While the turbo is being shipped to and from Texas and everything else, I've had an insatiable urge to tinker with ****. Makes me feel like I'm making progress on fixing my car, even though I'm not.

So I decided to build DET cans. I saw the mechanics stethoscope ones, saw the HF Earmuff ones, saw the "Listen Up!" electronic ones... Decided to go with electronic ones.

The only catch was, I wanted to tinker NOW! and no one in town had any electronic listening devices in stock......

Well, I did some digging, and our local Shopko had this little gadget on clearance for $7.50. Spygear Spike Mic Launcher: Shopko

Basically, it's a microphone in a sticky "dart" that kids can use a built in slingshot to shoot it, and then listen in on their big sister. Or whatever.



So I buzzed on over and picked it up. Also picked up a cheap alligator clip.

Man, the dude on the cover of this thing is intense.



So I posed with him.



....

Okay, on to the build.

Disassemble the SPIKE MIC. There's one screw, but then the two halves are molded plastic together. Not really sure if it's possible to take it apart without breaking it... but I couldn't.

CAREFULLY pry the two halves apart.



I marked one side of the microphone, marked the lead on that side, marked the PCB all with a sharpie, then I wiggled the microphone back and forth until it broke free.

Carefully solder some speaker wire to the leads.



Then to the microphone leads. This was the hard part... very very small clearances on this. When I first put it together, nothing worked. I realized both leads were actually shorted to the metal Mic housing. I desoldered it and then super carefully re-soldered them and it worked great.



Both sides soldered.



I covered all the leads in hot glue, espeically because the solder joints had to be so delicate to make sure nothing shorted. Then hot glued it into the alligator clip with the mic housing touching the clip. This helps transfer sound through the clip into the mic.



Wrap everything in electrical tape or shrink wrap



And folded the battery housing over and taped it to the clip as well for a more compact package.



And you're done! (muffin pans make really great soldering iron holders)



My clip didn't quite fit into my "secret compartment" meant to hold the dart, so I modified it slightly..





"LIKE A GLOVE!"

---

Note that none of this extra modification was really necessary. I actually believe you could have just duct taped the little "spike mic" dart wherever you wanted, or to the clip, and it would have been great. I just did all of this extra stuff to transfer the sound better into the mic housing, and also so I didn't go absolutely bat-**** insane waiting on my turbo to come home....

 

Posted then tested.

Don't do this. Sounds like garbage.

Very clear at idle, it's amazing, but once you start driving it's basically nothing but static.

:(

 

Damn that looked promising in the write up!

 

Yeah. I got super jacked during idle. I think it's just too much RF interference.