DIY Car radio replacement

cults3d

I live in an area where there's always a risk that your car radio will be stolen and I've had this happen to me more than once. It's not cheap to repair the damage afterwards. Car radio manufacturers have tried to combat this by designing removable fronts on their radios, making it seem like they're worthless without them. This would supposedly prevent theft, but in reality, the connections between the radio and front tend to go bad over time, causing issues with getting the radio working properly every time you use it. I've experienced this problem with all my car radios in the past. The features that take control of your radio through the ether are also a nuisance. Sometimes you're listening to music from a USB stick, but then an "important announcement" interrupts it on the radio. I don't enjoy this at all and I rarely listen to the radio anyway - I only play mp3s from my USB. So, I decided to replace my car radio with something that's not desirable for thieves and will keep working over time. A smartphone is a great mp3 player and I already have an old amplifier. With a cheap €6 Bluetooth module, my phone can even auto-connect to the amplifier. The only thing left was something to hold these things together in place of my car radio. The idea is that it looks like a panel covering a hole in the dashboard with buttons to switch the amplifier, Bluetooth, and a LM317 for 5v power. There's also a button to toggle between analogue and Bluetooth input on the amplifier. The LM317 powers both the phone and the Bluetooth module. I've included a clip to hold my phone in place. If someone were to steal it, I'd lose nothing since these parts are just lying around unused anyway. A small hole between the first two red buttons allows me to adjust the volume pot on the amplifier if needed. The USB port is only for charging my phone.