Jukebox Jr. V2.0 - music server in an antique radio cabinet

[rembetis]

Hey guys,

Some of you provided great feedback on my first project of this kind, which I gave as a gift to a friend. Well, now I'm finally ready to make another for myself.

I found a relatively inexpensive little touchscreen with great resolution (I think the seller has a few left. Check 'em out here) and then managed to find another Philco with the perfect sized speaker grill cutout.



What I'd love some help with is brainstorming ideas for what the 4 knobs will control.

Right now, I plan to have one power on the cpu. Another may or may not control volume, incorporating the DIY method with hacked scroll mouse outlined here, but I haven't decided whether to incorporate an amp into this project or simply have the jukebox feed an external receiver. I've always heard Windows method of lowing volume actually decreases the quality of the output, and I want as high fidelity as possible, so I may just control volume externally.

Anyway, what else could the knobs do? I'm looking for ideas that are both useful and feasible, given limited space and somewhat limited knowledge of DIY wiring.

Thanks in advance for any feedback offered.

[defrag]

not sure how you would do it but.... having a knob that scrolls through a category would be nice!!!

[P3rv3rt B3ar]

not sure how you would do it but.... having a knob that scrolls through a category would be nice!!!

oh u beat me to it... mayby easiest way to implement it could be wreck a mouse and attach the wheel axel to a knob... anyhows that control would rock!! Ill keep thinking on this...

[rembetis]

Good idea(s) guys -- that wheel mouse hack is what I would use to control volume, if I decide to do so. If not, I think I could get it to scroll.

[P3rv3rt B3ar]

Good idea(s) guys -- that wheel mouse hack is what I would use to control volume, if I decide to do so. If not, I think I could get it to scroll.

The beauty of using it for category scroll is that u wouldnt need to do anything on software side.

[rembetis]

Good idea(s) guys -- that wheel mouse hack is what I would use to control volume, if I decide to do so. If not, I think I could get it to scroll.

The beauty of using it for category scroll is that u wouldnt need to do anything on software side.

Is it the Nov. 26 '06 build that gives you scroll-ability? I don't seem to have it currently.

EDIT: Nevermind, that build did the trick.

[P3rv3rt B3ar]

Is it the Nov. 26 '06 build that gives you scroll-ability? I don't seem to have it currently.

Mine seems to be february 20th '07

[rembetis]

Hmmm... I'm wondering if I could simply wire a dual-gang (i.e. stereo) potentiometer onto the line out of my sound card and achieve volume control without the need for the hacked up mouse wheel (it's going to get crowded in this radio case awfully quick).

Can't seem to find any links to such a mod though...

[PhilB]

I used a Sonic T-Amp to acheive decent sond and get a volume control knob.

http://pballai.com/Phil/MusicServer-Mini/MusicServer-mini.htm

[Marbles_00]

dual-gang (i.e. stereo) potentiometer

Just make sure it is a logrithmic pot...otherwise the volume will appear to go from nothing to full with one small turn (or vise versa). A log pot will make the volume change in a nice sloping manner...to the human ear that is.

[rembetis]

I used a Sonic T-Amp to acheive decent sond and get a volume control knob.

http://pballai.com/Phil/MusicServer-Mini/MusicServer-mini.htm

Thanks. I used a t-amp in my first Jukebox Jr., but this one needs to be a little more powerful.

[summerall]

Any updates?

[rembetis]

Thanks for asking. V. 2.0 has actually been up and running for a couple months now. Unfortunately, I never really got motivated to restore the radio cosmetically once I got it functional (other projects intervened, like my third DIY projector). I thought I might be able to re-melt the plastic around the tuning glass but it turns out bakelite isn't all that pliant, even when heated up in the oven.

I did take P3rv3rt B3ar's idea of using a hacked mouse scroll wheel to scroll through the albums. Works better than I expected. One dial also controls power on/off. The other two are inactive at the moment.







The jukebox connects to an older Denon stereo amp via a usb soundcard. The Denon drives some Ascend Acoustics 170s, which I mounted in some stubby stands I made recently to keep the WAF as high as possible, given their boxy shape. Funny thing is, now the wife uses it more than I do

[summerall]

Very cool rembetis, i've been thinking of doing something similar to this.