9. The ideal volume is one that
- can be heard clearly, but does not cause the speaker to break up.
-
- 11. Once you have the thing programmed, there is no need to keep the
- phono plug attatched. If you want to save room, cut it off.
-
- 12. Put the thing in the case. Drill several holes in the case where
- the speaker will mount. I mounted the speaker with silicone very
- carefully applied to the edges of the speaker. Same was true of the
- battery pack.
- The switch obviously mounts in a hole on the side of the case.
-
- Thats it...
-
- Comments/Questions:
-
- Why the SPST Switch?
-
- First off, I thought the switch that came with the thing looked
- really cheaply made, and would probably break. Secondly, by putting
- in an SPST switch instead of a momentary switch, it allows me to
- record $2.50 on the box, and play the whole thing back just by
- flipping the switch, rather than having to hold it down.
-
- There you have it. the Under $10 red-box.
-
- -Tox
-