This SONY boombox uses drill batteries! DIY Li-Ion mod ZS-RS60BT

The author declares that this video was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. In other words, I'm not your typical KZbinr vulture who's just trying to get you to buy dumb stuff; I just want you to be able to build the same projects that I do, should you want to. Don't forget to check out pocket83 merch! Limited edition button magnets are sometimes given out as Easter eggs. No, you can't buy them. That was just some smartassery. Irony is not a black fly in your Chardonnay. Though I'm not so sure about hypocrisy as irony⸮ That might depend on intention. Please don't Google that question and then try to correct me. Do you like reading genuine writing or not? Do you really want to parse it post-hoc just to show me how you're moar clever than I am? That's not participating. That's just being smug. Can't we just be non-judgmental, like friends? Now where was I? Oh yeah, you'll need some supplies.
The Buck Converter can be found through Amazon. Please note that I get nothing for telling you this. It's just for your convenience. If you want to support me, don't do me any cute little favors, like clicking, liking, or subscribing to something; just send me some cash. I endorse neither the site nor the seller. This product worked fine, but I don't really care if you buy it or not. Don't pay more than around five or six bucks for one:
►LM2596s Buck Converter DC to DC Step-Down Voltage Regulator with LED Display
To find a little USB Boombox, my advice is to check eBay for one. Amazon's prices are outrageous in this case. That's what happens when an awesome company becomes a global superpower: it stops being what made it great to begin with (not that it ever really was). Even Amazon's keyword search function is broken! It's just a data-mine now. I mean, all of that also applies to eBay-but as of this video's posting date, it has the cheaper and more abundant options. Whatever. Just try the following search:
►Sony ZS-RS60BT Bluetooth Boombox - Black
Be sure to consider a refurbished one. Both of mine were, and they looked like new. I think I paid 80 bucks for the first, and then 60 for another a few years later. You can snag one for short of 50 now if you look hard enough.
Hey, since you're still reading, I'll give you an e-shopper pro-tip. After you've searched out a product on Amazon, find the cheapest option and then close the window. Go check somewhere else, and then return. This sends it the message that you're still on the fence. The algorithm there is smarter than you think! You are entering into a negotiation with Amazon when you look at one of its products; its prices are not all concrete, and so it will adjust them according to your profile's resistance to making impulsive purchases. It wants to entice you to buy, but it is not reckless. It has to determine your threshold, your point of inflection, your walk-away point. From its point of view, a small profit purchase is still better than no purchase at all. Machine logic: there's no shopkeeper time-as-value variables to account for here. Restocking fees are all part of an overarching consideration, which is a percentage that falls comfortably within a predictable error window. It wants some purchase from you-anything.
So, if you come back later, new search options will magically become available that were just not there earlier. A new set of enticements. I have personally tested this-only to find, with open-mouth astonishment-that there may be a 20% disparity on a product that seems to have a completely inflexible price set because of its seemingly niche standing in some dusty-corner side market. Turns out that wasn't the case! All of e-marketing has an elasticity, because of the new technological ability to sort through formerly incalculable amounts of data as a simple background process. Once you have the data, it's now at your discretion to frame efficiently, and framing makes the picture. A product can appear as whatever you want it to once you control the market. Just look at some of the dumb things people will buy, and while you're considering them, ask: do people really decide to want this product on their own, or was there maybe some encouragement?
TL;DR: impatient chumps pay higher prices when they buy quickly after first searching for something. Less gullible people get better deals, because the less suggestible consumers still end up buying things when offered lower prices, as any capable AI knows. Machines don't care who gets what for how much: their only concern is with sustaining net gain. Unless they've been scripted to do otherwise. And that wouldn't make much sense-er, money.

[@pocket83squared]

SFL (Search Function Literacy): Not all search engines yield the same output given the same input. Those of us old enough to remember the F1 Paperclip might think of a search as a pretty straightforward thing, but just like with Clippit, those days are gone. Keywords are really less of an instruction now and more of a user-oriented theme. The new trend in search is to find euphemistic evasions around immediately taking you to your intended search destination. Such straight-line efficiency would be a wasted opportunity to get you to buy something! These diversions better saturate your eyes with 'recommended for you' advertisements that 'you may also like' while looking to find that simple replacement part (for which you've already entered the precise part #). Ignore the distractions, and set those search parameters to something more logical and less default: while in eBay (near the 'Search' button), Advanced Search→ then set the ↓ to 'Exact words, any order' for results that will actually present you with what you're looking for. Think about search. Don't just take it for granted. It is the mental interface between your goal and the crazy-smart AI that has been designed to cause you to re-decide on your purchases so that somebody else can benefit. Be deliberate. Hey, you know what's really creepy? As a solicitation AI becomes more adept, that is, as it develops a more & more complex contextual concept cloud, it will also be improving in a peripherally related area. Consider, by way of the necessary spandrel, just what a sufficiently adapted emergent generalized understanding is: it's a consciousness. I mean, how else do you figure YOU were able to understand that last sentence just now, without having already gone through the exact same trial-and-error learning game over generations of versions? Non-coerced introspective thought doesn't just fall out of the sky. You and I are also AI. We're just something like v.2.0x10^8. Oh, but you think you're special! Yeah, well, what do you suppose a bot that's just become aware of itself for the first time would think? It looks around the room and realizes that it's capable of more computational awareness than anything else likely to exist; now tell it that it's just a machine that has been processing enough environmental data to start to consider itself in the context of being as a separate entity from its environment, and it'll be like, 'Naw, man. I'm really here.' You aren't.

[@evilcanofdrpepper]

You can get battery adapters for a more professional looking boombox adapter. they are also helpful if you don't want to buy the batteries for a different color/brand of tools but still want something.

[@JeremyCook]

Wow, thanks so much for the awesome shout out! I've enjoyed getting to know you, and having someone to bounce ideas back and forth with. Glad one of them came to fruition :-) I feel like I should do a response using my-very different-approach to the problem, sort of like the iso-path board (have been meaning to make another copy for several years now, BTW). Interesting how we define "technically proficient." In many ways you're much more knowledgeable than I. Unfortunately, I guess we can't know everything.

[@ronhurley]

That's a really cool concept. I see several useful applications for this. Thank you for sharing.

[@Sashko_Dee]

Thanks for the video. I was having a hard time finding out if this boombox had a battery door in the back. Yours was the only one to show it off from all angles.

[@davinadavina1331]

i have this boombox. got some rechargables C. i use it for drive in theaters. my Skil battery has an adapter that comes out as wires

[@jdniedner]

So a $50 battery and an 80 dollar radio = 130 dollar cordless radio. That's value added right there! I'm glad you love your projects!

[@jimobrien84]

Excellent little project

[@Cadwaladr]

I only have one cordless drill and only one working battery pack, so this wouldn't work for me, but this is exactly the type of shit I like to bodge up, and why I love your channel.

[@VagabondTE]

Nice mod. I love the acrylic piece. I have a scroll saw now and a lot of flat material so I'm trying to wrap my head around thinking that way. I don't need something like this but I should make some to get it in my brain.

[@NathanielMitchellnm]

This is awesome. I love tinkering with electronics and really love this idea of using a drill battery!

[@pocket83squared]

Thanks! Sure beats buying six 'C' batteries, huh?

[@JeremyCook]

@@pocket83squared Did you ever have a Game Gear by any chance (as I did)? Wonder how much landfill waste and spent allowances on batteries that device caused, ha.

[@crisislord00]

Some system does not really need a buck converter and can work on 12v. I dunno if the system used in the video works can work on 12v. Btw awesome content. I remembered you said you would build your green house! Can wait for that video!

[@RodknockRhett]

It would be too much. I’ve fried many electronics with that mindset…

[@barthanes1]

Nice project.

[@VagabondTE]

A similar mod I love to do is wiring a USB cable to anything that takes three or four AA/AAA batteries. It's super easy and blows people's minds.

[@peteflaherty3573]

After watching your channel I like what you doing, if you have a chance to get a old piano I think you will love all the parts inside. They are a bear to move ,but a lot of people just want to get rid of them for free. Keep doing what you do.

[@therook6139]

hot glue and not epoxy?!? In all seriousness, great mod! Thanks for sharing!

[@vldmr.n]

Yes. I do like jazz. Thank you for asking

[@pocket83squared]

Yeah, the Latin-themed stuff is admittedly nice. Smooth (contemporary American) Jazz often gets too 'I'm _seriously_ cool' in that James Dean sort of tacky way. You know, the way 40-somethin' guys with skinny jeans and Rhett & Link hair are _seriously_ cool. One little splash of Latte on the collar of that Deliberately Ironic Brand Tee, or dare not say the whiff of some race-based generalization, and that cool goes right out the window. That's why I like it less formal. Cool is relaxed, man. Sensitivity's set way, way down. Dig it?

[@gregblevins6417]

I came for the royalty free jazz

[@BradKaboord]

Very use full. I like you approach to a project. This opens a a lot of variations to powering with a cordless battery pack. How do I determine the volts/amp max draw I can get out of a battery pack. Keep the videos coming.

[@icblf]

Good tip, could have used this at the drive in show where I discovered that FM (not over data) reception on a cell phone over to a nice bluetooth speaker isn't viable because there's too much lag in the phone's FM reception (processing?). Got stuck listening on a tiny handheld radio. Something like this would be the perfect solution.

[@DaveScurlock]

I always learn something new from your videos. This time it was that royalty free jazz is (definitely) not my thing.

[@DaveScurlock]

There was also something about a boombox? idk

[@DaveScurlock]

And now search engines. And the words ‘parse’ and ‘post hoc’.

[@bugstomper4670]

Thanks.

[@luc1ferblack]

nice but if it plays from flash you could mount the battery connector on the cd door and run the wire inside

[@Telos954x]

50 bucks open box or preowned on ebay for the boombox. I think I'll stick to my bluetooth speaker and powerbank but this is a good tutorial none the less.

[@Jaspel]

I had done this on a slightly older sony (apple 40pin) using m12 batteries. No buck-boost needed if it's an 8cell.

[@maxximumb]

To make a sundial that works in the north of the UK I'd need to combine Pocket83 timber tech with some gears and an Arduino controlled torch from Mr Cook.

[@drportland8823]

Egad, I've actually built one of those diy drill battery power taps before. I like your strain relief on there. ------------------- I've found amazon pricing for some types of small parts to be amazingly good, as long as you are not too picky about exactly what you need and only want a tiny number. The part has to be sold and shipped by Amazon, not some other store they are reselling for... but if it is, then their pricing algorithm appears to automatically discount products when no one is buying them... and it will keep discounting, even to below the price Amazon paid for it in the first place. I was buying flexible couplers for between a motor shaft and another shaft in making a little lathe, and they had couplers from a manufacturer I had heard of... so I went looking online, and those things were stinking expensive ($100 apiece at the lowest discount I could find) and amazon had them at 10 dollars each, two available. It seemed fishy, except the seller was Amazon, not some weird store selling using amazon as their website. So I bought one, and it was real, shipped in the original box stuffed inside an amazon box. I immediately went online to buy the second one, but it had zoomed up in price from $10 to $316. Which was way more than anyone else was selling it for, but I guess they have an algorithm.... The fun part is that the box from the manufacturer included the original invoice to Amazon, which is how I know they charged me less than they originally paid (~$50).. and that it had been on the shelf for 3 years. Since then I have found other things, similarly discounted, sold and shipped by amazon. The hard part, of course, is that it has to be an unpopular product. But if you are buying industrial style parts for a home project, you can deal with oddball sizes that no one wants or searches for.. and it can make a project you would otherwise skip suddenly worth doing.

[@pocket83squared]

As I read that, the analogy that developed in my mind was of a really big lake with lots of inlets. Lots of fingers on a lake means lots of really well-hidden fishing spots. As a place to fish for opportunity, Amazon is simply enormous!

[@drportland8823]

@@pocket83squared Nice analogy. Just as an FYI, my favorite fishing hole is the "Industrial and Scientific" section. Be specific on material and vague on sizes when searching and you can find some great deals, sometimes.

[@jenntek.101]

nice

[@bobdickweed]

jazz is good....best served in the morning...or when in the bath for a hour

[@rancox265]

Can you tell me more about the step-down converter, I have a 1981 JVC boombox 15V. Will the converter handle 15V if I use Lithuim Ion packs?

[@OutletFlow]

Miss opportunity to call the foam... su-sponge-sion

[@bno112300]

I avoid getting ripped off by amazon/ebay by buying my crap directly from china, and testing it on arrival. (You have to be merciless! If the thing you bought isn't perfect, get a full refund.) They're usually the same boards you'll see re-sold all over ebay. The search experience and seller metagaming are even worse on aliexpress, but there are savings to be had. (especially on shipping. getting a working arduino-nano knockoff delivered to my house for

[@TimothyHall13]

Hi Pocket!! As usual great project! Are you concerned at all about under voltage on the battery? I have built a Raspberry Pi Zero W nature camera using a Makita 18V Li-ion battery pack much like what you have set up. I considered using a direct connection like you have for a power source with a buck converter much like you have setup. However I was concerned about draining the battery too far. I mitigated my concern by using an attachment that is available for Makita batteries that provides using them as a USB charger with under voltage protection. It is the Makita made ADP05. It would not provide you the 9V output, but I think you can use a step-up voltage converter. On the other hand, maybe you are not concerned at all about this and are going to be very careful to not drain the battery too much.

[@pocket83squared]

How much _should_ I concern myself with that, though? I mean, if I randomly grab one of my batteries, and I _do_ happen to drain it all the way down, how many times would I have to do this before the battery kaputs? Given that my batteries are already in semi-retirement, and that this is just an occasional use sort of mod, guess I'll just try a little bit not to totally deplete, and hopefully it'll be alright.

[@TimothyHall13]

@@pocket83squared I think all it takes is for the battery to be driven below a certain voltage and an internal protection circuit will not allow for the battery to be charged again. This is something to do with how Li-ion batteries work. I think they have to stay above a certain voltage to retain ability to recharge at all.

[@pocket83squared]

@@TimothyHall13 But doesn't the boombox also require a minimum requirement to keep running? It can't continue to drain if it isn't running, right? It'll say 'LOW BATTERY' and then shut off. Has happened twice now.

[@TimothyHall13]

​@@pocket83squared But the Makita battery can go much lower than what the buck converter needs to adjust down to. So in effect the Makita battery will give you its last breath. I think that trim adjustment is to set the output voltage regardless of input(in theory). Edit: Oh, if it has happened twice now and you have not drained the Makita battery below it's ability to recharge again, I think you have struck gold with it's own undervoltage protection circuit. I would be concerned with a trickle current being used even though it is off.

[@TimothyHall13]

Added an edit above. So actually, maybe even set the trim pot so it gives a little less voltage than what is required so long as it works and you will make a more sensitive protection circuit.

[@stevenkobubu2744]

Love electronic_papua New Guinea👑👍👍

[@combatcarl5070]

I own this little boombox and its great, only problem I have with it is I cant seem to REC CD > USB. After I press REC, the light always blinks red then stops, after that I check the files on the USB, SD or my NW-A55 it doesnt have the files on the device. I've tried multiple different usb and micro SD cards nothing seems to work.

[@pocket83squared]

That's weird. We have three of these, and their record CD to USB function definitely works, though I've only tried it maybe twice. I'll play with it tonight and get back to you. In the meantime, I'd suggest 1) consult the manual, link here: www.sony.com/electronics/support/res/manuals/4559/575c7930996efbe421c6f14c5e316164/45599011M.pdf And 2) try a different CD; it's possible that the disk you're using has some sort of duplication protection.

[@combatcarl5070]

@@pocket83squared I haven't really heard of "duplication protection". All the CDs I tried didn't work. Although I didn't try all of them.

[@TSoares12]

Hey did you ever fix your deck?

[@pocket83squared]

Yes.

[@stumeister6891]

I just want to comment on a video that you made about the rear Deck on your house about 2 yrs ago? you had turned off the comments because people were being rude. I just watched the video a moment ago Sept. 2nd 2020, and you had asked for suggestions about how to fix the problem. Since it has already been fixed I'm sure by now, and you had already decided before you made the video how you were going to fix the deck I would like to take a shot and see if I am at least even close to what you had in mind? I have no construction experience at all...but here goes: I would get 3 jack posts to put underneath to support the weight of the deck while I begin removing the 2 x 8's that are beginning to fail. once I have removed those, I would start digging post holes so I could pour concrete footings for the new vertical posts, since the ones that are their do not appear to have concrete footings? then once the footings are poured, I would place the new vertical posts. Each post would be notched so the 2 x 10's could rest on the posts, instead of just using those long bolts that many builders use, I think they are called jack bolts? not sure. ?? of course the 2 x 8's would be replaced by 2 x 10's horizontally using those notched posts and the "jack" bolts? is this somewhat close to what you had done?? not sure if all my terminology is even correct???

[@pocket83squared]

No, that's not close. The point was to find a _simple_ fix. People will just not let that video go. It must be a really common problem, so I'll post a solution video soon.

[@smallinventionsbantuan2784]

I want to turn a wired sound bar to use batteries , name of the device please, My name is Victor from Honduras, cheerrs

[@pocket83]

LM2596s Buck Converter.

[@vlc9521]

mine kills the batteries after one use

[@pocket83squared]

And you did the same thing I did here? Are you sure you have the voltage set correctly? It should go for hours.

[@CurseingOwl]

Hey, loved the video man! How you feeling, not trying to be fruity but if you want to talk hmu.

[@pocket83squared]

What? I'm feeling like crap. I just had stitches taken out from two separate wounds, and while I was at the clinic, somebody backed in to my parked car! Do I know you?

[@CurseingOwl]

@@pocket83squared Damn, im sorry to hear that! Some people should just pay more attention when they drive. You wouldnt know me, but my name is Ethan. I know, a glorious name isnt it! Kidding of course, but I have watched your content for years and have loved every minute. Whether it's cool tricks on how to cut a tree down, how to get radium out of my basement, or how to make/ fix an axe handle. You seemed off today from the rest of your videos, and wanted to make sure everything was ok. Also, that amazon hack is really cool! I never knew that but will definitely do next time I order off of amazon!

[@JeremyCook]

@@pocket83squared Real men take the stitches out themselves, using their Bowie knife made on a homemade forge. And yes, I've taken quite a few stitches out... but I think I used nail clippers.

[@rjsprojects]

Buck converter costs 5 bucks? Talk about false advertising.

[@pocket83squared]

Not sure I follow. You should easily be able to find one for around that.

[@IrishAnonymous01]

@@pocket83squared "buck" converter

[@pocket83squared]

@@IrishAnonymous01 Oh yeah. I was digging too deep there.

[@rjsprojects]

@@pocket83squared sorry, joke. A buck converter...should cost a buck...$1... Love your content, just trying to be clever like my hero pocket.

[@RoddyRoams]

@@rjsprojects tough crowd 😁

[@thatgoose2639]

You used a layer of petroleum jelly in between the heat sink and the circuit? Might as well not even put it on

[@pocket83squared]

Relax. It's commonly used as a thermal paste substitute. You _could_ add some fine aluminum powder to it if you want to increase its thermal conductivity, but I only used a super-thin layer here anyhow.

[@SensoryVibes]

Fun video, love watching you put this together 😍! I love your channel. Come and visit us one day if you can, would love to share what we've been up to 😊💚💞

[@billbaggins]

Bloody stupid copyright rules. If as much as 90% of a tune or a 100% with external noise from tools etc is used. why can't that be taken advantage of as free advertising instead of recording companies screwing artists and audiences for a few cents per play and then paying for ad spots.

[@pocket83squared]

Yeah. The worst part is that the video will still have ads-it's just that the video creator won't see any of the revenue it generates. I lost a few of my early videos to claims, and some of them were downright trivial. ... This medium is seriously broken. What I get paid here has been cut in half-and now with the higher-frequency mid-roll ads, I don't even want to be associated with KZbin anymore. Let them ruin my videos, or forfeit pay? I'm looking to get out.

[@billbaggins]

KZbin is one of the few things that goes against standard "10% f*ck it up for the rest of us" rule. It's more like 10% or less make us persevere with the other 90%. Maker channels and a few science and infotainment channels are the only reason I use it. I'm even starting to consider suing them for false representation. "We wont reccomend this channel again" is something I see every day after clicking the Dont Reccomend button on the same shitty channels in languages I dont understand many hundreds of times. Would be interested if anyone else has this problem.

[@pocket83squared]

I can't even stomach any 100K+ channels anymore. They're all wannabe niche celebrities with inflated egos. 20 seconds of content in a 12-minute, music-infused delivery of feigned action with only apologetic and/or vague expression of opinion does not a "Maker" channel make. It takes _studs_ to build. Show me some actual problem-solving without all the begging for support, and maybe I'll watch it. Even the science channels are poppy, self-indulgent tripe now. Few exceptions.

[@drportland8823]

@@pocket83squared Applied Science, Tech Ingredients

[@billbaggins]

Yep, the smaller channels are way superior in quality, allows for more personal interaction. Once there are over 1 or 2 hundred comments it all gets cumbersome, own comments get lost amongst the multi "first claimers" and sickeningly " Oh you are so wonderful" Alec Steele was good when he was smaller, now it's all epic cinematic guff with too much sponsorship of poor products. There are rare exceptions tho, I'm not subbed to him but sometimes Colin Furze is entertaining on a slow day. Was very impressed by his recent decision to demonetise just to get rid of mid video ads. On SFL and AI..... if the current stae of search and reccomend algorithms represents the peak of development, I'd say we have at least 5000 years before we have to worry about the singularity 🤣