Ash tray Ipod dock, easy to make yourself!

[Pissy]

Hi all,
i thought to post a nifty idea I got.
I place an ipod dock inside the ash tray and wired it all up to my stereo and cig lighter.

Firstly you have to cut the ash tray so that the dock fit as close as possible the front of the tray, this means cutting out the molded indented grab handle. (You know when you go to pull out the ash tray you place your finger under it into the space and then pull,....wells thats what you need to cut out).

I then glued in a piece of perpex to cover the cut section under the tray.

I then drill and grounded out a section in the rear of the tray wall for the power and stereo cords.

Its all a very tight fit when placing the ipod (30 GB video) into the dock and the distance outwards and dash AC controls, so I then cut out the middle only of the tin shield that sits on top of the ash tray. The cut section was only slightly wider than the ipod so that it will fit between the 2 outer edges.

To prevent scratching and to hold the ipod better while in the dock, u need some rubber shielding for Clarks Rubber {long U shape tubing about 10cm is all you need} and glued it around the tin sheild cuts. If you made the tin cuts right, then this should hold the ipod nicely. Best to make the cut out narrower and then place the rubber and see if the ipod fits between then, once you have got the right width then glue the rubbers on.

I use double sided tape and velco Dots to secure the dock into the tray.

The cable run down behind the tray and into the stereo and I have the cig recharger put of sight until I need to recharge.
I don't like the idea of making the dock on constant charge so i kept the cig plug and just manually plug it in, BUT i will soon have it on constant power and run a dash switch which will turn on the docks power on or off. For those who don't know you can play the ipod through the dock with or without the dock being powered.

The Ipod fits perfectly in dock against the dask with good view of the screen and easy to use the pods controls, if going over off roading, all I do is ever so slightly close the tray which jams the Ipod into the dock against the dash making it impossible to disslodge.

I got all the cables and dock through Ebay Hong kong,...pretty cheap, cost about $50, 2-3 weeks in postage and your time.

I'll post some pics ASAP.

[geeves]

Good idea.
Its a good way to partialy hide the ipod so its not obvious to late night shoppers (the ones without money) which you have achived fairly well even if not completly hiden.
Jaycars sell an adapter for the earlier ipod that plugs into the lighter and charges the ipod as well as being a secure stand and also transmits the ipod on a fm chanel to the stereo.

[Pissy]

Yeah I have seen all those Ipod docks that plug into the cig socket and I thought I could do one better and not so UGLY.
I also found the sound quality is no where as good as hard wiring it to your stereo. If you don't have Aux input on your cd player, apparently there is a way to split your FM radio line into the head unit allow you to have a line to the ipod,....thats something for the experts to do though. The ash tray way to me was a way to keep it clean (in the sense of nothing sticking out of the dash), a bit of "Oh that cool" factor and makes use of an empty ash tray.
Pictures coming tomorrow.

PS,.....I would never leave the ipod in the dock while away from car, thats asking for the "Five fingered discount shoppers" to borrow without returning it,...........