Demo Video

Photoshop mock-up and progress photos

[+] Click to enlarge

Why?

This whole thing started because I wanted MP3's in my RA28 Celica, but didn't want to ruin the interior by adding a modern 1-DIN sterero.

After going to great lengths to replace the previously molested dash, there's no way I was going to cut into my original center console.

Now, there's already a few oldschool looking stereos on the market (like the RetroSound), but they don't make any that fit the old Toyota hole size.

Obviously I could have hidden something in the glovebox, but I wanted to be able to reach the controls. There's plenty of other ways I could have achieved my goal, but as a bit of a geek, I couldn't help myself. I had to try building one using an Arduino.

Features

The beauty of doing this with an Arduino is I can always change it later. It's like Lego. But as tempting as it is to keep adding features, at some point I have to actually make the thing.

So for now, I've settled on the following:

• FM Tuner
• Line-in
• USB (MP3/WMA)
• Clock
• 12-character alphanumeric display
• Bass / Treble / Balance
• Display brightness
• Spectrum Analyzer with 5x display modes
  (lines, bars, peaks, pulse, bars+info)

The unit itself has no amplifier. It outputs at line level. I've got it connected to an Alpine KTP-445U 4-channel amp.

The choice in display was a hard one. Those little Avago HCMS-29xx displays are expensive! But for the 80s look, I absolutely had to do it with LEDs.

I don't regret a thing.

A tribute to the 1980s Toyota AM/FM/MPX Electronic Tuner

You may have noticed the similarity between my face design, and the radio in Toyota's MA47 Supra (part number 86120-14350). This is not a coincidence.

Just look at all those glorious LEDs, buttons, switches, and that metal finish!

[+] Click to enlarge

The second-last photo was taken from the 1982 Toyota Truck Brochure on toyotareference.com

That last photo was taken from celicasupra.com

So, what's it made of?

Well, my project uses:

• Arduino Mega 2560
• Custom Printed Circuit Boards by OSH park
• Si4703 FM Tuner breakout board
• VMusic3 USB/MP3 module
• PT2314 Audio Processor IC (4x inputs, bass, treble, balance, and volume control)
• DS1307 Realtime clock
• 3x HCMS-2904 LED displays for a total of 12 alphanumeric characters
  (the photos don't do them justice - they're much brighter in real life)
• MSGEQ7 Spectrum Analyzer
• A whole bunch of wires, buttons, lights, and knobs :)
• A broken shaft-style radio from a '79 Supra as the case
• Aluminium front panel milled, engraved, and in-filled by frontpanelexpress.com
• Switch-mode DC/DC Converter (TRSN 1-2490) to supply 9V through the barrel-jack instead of the 12-14V a car generates. This stops the Arduino's on-board 5V voltage regulator from overheating and resetting.

Still yet to do:

• Have the display screen remade in a tinted acrylic (rather than the clear it is now).
• Maybe repaint the buttons in a harder wearing paint, or even 3D print them in stainless steel!