Cobra-matic : Retro Bakelite Phonograph

More like below. I'm shorting the contact because its a break before make switch. I didn't think that the motherboard sense wire (green wire) carried mains power. I'll put a multi-meter across it tonight.

Pole 1
1-1 OFF
1-2 Green mother board sense wire
1-3 Shorted to 1-2
1-4 Shorted to 1-2

Pole 2

2-1 Empty
2-2 Empty
2-3 Motherboard header "On" with circuit described
2-4 Motherboard header "Reset" with spring return so no circuit needed

Does this make sense, more importantly do you see a problem? Thanks much for the input.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mach

In a modding frenzy, the idea evolved that I could use the first position on the knob to replace the switch on the back of the power supply (which would have been hidden in the case). That means 115 volts through the center of the case attached to an antique radio switch.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mach

I didn't think that the motherboard sense wire (green wire) carried mains power.

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Now I'm confused as to what you are trying to achieve with this switch. The earlier post suggested you want to interrupt the mains, replacing the black switch on the back of the PSU.

And why are you messing with the green wire at all?

By far the simplest solution is to leave the mains alone, and just use the momentary switch to operate either the power or the reset. If you must turn off the mains too, it's still possible, but the switch needs to stay in two positions.

I think the wiring would be:
Pole 1 mains in
1/1 NC
1/2 mains out
1/3 mains out (2-3 connected together so there's power in both positions)

Pole 2 one side of pulse trigger
2/1 NC
2/2 other side of trigger
2/3 other side of trigger (again, 2-3 connected)

Pole 2 one side of mobo reset header
2/1 NC
2/2 NC
2/3 other side of mobo reset header

So, position 1, mains is off, nothing else matters.
Position 2, mains on, power signal is pulsed
Position 3, mains still on, power unaffected, reset is activated.

It would be nice if the spring could make pos'n 3 spring back to pos'n 3

Also, the switch needs to me make before break or you'll interrupt the power when going for the reset, and probably retrigger the power on pulser too.

Personally, I wouldn't mix mains and low voltage on the same switch. I'd just go with the simple solution. Failing that, get a wafer switch and two wafers, one regular and one for the mains.

I think the original plan was to jumper the green wire, then use the mains switch to power up the psu.

He then realized that it wasnt a very safe idea, so removed the line to the mains switch, and instead wants now to use the green line on the 20pin connector to power up the board.

Doing so *would* technically save you from having to add a power switch to the header pins on the mobo, so if you are really against having unnecessary cabling to the board, this option *should* work.

HOWEVER.. xmastree's idea is better.

Hmm, Luke122 has the general gist of it. Original plan was to move the mains power (but that didn't seem very safe). So xmastree the plan was to replace the toggle switch on the psu.

Then I thought that I could in essence do the same thing by switching at the atx connector green wire instead of the toggle switch replacement. I thought this because the power supply doesn't work without the jumper on the green wire. I assumed that the power supply is dead if the green wire is not connected. I'm starting to believe that's wrong given the confusion. In other words, the psu is hot when plugged to mains with the toggle switch on and the atx connector not jumpered. Yes?

As you mentioned, mains connection on same switch with low voltage is bad so I'll do as you suggest but with just the motherboard header. I can change the rotary swich to a make before break and a 3 position fairly easily with the spring back to position 3.

So

1/1 NC
1/2 pulse circuit->MB header On
1/3 MB header Reset with spring return to On with a solder bridge across the contact path from 2-3

Any clearer? Thanks for the patience.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mach

I assumed that the power supply is dead if the green wire is not connected.

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No, it's still live. Basically the motherboard makes or breaks that connection as necessary. There's really no need to touch it.

Quote:

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1/1 NC
1/2 pulse circuit->MB header On
1/3 MB header Reset with spring return to On with a solder bridge across the contact path from 2-3

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You don't need the pulser either.

Spring load the switch to pos'n 2. Then 1 - on, 3 = reset.

That way you can also hold it in pos'n 1 to force a power down if necessary.

Ok I think I understand. I'll give it a go this weekend. Thanks!!

glad you do because i dont =) nice paint work

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mach

Ok I think I understand. I'll give it a go this weekend. Thanks!!

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by DonT-FeaR

glad you do because i dont =) nice paint work

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Right, it seems that what's obvious to me may not be quite so obvious to non-electronic engineers, so here's a quick and dirty diagram.

Most rotary switches are supplied in multiples of 12. So that's 1x12, 2x6, 3x4, 4x3, 6x1. Mach is using a 4 pole 3 way, so I've drawn that one.

You'll see that it's normally in position 2. The four poles are labelled A-D to save confusion.

The animation is pretty close to the actual construction of the switch.

Power on is position 1, so connecting two wires, one to A and one to the 1 associated with A will short them together when the switch is turned to position 1. Releasing it back to the centre opens them again.

The reset works similarly, but using position 3 so using a different pole, two wires again, same principle.

Is it clear now?

you could of just said that :) i get it now sounds really cool

Thanks for the great diagram xmastree! That makes it much clearer. It's taken me a while to get my head around the interaction of the psu, MB, and switch. I'm having a good time with it though. The soldering iron is my new favorite tool.

@DonT-Fear: Thanks! I was able to sneak some clear coat on this weekend. A run on the bezel that will need to be sanded out but it turned out much better than expected. I'm traveling this week in the UK so pics after I get back.

Looking good mate, keep it up! ;)

Thanks Langer! I'll get back after it this weekend.

Hey folks, small update as the weekend progress fell victim to jet lag. Wound up stripping the bezel again cause the paint didn't stick to the pot metal on a pea sized place on the top edge. Tried to convince myself it wouldn't bother me but in the end, had to re-do it. Waiting on more paint now as none of the auto parts stores had it in stock.

Mounted the switch plate and the volume control encoder. I hope to get the on off switch mounted this week.

Started work on the servo lift mechanism. I've landed on a crank slider setup. Still needs to be tested against the lifting capacity of the mondo servo.

Doesn't look like the slider crank is going to work either. It comes down to space and time at this point. Take a look at the test fit:

There's about 5-6 inches for the crank to fully extend on close. The PSU is going to be in the way and a psu duct still needs to be added. A linear actuator might still work but I'm going to cut my losses on the idea of a lid lift. Disappointing to say the least but not enough space and I'd like to finish this mod some time soon.

that looks cool

what is the original thing again... ive seemed to of forgoten.

It was a phonograph or record player.

ahhhh its all clear now... that makes it even better nice work

Now, this is what I call a piece of work! Excellent, can't wait to see it finished

Vision

Thanks Vision!

A brief update this time to show that I haven't forgotten the mod. Just been stuck at that 90% mark for the last week or so with small changes here and there.

Buffed out the bezel which came out a little greener than expected but not too bad otherwise. Still need to add white paint for the letters.

The knob in the center didn't match with bare brass so as much as it kills me, I had to paint it also. First try failed so that's next on the to do list.

Converted the switch on the Bigboy fan to a rotary switch for the front knob.

The rotary switch is a 3 way light switch from a lamp that I cut down to clear the fan when mounted.

Installed the sound card and the wireless card with a few tweaks to the hold down bracket and antenna. The cards attach to the bottom of the case which is the reverse of the brackets requiring a chop and flip.

Also painted the video card cable ends. The white connectors didn't go with anything in the case.

Still a bunch of wiring and cable-gami to do. Traveling this week and next so not much on the update front planned til after. Thanks for looking.

cool i know about the 90% mark

my case has been at 90% mark for like 2 months now

only get 1/2 day to work on it a week so its understandable


nice work

Thanks! The doldrums of case modding, they make the mod master's work all the more impressive. Looking at Bod's BG mod makes me believe that I'm sleeping way too much. :)

Milestone post! The first post from Cobra-matic. Woot!:banana:

I connected everything and fired it up. DVD and wireless work fine. Big sigh of relief after the modding on both.

Still have some wiring to do but it's close...so close

Added the power led to the front using an amber led and acrylic

Added a duct for the psu to vent the exhaust from the case.

So some progress, more later when Hurricane Ike blows through. Modding time is currently going to covering windows and moving plants inside.:down:

nice work mate looks sweet

Great to see the progress mate, looking really good.

Cant wait to see it all together.

Indeed, the whole project just oozes quality. Looking forward to seeing it finished.

Thanks guys for the rep and the compliments! I had a chance to mod a little last night when the power came back on but fell asleep before doing too much. Got the throbber circuit hooked up but its not slow enough. I'll post a review on the throbber when I get more time.

Hurricane Ike blew through on Saturday so we're still cleaning up tree limbs and leaves. Some water damage to the house but not as bad as some folks. Hopefully things will be back to normal this weekend and modding can resume. Later....

good to know your ok.

Thanks DonT-FeaR, Houston is still a mess but nothing like Galveston which was closer to the coast.

More work done on Cobra-Matic, the off-on-reset knob is working as is the usb rotary encoder for volume, temperature sensor, and relays for the leds. Nothing particularly picture worthy but one step closer.

On order is phosphorescent invisible orange (glows orange in the dark but is white under normal light) pigment for the letters on the bezel and some thin mini usb cable to finish the wiring. So not done yet but it's close.

Still waiting on the thin usb cables to be delivered but look what came in.

This is a half ounce of glow powder. Apparently a little goes a long way.

Lights out, how cool is that? I can see what they mean about a little going a long way.

Source: www.blacklite.com

Hooked up a Top Shelf Led controller to the power led so now Cobra-matic has a heart beat. :)

While waiting for the paint and cables to arrive, I hacked together a control program. This launches at startup to turn on and off the LEDs and El wire, adjust the system volume and mute from the knob on the case, and sample case temperature.

This is all being driven by a phidgets 8/8/8 interface kit, a 0/0/4 relay kit, and a temperature sensor. Slight overkill without the linear actuator lift kit but I can add other sensors if I want.

Lastly, I've been playing with the DVD drive. To recap, I hacked a window in the top so the DVDs go in and out without closing the CD tray.

The problem is that XP doesn't know a new DVD has been put in (no open close event) so it doesn't refresh. Using google-fu only finds people with autorun setting problems. I'm guessing it'll take a software hack or to cycle power on the DVD rom.

To that end I need your help. Anyone familiar with IOCTL calls in VB or other ways to manipulate DVD rom refresh? Can I put a relay on the DVD power and cause it to refresh by cycling the power? Actually it would be cool to put a micro switch on the DVD rom lid to have it refresh when the lid closes.

nice glow powder... keep up the top quality work man

this thing is awesome! nice work! +rep

Oustanding work, I love the retro look myself. Will be trying to incorporate it into my current mod when I get back to it. Keep it up!!
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Larry Shinoda

this is looking fantastic:D
+rep! love the glow powder xD

This is coming along great Mach!

Thanks for the rep and compliments!
@DonT-FeaR & p0Pe: It'll be more subtle when it's painted on but it's very cool stuff
@SXRguyinMA & jdbnsn : It makes me grin to see it finally coming together
@blueonblack: Can't wait to see it, the HD activity gears idea is genius.

Paint testing underway, it's going to take multiple coats to get a strong effect from the glow powder. Its interesting stuff. You pour the powder into the clear finish and shake it up. It doesn't dissolve but is suspended in solution so you have to keep it mixed while painting.

The DVD rom is going to take some more work. Tried the idea of cycling the power on and off and resetting the drive from VB but no luck.

hey mach check this.http://www.eggheadcafe.com/software/...t-refresh.aspx look at the 2nd post. the guy wrote a peice of software that might help you out a little. Thought I would try and shed some light on this and definatly give soem rep for the awesome mod.

@BerticusPrime: Thanks for the tip. Unfortunately, after trying it out, no go. I'm thinking its in the DVD Rom controller. It has to show ready before windows can even talk to it. As it takes a full shutdown and restart to reset the drive, a low level re-initialize or reset command is probably the only thing that's going to work. Or figure out where the trip switch is and mod the drive.

Good news: It's possible to make the DVD work.
http://www.austinmodders.com/modules...ewtopic&t=1467

Bad news: It'll take a hardware hack. The sound you hear is one step back :bash:

The killer is that I've been lurking at austinmodders but never saw that thread. I went looking over there tonight cause I had a bookmark to a mod done by Zapwizard on a slot loading DVD. Looks like it's time to find the tiny soldering iron tip. :devious:

Hey least you are somewhat making headway here. The drive placement is great and I would ahte to see you lose that. Hopefully this works.

This is a great mod. Though I'm curious-are you running that RAM in Dual-Channel mode? I know different boards do it differently, but I was under the impression that Gigabyte boards usually want both sticks together. That being said, I can see red and yellow on both slots, so I thought I'd ask.

-Dave