Veho 360 speaker: a must-have accessory for your Propeller BOE

[Ken Gracey]

While playing around with some cheapo external speakers on my Propeller BOE at Parallax, Andy alerted me to one that Kwabena had last summer as an intern. I contacted Kwabena and found out it was the Veho 360, a really audible speaker with a short cord and jack, slider-adjustable volume, and USB recharging. Purchased two of them. They're $16 each on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Veho-VSS-001-3.../dp/B002CS2T4I and probably cheaper elsewhere. Ask erco to find the best deal.

These are of great quality. Plenty of volume and responsive to different frequencies. They'll fit under the Propeller BOE on a PropBot and would be considered an absolute must-have for anybody who picks up a Propeller BOE when they are released (update: just after Christmas, and yes, I'm doing everything I can to get this production underway). Having seen some of the examples being developed by Andy and the education team I think you'll want one of these. Below is an example with my primary use at the moment, a talking ultrasonic distance sensor.

The speaker is louder than it sounds considering it's on level 2 (of 3) and that I'm talking directly into the camera's microphone.

From my home office, and only reporting erco-worthy news finds. . . Ken Gracey

[bomber]

Cool! I will devinently be getting one of those!

[Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)]

Ken,

I really like the rechargeability aspect of that thing. I can't count the number of 9V batteries I've gone through with my little RadioShack speaker-amp because I forgot to turn it off. Do you have a sense yet of how much actual play time you get between charges?

-Phil

[doggiedoc]

Just ordered 2! Thanks Ken!

[erco]

Also $15.99 on Ebay with freeeeeeeeee shipping: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Veho-VSS-001...item45fe4e3c3c

[zappman]

I have been using these speakers with my propeller boards, Diamond MSP 100B Mini Rockers Mobile speakers they are rechargeable and stereo, only $20.00

[mindrobots]

Cool! Now if I could just get *MY* Propeller BOE!!

[graffix]

Phil, says 8hrs constant play.

[Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)]

Thanks, graffix! (I guess I could've read the specs. )

-Phil

[Ken Gracey]

Cool! Now if I could just get *MY* Propeller BOE!!

That makes two of us, because I can never get by with just one of these boards. I'm very confident this is the best board we've ever delivered - it's all here, packed into a really handy size. The right number of decisions were made regarding I/O usage vs. I/O jumpers to connect to devices, leaving 14-16 I/Os free all the time. And those pins that are connected are attached to must-have tools! If C has been a hold-up in some educational situations it'll be the case no longer, too. Hopefully I convey confidence and not arrogance as I really just want people to know the Propeller BOE is a fantastic Propeller programming platform.

Ken Gracey

[Kye]

The speakers last like forever between charges. If used sparingly, the one I used lasted 6 months between charging. I didn't use a whole lot but atleast the battery keeps its charge.

[Kenny Gardner]

What is that display?

I have to have that!

Kenny

[Ken Gracey]

What is that display?

I have to have that!

Kenny

Hey Kenny, it came from EarthLCD but it is no longer available. It's a 5.7" VGA and I made the stand for it on our router.

Ken Gracey

[Cluso99]

Nice and tiny speaker. Great find.

However, the speech audio leaves much to be desired ATM. I could not understand the 22 at all.

I too loved the LCD display Ken.

[Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)]

However, the speech audio leaves much to be desired ATM. I could not understand the 22 at all.

'Sorry. [sigh] I'm confident that Chip's vocal tract object can produce intelligible speech. It's "just" the phoneme translation that needs additional work.

-Phil

[Cluso99]

Yes, I was just commenting. It is great that a prop can do any sort of speech given the amount of work and the time it has taken to get any computer or phone to do it.

[Tracy Allen]

In connection with another thread I was looking for a small but good-sounding OEM speaker. When this note about the veho360 came up about the same time, I jumped on it too, to hear what might be possible and how they did it. It does in fact sound very nice for its size and is a good bargain. Anyway, for anyone who is interested, here is a teardown.


I slit the bellows in the middle, which is quite unecessary, as there are (As I discovered to my chagrin) four small phillips screws that hold it to the bottom of the casing. That reveals the back of the 4Ω 2W speaker and a glimpse of the circuit board in the bottom half.

The top of the bellows is glued to a slip ring that allows the top to rotate freely (at least up until the point that you over-twist the loose flexible speaker wires!) Again I jumped the gun by pulling the bellows loose from the slip ring. You can get it out with the slip ring attached by judicious prying with a screwdriver. Under the slip ring it becomes evident that the speaker and the grill have been put in place with an aggressive adhesive in a well on the other side.

The circuit board is sparse, one SOIC-8 audio amplifier chip. The chip is marked MD2103N, and the logo looks sort of like a crescent moon. I wasn't able to locate that chip in a quick search. Wire connections off-board go to the audio input plug, the lithium battery, and the speaker.

The battery charging circuit from the USB connector to the Lithium battery is pretty simple, a 2.2Ω resistor, a diode, and a capacitor. It is no wonder they instruct you not to leave it on charge for more than 4 hrs. Batteryspace.com sells a similar lithium polymer battery (PL502030) rated at 230 mAh.

[tdlivings]

@Ken
Is the propeller BOE pre-order happening yet?
I see you now list the 360 speaker in new products, do you plan on a higher price package version of BOE with added accessory's like the 360 speaker?
I also like the display but alas not avaiable.

Tom

[Ken Gracey]

tdlivings, the Propeller BOE pre-order will begin on Thursday. It was supposed to begin today but I was kink in the process.

The veho360 speaker will be included with all Propeller BOE pre-orders.

There are a few other accessory parts we will offer in a single package (SD Micro Card, veho360 speaker, wires, and an XBee). That kit hasn't been defined yet, but if you wound up buying it you might have two veho360 speakers at some stage.

Ken Gracey

[WBA Consulting]

So when will someone hack the lipo battery connection so the veho will power a small prop circuit too?