Simple Helmet Speaker System

[Kenneth Morgan]

This is fantastic. I have been wondering how to do this very thing. Thanks will definitely use.

 

[IrrationalSound]

This is so cool, I've been thinking about doing something like this for a while, but hadn't gotten around to looking into it.
I'll definitely be trying this soon! Thanks

 

[KnownAssassin1]

Hello all! Just a quick tutorial to make a speaker system for your helmet. Nothing fancy/no programming.

Things you will need:
3 AAA Battery Holder
One 4.7M ohm 1/4watt resistor
One Microphone Amplifier
One Sound Amplifier
One Speaker
wire and solder supplies

Step 1: Wire up the speaker. Pretty simple, only 2 wires. Nothing to it.
View attachment 284989

Step 2: wire up the microphone amplifier. 1 wire is for 5v, 1 ground, and one is out. Out get's the 4.7M Resistor.

View attachment 284990

Step 3, wire up the rest. Please feel free to use my super awesome diagram below:

View attachment 284991
Yellow is data, black and green are ground, Red is power, and lavender is the positive from the speaker.


Step 4 Fit it into your helmet:
Please note that both the mic amplifier and speaker amplifier have adjustment knobs. I find that the mic adjustment was fine while the speaker knob (the one in the picture below) needs tweaking.

View attachment 285003

I would get a feedback because the speaker was too close to the mic so I had to adjust until it was fine.

View attachment 285006

And finally, my result.

Love it! Definitely going to try this for my halo helmet

 

[Sledge]

Cheers mate!! That helped me make my own speaker for the frist time !! Thanks

 

[Cpl Shepard]

Very practical, will be adding this to my own helmet! Thank you.

 

[CrimsonViper97]

Moe this is a fantastic tutorial. I actually designed a circuit very similar and am waiting on some parts to come in. It's awesome to see that yours works so well!

 

[Vulrath]

Great job on this. I'll be attempting this with my helmet. Question sir, what type of wire would be needed? I know very little about electronics, but i have done stuff like this with directions before. i guess just want to know if the size of the wire matters or the gauge, or what color it is?

 

[Coreforge]

The type of wire doesn't matter too much in this case. It shouldn't be too thin, but doesn't have to be very thick either, something around 20 gauge should work for this. I'd recommend using braided wire instead of solid wire, as it doesn't break as easily. Solid wire gets fatigued pretty fast if you bend it enough. I'd also recommend using leaded solder. It flows better than lead free solder because it has a lower melting point, making it easier to solder.

 

[MoeSizzlac]

Great job on this. I'll be attempting this with my helmet. Question sir, what type of wire would be needed? I know very little about electronics, but i have done stuff like this with directions before. i guess just want to know if the size of the wire matters or the gauge, or what color it is?

The type of wire doesn't matter too much in this case. It shouldn't be too thin, but doesn't have to be very thick either, something around 20 gauge should work for this. I'd recommend using braided wire instead of solid wire, as it doesn't break as easily. Solid wire gets fatigued pretty fast if you bend it enough. I'd also recommend using leaded solder. It flows better than lead free solder because it has a lower melting point, making it easier to solder.

Coreforge has a point. I use https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LH1FR6M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1. It's super flexible and solders like a dream. I used these wires in the Iron Man mask to take the open close abuse of the faceplate.

 

[Vulrath]

Thank you. I have a better idea now. I'll see about getting a little more educated in this as well. Oh and thanks again for taking the time to share this and provide feedback!

 

[Vulrath]

The power switch is a latching switch that I placed interrupting the positive of the battery and the board. I placed the switch in the ear of the helmet:

View attachment 285126

I put a switch on each side. One side controls the fan, the other controls the speaker. I had to work it into the 3D design along with the battery packs and inlet vent for the fan.

Howdy again! Happen to have a link the that switch by chance? the ones I'm finding seem much bigger.

 

[MoeSizzlac]

Howdy again! Happen to have a link the that switch by chance? the ones I'm finding seem much bigger.

I use these when I need low profile latching switches (Amazon.com: TUOREN On/Off Mini Latching Torch Push Button Switch 1A 250V AC Parallel for Electric Torch Flashlight-50pcs: Home Improvement)

Edit - Old link no longer selling.

 

[Vulrath]

I use these when I need low profile latching switches (Amazon.com: TUOREN On/Off Mini Latching Torch Push Button Switch 1A 250V AC Parallel for Electric Torch Flashlight-50pcs: Home Improvement)

Edit - Old link no longer selling.

found some, thank you for this! I'll be back in a while, touching up before painting.

 

[PatatoMonster]

I am super new to everything to do with this. Loved what you did! All the supplies come in soon and I was super curious to your wiring set up for the vent fan. Is there any pictures you can give for that? and the on/off buttons? I debated having some fun and troubleshooting it on my own but I don't even know if I need a second battery pack in the helmet for the fan haha. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[CrimsonViper97]

By the end of dialing in your setup, where did your electret preamp and amplifier gain settings end up?No matter how high I turn them up, I'm having trouble getting any kind of volume. The amplifier is definitely seeing the input; when you blow into the mic or tap on it you can hear it, but normal speech isn't reproduced at an audible level.

 

[CrimsonViper97]

Ok got it working! I ended up using a 330K resistor instead of the 4.7M. It sounds pretty crunchy but I was able to get it a little louder.

 

[PillarofAutumn]

I may give this a try when I get to my helmet! One question, though: how does it handle fan noise?

 

[MoeSizzlac]

Ok got it working! I ended up using a 330K resistor instead of the 4.7M. It sounds pretty crunchy but I was able to get it a little louder.

Awesome. Weird that it didn't work like mine. I'd say the only difference might be the speaker itself.

I may give this a try when I get to my helmet! One question, though: how does it handle fan noise?

My fan was running in the video. It doesn't really pick up on it.

I am super new to everything to do with this. Loved what you did! All the supplies come in soon and I was super curious to your wiring set up for the vent fan.

I used these vent fans and the set up is very simple. They get their own 3 AAA battery pack with a different on/off latching button similar to the speaker system.

The above is my latching button. There is one on both sides of the helmet. The blower fan is right behind the button and the direction of the airflow goes towards the visor.

 

[PatatoMonster]

Ok got it working! I ended up using a 330K resistor instead of the 4.7M. It sounds pretty crunchy but I was able to get it a little louder.

I just put mine together and the volume is super low no matter what my settings are. I guess I will try the 330K resistor. Did this work as well as his after this? Quite disappointed currently. Is the crunchy too much?

 

[CrimsonViper97]

It made it a little better, but still not quite as loud as moe's seems to be. The level of distortion is also quite high- to the point that words are no longer intelligible. Consider also that your speaker will sound very quiet until you baffle it, so try mounting it in a sheet of cardboard or something to get a better idea of how it will sound when it's in the helmet.