iPod Nano Replica iPod Dock build

[m R g S r]

Well I got bored and decided I needed a new project, soooo I am building this for my girl. It's supposed to be a scaled up Replica of a 4th gen iPod nano.
Pink is her favorite color, so it will be finished in pink paint.

I only planned on starting this today, but I put a few hours in and moved along nicely.

Target budget was right around $100 for this.

Parts consist of:
Dayton DTA-2 15wpc amp............................................... .....................$15.00
Dayton Audio DTA-2 Class T Digital Audio Amplifier Module 300-385
12V DC Switching power supply............................................ .................$7.80
12 VDC 2A Switching Power Supply AC Adapter 129-077
HiFi works 6.5" ceiling speaker........................................... .....................$45.80
HiFi Works by Sonance Oval 6-1/2" 2-Way Ceiling LCR Speaker 309-516
3.5mm Stereo male to male wire.............................................. ................$1.65
3.5mm Stereo Male To Male Cable 1 ft. 240-096
2x2 piece of rippled/clear/white plastic for screen from Home Depot.........$3.20
7"x16" Piece of 3/4" MDF............................................... .........................$5.00
Primer/Paint............................................. .................................................$ 8.00
TOTAL: $86.45
plus glue, sandpaper screws etc. (stuff I had lying around)

So it came in under budget. Awesome!

On to the pics and construction notes...
Cut out to 7" x 17" (iPod nano 3.6x1.5) Circle cut out for rear mounted 6.5" Co-ax Driver


Driver fitted into baffle


Milled recess for Driver cover/grill/iPod wheel...


Grill fitted into place...


I used the grill that came with the Sonance Ceiling speaker. Just cut out a rough shape of the grill, then pinned it between a piece of scrap wood and my circle jig with the router, and voila! Perfect 142mm circle.

[m R g S r]

Rounded the edges to look/feel like the real nano (couldn't curve the front face of the wood, that would be wayyy too much work)



I picked up some light covering plastic from Home depot, and cut it out to use it as a "screen" for the iPod dock...



Sanded with 400 then primed...


It's drying now, and then i can hit it with 400 again and throw some more primer on it. Then sand it with 800 and wipe it down before it gets its coat of pink paint!

[m R g S r]

Ohh and I chose the Sonance ceiling speaker because of price, and it had a tweeter with somewhat of a real crossover built in. It also happens to be pretty efficient (90db 1w/1m), so decent listening levels can be achieved with the 15wpc Dayton amp.

The amp I am using has two channels, and is not bridgeable. Instead of wasting a channel, I am going to Bi-amp the crossover (Just have to unsolder one resistor pin and solder it directly to the + of one channel)

[m R g S r]

The Crossover and T amp


Desoldered the pin on the resistor, bi-amped the crossover, soldered the speaker leads to the amp board, soldered the output capacitors and its alive!


Wetsanded the primed MDF with 800 paper, wiped it down, and laid down a coat of paint.
The finish looks good in person, very smooth and glassy!


had to color match the center of the iPod wheel, to make it look like the real thing. masked it off and used a roll of electrical tape for the inner circle...

[m R g S r]

had to make the center colored circle a little bigger to look more like the real nano...

[David Gatti]

Looking good. Cant wait to see the final outcome.

[m R g S r]

Thanks! I just laid the screen on there....the paint is still drying. Gunna let it dry for a day or two then finish her up!

[DrDyna]

That looks pretty slick.

Are you going to incorporate a little iPod dock? Might look cool if the iPod clicked into it somehow.

ECE 476 - Controlling an iPod Using an Atmel Mega32

[m R g S r]

I wasn't going to include charging capability because it's not portable so I figure a charger will be somewhere close in the room.
I will build some sort of shelf to rest the iPod on, and use the 3.5mm headphone jack I am figuring out a way to build the least noticable shelf, maybe a clear piece of lexan, mill a slot into the wood/screen plastic and glue it in place.

[DrDyna]

Sounds pretty cool. Curious to see how it all ends up.