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You are here: Home / Circuits / Electronics Project: 1937 radio hacked into an iPhone dock

Electronics Project: 1937 radio hacked into an iPhone dock

May 23, 2013 By Øyvind Nydal Dahl 19 Comments

This is an electronics project of mine. It’s a 1937 Philips radio modified into a docking station.

The reason I did it was because I had this old Philips radio laying around. And I couldn’t use it because it only had an AM receiver. So, I thought it would be cool to make it into an iPhone dock =D

How I did it

The first thing I did was to remove old the old parts from it.

 

1937 Philips RadioInside Old Philips Radio1937 philips radio stripped

Replace old speaker element

Then I cut out the front of an old speaker and replaced the original speaker element. The reason for this was that the original element didn’t have any bass at all.

If you don’t have an old speaker laying around, you can find some cheap speaker elements from Parts Express.

Old speakerSpeaker placed inside radioSpeaker placed inside radio (front view)

Add docking function

To dock the iPhone and get sound from it, I used a Fiio L11 from Parts Express.

It enables you to charge the iPhone and get sound output when you plug it in.

iPhone dock componentiPhone dock component

Amplifier circuit

To amplify the sound, I used a TEA2025 amplifier circuit. It gives 2.5 watts of power, which was sufficient for this project.

Amplifier circuit TEA2025

Parts Express also has cheap audio amplifier boards for your electronics project if you don’t want to build one yourself.

Add Display

I made the display by drawing it on my computer, then printing it out on a sheet of paper placed behind a plastic window. I used LEDs on the back to indicate volume and source selection. The LEDs are controlled by an Arduino.

Radio Display (bare)Radio Display (with LEDs)Radio display working

 

Here is the schematic diagram for the LEDs:

Electronics project LED display

 

J1, J2, J3 and J4 are connected to outputs of the Arduino. The volume knob is a dual potentiometer (two potentiometers in one), so I have used one to control the volume and connected the other one to an input of the Arduino. The Arduino then controls the LEDs according to the potentiometer.

Download Arduino Code

The finished project

Finished electronics project - old radio iphone dock

If you liked it, please share and leave a comment below =)

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Filed Under: Circuits

Reader Interactions

Comments


  1. M24308 says

    May 26, 2013

    I love that you have salvaged your old radio than throwing it to the garbage.

    Do you have the circuit for your LED volume indicator?
    _____
    LInda

    Reply

    • admin says

      May 26, 2013

      Thanks Linda =)
      I updated the article with a and short description the LED volume indicator.

      Øyvind

      Reply

  2. BGA Rework says

    June 6, 2013

    This website has very good content. This is exactly what I was looking for.

    Reply

    • admin says

      June 7, 2013

      Thanks =)

      Reply

  3. Davide Coppola says

    July 24, 2013

    Your project has been included in the article: 20 Arduino projects of 2013 – http://www.nudatech.com/blog/20-arduino-projects-of-2013/

    Reply

  4. Ganesh Balasti says

    January 24, 2016

    Yo Man …! You are genius.Will it work for android mobile too?

    Reply

    • admin says

      January 25, 2016

      Hey! Yes it will. But you will have to change the docking part to one that fits Android.

      Oyvind

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. 1937 Philips AM Radio Hacked into an iPhone Dock - Hacked Gadgets – DIY Tech Blog says:
    May 24, 2013 at 10:49 am

    […] from Build Electronic Circuits sent in his latest project. It’s a 1937 Philips AM Radio Hacked into an iPhone Dock, the project is basically using the nice old housing since all of the internals were discarded. He […]

    Reply
  2. From The Tips Box: Windows Explorer Shortcuts, Repurposed Radios, Shared Clipboards | Lifehacker Australia says:
    May 30, 2013 at 8:00 am

    […] can check out the video to see it in action, or see my blog post for a full walkthrough with […]

    Reply
  3. Arduino Blog » Blog Archive » Vintage radio hacked into a docking station says:
    June 17, 2013 at 6:40 pm

    […] his website you can read the complete tutorial or download the code and below you can have more details on the way he used the […]

    Reply
  4. Vintage radio hacked into a docking station | Linux-Support.com says:
    June 17, 2013 at 6:45 pm

    […] his website you can read the complete tutorial or download the code and below you can have more details on the way he used the […]

    Reply
  5. Old Radio Hacked Into an iPhone Dock | Arduino ... says:
    June 17, 2013 at 8:29 pm

    […] In this electronics project I am modifiying and old radio into an iPhone dock. Video and pictures included to show you the whole process.  […]

    Reply
  6. Vintage radio hacked into a docking station | ArduinoFan says:
    June 17, 2013 at 11:09 pm

    […] his website you can read the complete tutorial or download the code and below you can have more details on the way he used the […]

    Reply
  7. Vintage radio hacked into a docking station | dev.SquareCows.com says:
    June 18, 2013 at 12:53 pm

    […] his website you can read the complete tutorial or download the code and below you can have more details on the way he used the […]

    Reply
  8. Vintage radio hacked into a docking station / Cooking Hacks Blog says:
    June 18, 2013 at 1:10 pm

    […] Via: Arduino Blog, Source: Build Electronic Circuits […]

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  9. Vintage radio hacked into a docking station | A Maker's Dream Factory says:
    June 27, 2013 at 3:03 am

    […] You can read the complete tutorial or download the code On his website.  […]

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  10. Vintage radio hacked into a docking station / Cooking Hacks Blog says:
    July 11, 2013 at 4:50 pm

    […] his website you can read the complete tutorial or download the code and below you can have more details on the way he used the […]

    Reply
  11. 20 Arduino projects of 2013 | Nudatech says:
    July 24, 2013 at 12:02 pm

    […] A 1937 Philips radio turned into a docking station for Apple iPhones controlled by an Arduino Uno. Project page. […]

    Reply
  12. 1937 Philips Radio Docking Station says:
    June 22, 2015 at 11:32 am

    […] those retro radio docking stations really exist! A resourceful DIYer graciously shares a step-by-step tutorial, explaining how he converted a vintage 1937 Philips radio to an iPhone docking […]

    Reply

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