Roberts R404 radio upgrade

In here you will find all the parts I used to upcycle an old broken Roberts R404 radio into a kick ass MP3, BT, SD, FM stereo boom box that is solar powered and glows.

YouTube video link
https://youtu.be/41Vzw8WcTzI

The new electronic parts that go into this radio are readily available Chinese modules. There is no hard rule with the parts and you could redesign the look and layout. There is a lot of possibility.

With heinseight I would have done a few things differently, but everything works nicely and for my needs this is a great little radio. I use the radio in a lot of situations, in the workshop, in the kitchen etc and so far I haven’t charged it from a plug at all, it sits on a windowsill and constantly receives daylight.

Some of the printable parts are cut in half to fit onto my Makerbot print bed 23x15cm. You need to bolt them together. The facia is designed slightly differently, its still two half's but its hollow, the reason its hollow is so I could stick the two parts together and fill the inside with resin, this makes it stronger and helps with noise deadening.

Missing parts. 1 The volume knob is not there and I am still not sure what to do about it because there are nice ones ready made for sale on Amazon / eBay etc but also easy to make and I might update this with a knob at some point. 2 not essential, a bass port which fits into the space on the back door solar panel vent ports. I need to have a flat port with a length of about (I cant remember) but its folded back on itself to get the length, probably wont make much difference.

Electronic Parts to get

5v mp3 module

TP4056 module (charges batteries via solar or USB)

buck converter (to power the mp3 module converts 3.7v to 5v and prevents low power warning) ( Module LM2577 2V- 24V to 5V-28V)

PAM8403 module with volume pot

(optional) USB 5V DC Boost Step up Power Supply Module (Step Up Power Charger Module DC-DC 3V~5V 1A)

2x Solar panel 136x110

2X DOUBLE 18650 battery holder box case.

1X Lithium Li-ion Battery LED Tester monitor LCD Capacity Current Voltage Meter

4 x On/Off Sub Miniature Small Mini Toggle Switch SPST / Overall switch size: 28 x 12.5 x 11mm (H x W x L)

1x Aluminum Sound Control Rotary Switch Knob 6mm for Potentiometer Volume Cap