Hobbies And Interests
Things You'll Need
Instructions
Open the mint tin. Drill one hole through the front of the bottom half of the tin. Drill another hole through the back of the bottom half of the tin.
Apply a thin film of high-strength glue (such as Super Glue® or Gorilla Glue™) inside the hole on the back side of the tin. Place the audio input jack through this hole so that the body of the input jack fits inside the tin and so that an audio plug can be inserted through the hole in the tin to connect to the jack.
Hold the op-amp so that the notch in the op-amp case is facing upward. Mark the first pin on the top-left of the op-amp with a permanent marker. Color this metal pin completely with the permanent marker. This will help you to identify the first pin when wiring the amplifier.
Apply a thin film of glue at the center of the tin. Place the op-amp upside down so that the plastic case is glued to the bottom of the tin. Allow the glue to cure completely.
Cut seven lengths of wire, with each length being 4 inches long. Strip 1/2 inch of insulating material from the ends of each wire segment.
Twist together one end of the first wire with one of the leads from the 10-kiloohm resistor. Bend the output pin (the colored pin on the op-amp, or pin 1) away gently from the op-amp center, and solder the twisted wire pair to this pin.
Twist together the free lead from the 10-kiloohm resistor with one of the leads from the 100-ohm resistor. Bend the inverting input pin (the pin right next to the colored pin, or pin 2) away gently from the op-amp center, and solder the twisted wire pair to the pin.
Twist together one end of the second wire with the loose lead from the 100-ohm resistor. Solder this connection, and cover the electrical joint with a piece of electrical tape.
Twist one end of the third wire to the non-inverting input (third wire down from the colored pin, or pin 3), and route this wire through of the hole in the front of the tin.
Solder the loose end of the first wire to the tip terminal on the audio jack. Solder the loose end of the third wire to the tip terminal on the audio plug.
Solder one end of the fourth wire to the sleeve terminal on the audio jack. Route the loose end of the fourth wire through the same hole as the third wire. Solder one end of the fifth wire to the sleeve terminal on the audio plug.
Twist one end of the sixth wire to the "V+" terminal (the pin that is opposite the colored pin, or pin 8) on the op-amp, and solder the connection.
Twist one end of the seventh wire together with the "GND" terminal (the fourth pin in the same row as the colored pin, or pin 4), and solder this connection.
Route the loose ends of the sixth and seventh wires through the same hole that the third and fourth wires protrude through.
Twist together the loose ends of the second, fourth, fifth and seventh wires with the black wire from the battery snap connector. Solder this connection, and cover it with a piece of electrical tape.
Twist together the loose end of the sixth wire with the red wire from the battery snap connector. Solder this connection, and cover it with a piece of electrical tape.
Close the lid of the breath mint tin. Plug the battery into the snap connector. To use this amplifier, insert the audio plug into the output jack of an audio input device (such as an MP3 player or radio). Plug the audio output device -- such as a monophonic speaker -- into the amplifier's audio jack.