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| Build Your Own Obnoxicator | |||||||||||||||||||
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| NOTE: You are about to modify
a perfectly good $100 bullhorn at YOUR own risk! I assume no responsibility for any fuckups, mine or yours. |
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To build an Obnoxicator you'll need the following
parts:
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| You'll also need the following tools: Soldering Iron ( 35 watts or so ) Solder Philips Screw Driver Electric Drill 3/8" Drill Bit Wire Cutter Wire Stripper ( you can use the wire cutter ) Electrical Tape |
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Open up your bullhorn by removing the screw as
shown...
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Pull out the battery compartment to reveal the
amplifier board...
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| Look inside the bullhorn and note
the two U shaped brackets that attach to the bullhorn's handle. Use
your philips screw driver to remove the left bracket ( on your left as
you look down into the bullhorn, with the handle pointing toward you ).
This bracket must be reversed to make room for the three 1/4" jacks. This is how the bracket should look after it has been reversed... 
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Drill three holes to mount the
1/4 jacks. Make sure your 'eyeball' the location of the holes your
about to drill BEFORE drilling them! As Uncle Bob used to say, "Measure
twice, cut once." The chart below gives approximate measurements.
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| Solder 6" lengths of wire to each
terminal of the 1/4 audio jacks. If your using shielded wire
make sure the shield wire ( bare copper wire ) is soldered to the terminal
on the jack the connects to the part of the jack that the nut screws onto;
this is the sleeve or ground terminal. Look at the amplifier and locate the amplifier input and ground terminals. The amplifier input terminal is usually labeled "In" and the ground terminal is usually labeled "G". They are well marked, see below... 
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| The wire connected to the "amplifier
in" terminal is the output wire from the microphone. Also note the
shield wire from the microphone ( the only bare wire in the microphone cable
), it is connected to the ground terminal. Unsolder the microphone wire from the "amplifier input" terminal and solder it to wire on the Mic Out jack. Make sure the microphone wire is connected to the wire on the Mic Out jack that connects to the "tip" terminal of the jack. This is the terminal of the jack that DOES NOT connect to the sleeve of the jack that the nut threads onto. Solder the "tip" terminal wire of the Amp In jack to the "amplifier input" terminal on the amplifier board. Solder the ground wires from the Mic Out jack and the Amp In jack to the ground terminal on the amplifier board.. In the diagram below the: Yellow wire is the microphone wire that originally connect to the "amplifier in" terminal on the amplifier board. This now connects to the "tip" terminal of Mic Out jack. Red wire is the "tip" wire from the Amp In jack that now connects to the "amplifier in" terminal on the amplifier board. Green wires are the ground wires. Blue wires connect the Speaker out jack to the output transformer on the amplifier board. See below for more detail on wiring the Speaker Out jack. 
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Solder the two wires from the
Speaker Out jack to the output terminals of the output transformer on the
amplifier board as shown in the above diagram. Here's a picture of
the terminals...
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| Attach the three 1/4 connectors
to the bullhorn body. Refer to the photo below for orientation of
the jacks. The jacks Must be oriented this way so the amplifier board
can fit back in it's compartment!
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Add a good layer of electrical
tape to the amplifier board in the area shown below. Once the Obnoxicator
is assembled, the jacks can ( and will ) make contact with the circuit
board. The tape is absolutely necessary to prevent the board from
shorting out!
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| Carefully insert the amplifier
board back into the Obnoxicator ( no longer called a bullhorn, cuz it isn't
!! ). This will be a tight fit! Take your time, don't be afraid
to jiggle and push a bit. Once assembled, insert a fresh set of batteries. Connect a 1/4 to 1/4 inch cable between the Mic Out and Amp In jack. On the Mic turn the volume to about 2, and press the talk button. If the Obnoxicator works as it did as a bullhorn, your all set. If not, one of the components on the amplifier board probably got bent and is shorting out against another component. Don't worry, this is normal. Disassemble the Obnoxicator, take the tape off the board, and inspect for possible shorts. Even if you don't see any, look for parts that might short and insulate with electrical tape. This may take a few tries so don't worry. |
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| Congratulations!!
You are now the proud owner of an Obnoxicator !! The next step is to add effects to your Obnoxicator. The best, and most common effect, is a digital delay. I use a Boss DD-3 delay. The Boss DD-5 is also an excellent device. These devices are available at most any music store. Wire up your effects device like this... 
Some other effects devices that I like are: Boss PS-5 Super Shifter ( pitch shifter ) Boss RV-3 Digital Reverb/Delay There are many many effects devices that will work great with your Obnoxicator. Bring it to your local music store and experiment!! You'll annoy the shit out of the staff, but hell, it's better than listen to some 15 year old trying to play Stairway on a Fender. |
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| TIPS Decoration Make sure your paint or otherwise decorate your Obnoxicator. Face it, the stock gray and blue colors suck. I prefer flat black; then again, I paint everything flat black, so don't listen to me. If you use spray paint, make sure you block up the 1/4 phone jack holes, to keep the contacts from getting all gummed up. Annoying Seems like there are two categories of things you can do with an Obnoxicator: Make music or talk. Music is generally a good bet. If your gonna talk make sure your funny or are on a fast moving vehicle, preferably both. |