Portable PA

[Sknny]

Hello to all, my name is Fernando I belong to a non profit association in Chicago that does activities such as picnics and fundraising events for the community. This past summer as my request (I am the treasurer and occasional DJ) we purchased a $260.00 battery operated PA system (Pyle Pro PWMA1081I 800W) which didn't perform at all and we had to return it. A total fiasco.

Now, I have been ask to get them some prices for another PA, but the items that satisfy our requirements cost from $700.00 to $2600.00 with brand names like Fender or Roland. Since I do some carpentry and basic electronic I was thinking in building one of those myself, I have automotive stuff laying around in the shop where I work and in the same building where I work there is a cabinet maker. So I have available the all cutting tools, a couple of 12' Sony drivers from a boom box and a set of three way car speakers. So I want to assemble an automotive or marine stereo (with all the options that the people needs such as USB port and SD slot and CD-MP3 and an optional imput for a phone or MP4 and radio), together with a power supply consisting in rechargeable 12V NiMH/NiCd RC batteries packs, an automotive amp for one of the 12' driver and maybe a dual preamp for a microphone and other instrument. All that in a portable and efficient box that we can take to a park or a party room.

I need help in overall performance and best configuration for all the items on the box? Any feedback?

[DJPhatman]

a couple of 12' Sony drivers from a boom box and a set of three way car speakers.

Sknny, welcome to the forum.

I am sorry to say, none of Bill's designs can make use of the drivers you have. Unless you are willing to spend the $ for the correct drivers for Bill's designs, I would suggest you look up the specs for the 12" Sony's and build 2 appropriate size cabs for them, as outlined in their specified manuals. As for the 3 ways, mount each of them in a ~.75 cubic foot box. They will function, but don't expect very good sound. There are a number of very good designs on the internet that will use car batteries and such for power. I suggest you find a pair of deep-cycle batteries and a charger. Most modern car audio heads can do the basic cross-over, so all you will need is an amp to run the 12"ers. Good luck!

FYI, stay away from anything Pyle, Gemsound, etc. All very low quality stuff, as you have discovered.

[Sknny]

DJPhatam,

Thanks for your response, at the same time sorry for my lack of knowledge in this matter. Reading your response I understand very well that the stuff I have on the shop will not work for this kind of application and I am Ok with that. If I have to buy a set of drivers that will deliver a decent sound I'll do it, I also can get those batteries from my supplier along with a charger. So, after revisiting the site I see that pretty much all the enclosures are too big for fit it in my rear seat and they will not work anyway I will discuss the matter with the board of directors and get to an answer if I build something or buy it.

If I do it, I will post it here

Thanks

[jimbo7]

Other more experienced BFM builders will chime in, but I'm thinking SLA's or Jacks (maybe Omni) for tops. Might be able to power those with a car amp(s), battery, and a portable mixer of sorts. Not sure if anyone's done this before. You wanting it battery powered is the main issue (and affordable I assume). Seems like you have some limitations going on.

What's the ballpark $ willing to invest?
What's the crowd size?

[Sknny]

Jimbo7,

Thanks for you response, my main issue is portability because we do two picnics per season and only in the city of Chicago the parks have electricity. If I go to the suburbs I am lost in the bunnies. We already spend almost $300.00 with the Pyle unit with taxes and freight, so I estimate going over up to $500.00 for a decent unit will be Ok.

The crowd is usually 120-150 people.

[sine143]

Pair of jack 110, flat array, beta10 loaded, behringer inuke dsp, a small format mixer and you *might* get out under 700.

A cheap powered mixer might also work out.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

A J110 can put out plenty of dBs with a battery powered 20w amp:
http://billfitzmaurice.info/forum/viewt ... 31&t=15273

[ncgrove]

A J110 can put out plenty of dBs with a battery powered 20w amp:

+1000

[Sknny]

Guys,

I really appreciate your feedback, I like a lot the options that the Jack 110 provide and the size of the Onmi 15 TallBoy which will be better in size for the equipment that has to go inside (an additional box on top and a separate compartment on the bottom for the battery pacs), that is definitely the way that I will probably take for this project.

Thanks again

[88h88]

with all the options that the people needs such as USB port and SD slot and CD-MP3 and an optional imput for a phone or MP4 and radio

Personally I'd cut down the options and get people to agree to one format if only to save you some cash better spent on the speakers themselves. A cheap CD/MP3 deck and a minijack input should be all you ever need, sod USB/SD entirely I mean who doesn't have an mp3 player or iphone/alike these days? Laptops/ipads etc all through the minijack should be more than you need.

[Tom Smit]

with all the options that the people needs such as USB port and SD slot and CD-MP3 and an optional imput for a phone or MP4 and radio

Personally I'd cut down the options and get people to agree to one format if only to save you some cash better spent on the speakers themselves. A cheap CD/MP3 deck and a minijack input should be all you ever need, sod USB/SD entirely I mean who doesn't have an mp3 player or iphone/alike these days? Laptops/ipads etc all through the minijack should be more than you need.

Automotive style, correct? I would think that one could even get a used one off of Craigs List, Ebay, or Kijiji, or.....

[88h88]

I was thinking remove the need to power it altogether. Mp3 players have solid batteries these days along with laptops if set up properly, it'd mean you could go longer on the sound itself.

[67baja]

http://billfitzmaurice.info/forum/viewt ... to#p231939

That's how I would do it

[Sknny]

67 Baja,

That is exactly the idea that I have in mind, but bigger. My plan is build a competitor for the Amplivox SW915 Parther 250W that retails for almost two grands. As I put in my previous post, I'm still debating in two jacks 110 or one full range Omni Tall Boy. More information soon guys.

[Michael Ewald Hansen]

67 Baja,

That is exactly the idea that I have in mind, but bigger. My plan is build a competitor for the Amplivox SW915 Parther 250W that retails for almost two grands. As I put in my previous post, I'm still debating in two jacks 110 or one full range Omni Tall Boy. More information soon guys.

I've built multiple J210's for use at festivals in camps.. I normally use either a regular TA2020 amplifier (Sure, Amp6Basic, Muse or similar brands) paired with a miniDSP for crossover duties and EQ - which is needed imo.. Hooked up to a few deep cycle batteries and you have a very loud setup that will play for hours on end..

The size of the J210 with a pair of corner mounted castors and a trolley handle on the back will make it very portable.. A few examples of J210's i've built for customers:

http://i.imgur.com/jgjrii0.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/TN35Mb2.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/yLim1wy.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/tbHv6Fl.jpg