Project: DIRTY BOMB (cheap and nasty)

After much time “lurking” in the background of TBCS, I decided it was time to try my hand at this modding lark. This is my first attempt at making a custom computer case and I have gained loads of useful information from this excellent site.
A lot of the inspiration for my mod came from reading Ouch’s worklog on his Interocitor mk14, so all credit to his original idea of using an old oscilloscope for a case.
After much researching and unsuccessful bidding on Ebay I persuaded my friend Callum to part with this… (cheers mate)

It’s a Cossor oscilloscope manufactured in 1950.

Callum had this stored in a spare room and it was no longer used as the last time he plugged it in, it smoked heavily and would have probably burst into flames. When it’s finished, I want it to look like an eco-disaster waiting to happen, hence the theme “Dirty Bomb”.

Here it is with the cover off.

The bottom compartment looks like its big enough to house the power supply and a couple of optical drives that will eject sideways. Because of this large compartment, there isn’t enough room for a full size ATX mainboard without major butchering of the chassis, so I’ve decided to use a mini ATX board.

Thats gonna look cool. Now if you could get the oscilloscope to show more and more "squiggle" as the processor load went up and down that would be even cooler but probably a huge pain.

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Originally Posted by Bopher

Thats gonna look cool. Now if you could get the oscilloscope to show more and more "squiggle" as the processor load went up and down that would be even cooler but probably a huge pain.

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Cool idea Bopher but might be more feasable to use the voltage fluctuations in the hard drive LED feed to get a display from a PC based oscilloscope.

I'm on it... fanx for the input

Sweet idea.
It already looks like a partial "eco-hazard waiting to happen."
Should be a sweet mod. I'll be watching fo sho.

After some stripping and some measuring it looks like it will be a neat fit. The expansion slots will hopefully fit nicely between the two vertical supports at the rear. Since I can’t use my current board and can’t afford a new one at the moment due to a tight budget, I have to find a donor machine for the board, tray and expansion slots.

Here’s my old I-Friend desktop made by Hyundai. If my memory serves me right, it has a 1.7 GB Celeron and was working perfectly (albeit slowly) when it was cannibalised for its DDR memory and hard drive a couple of years ago. It has been in the attic gathering dust so I thought id check it out for more parts.

Yep, it’s a mini ATX board and it will allow me to finish the case until I can afford a decent upgrade. The power supply is a weedy 200 watts so that will do for now as I want to have lots of lights and fans running. The scope case is massive so has a large volume of air to move to keep things cool.

The optical drive cage shouldn’t be too much hassle to fit in the lower compartment although I will need to cut an opening in the lower left side of the case and alignment is important so I haven’t decided whether to stealth the drives or have them located in full view. I’m not sure of the exact thickness of the scope’s steel case but it appears to be about twice the thickness of regular PC case steel. I’m going to use a 4” angle grinder with a cutting disc as I don’t have a dremal and don’t think it would be up to the job anyway.

The hard drive cage looks like it will be easy to fit somewhere in the upper compartment in the scope. It only holds two drives but that should be more than enough for my needs.

After some more stripping and some more measuring I’m well chuffed to confirm that it will all fit almost perfectly. This will save a lot of hassle. There’s 50+ years of dust and dirt inside, guess I’ll give it a clean soon….

This access panel on the rear of the case just needs enlarged to enable access to the mainboard and expansion slots.

This might be last update for a while. Next load of work is too dirty for indoors, my good lady would kill me. And the weather is typically Scottish (just the usual horizontal rain) so I can't do much outdoors but will update ASAP.

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Originally Posted by jiggiwiddit

...use the voltage fluctuations in the hard drive LED feed to get a display from a PC based oscilloscope.

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What a great idea! I'll be watching this one.

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Originally Posted by jiggiwiddit

There’s 50+ years of dust and dirt inside, guess I’ll give it a clean soon….

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I've found the best way to clean cases is to take them down to a carwash after you've stripped all the electronics out. Myself, I just put them in the bed of my truck and hit em really good with the hose.

you made the front page!

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Originally Posted by jdbnsn

you made the front page!

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Gawrsh... :eek: :)

edit: This is a real honour, thanks very much. I just hope that the finished mod justifies it.

Update time...

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/j...g?t=1200317205

After some more stripping, the full size of the lower compartment can now be seen. And an added bonus was found within...

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/j...g?t=1200317225

A nice piece of sheet metal mesh material. This will be cleaned/painted and reused somewhere else on the mod :up:

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/j...g?t=1200317249

I've also started stripping/labelling all the control knobs from the front panel.

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/j...g?t=1200317274

The knobs are made of 'bakolite' (a kind of pre-historic plastic) they are very heavy despite the 'lite' the name would suggest. They are also quite brittle and fingers crossed, I wont break any as I'd like to re-use them on modern variable resistors for fan speed controllers.

Heres the main power switch

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/j...g?t=1200317306

I'm thinking about replacing it with one of these

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/j...g?t=1200317336

more soon.... :)

Interesting idea, I am looking forward to see how this goes. Congrats on the front page.

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Originally Posted by The boy 4rm oz

Interesting idea, I am looking forward to see how this goes. Congrats on the front page.

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I'm not sure where it will end up, I've so many ideas in my head. I hope to build in an LCD screen as a 2nd desktop to display an oscilloscope pattern on the round screen (among other things to display). Problem is that with the round 'bezel' in the current position, the LCD would need to be located so far back in the case that there would be some sort of tunnel required to view it. Im checking out the possibility of re-locating the bezel flush on the top angular front face but theres some bracketry behind it that supports the internal chassis and handle arrangement. The more I strip from the case, the more I will be able to judge what will work. Thanks for the congrats :)

Ha... found this old pic when doing some more research

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/j...g?t=1201076534

Update time...

Front panels removed and cleaned

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/j...g?t=1201531175

Possible hard drive location

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/j...g?t=1201531147

Or here

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/j...g?t=1201531197

Or there

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/j...g?t=1201531236

Lower compartment on underside of scope showing possible optical drive cage location. (I will remove the floppy brackets later)

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/j...g?t=1201531339

Mobo tray crudely hacked from the donor machine... I'll tidy it up later too

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/j...g?t=1201531385

Rear view of mobo tray positioned in scope case

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/j...g?t=1201531460

And a side view

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/j...g?t=1201531557

Heres the screen bezel and the cast alloy bracket removed

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/j...g?t=1201541636

The cast bracket also attaches the front panel to the inner chassis by means of the angled flanges that run down each side.

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/j...g?t=1201541876

This view shows the ends of the chassis that should attach to the cast bracket.

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/j...g?t=1201541987

I want to position a PSone lcd monitor behind the round bezel, so Im planning to cut the flanges (that contain all the mounting holes) from the bracket...

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/j...g?t=1201543257

and hopefully be able to position the bezel here...

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/j...g?t=1201543411

A bit of metal fabrication will be needed to hold the bezel in place...

:redface: sorry about the quality of some of the pics, the battries were low on my camera so I couldnt use the flash.

This is coming along nicely! And giving me ideas for a future HTPC mod, believe it or not!

It's all coming together now, should be plenty of room for the hardware.

Looks sweet. I'll deff be watching this one. +sub & + rep

Thanks for the comments guys :)

If anyone can tell me how to duplicate this effect with clever 12volt lighting I'll have thier babies.



Nice1 jdbnsn, Thanks

The only thing I can think of is if you buy a light that does that. They are special and I know I've seen them around. They won't be that crazy with their flashes but you'll still get a great effect. If I find it I'll be sure to post it ASAP.

-Fuga

Mylar film, a small fan, and orange, yellow, and red LEDs?

I think widefault is talking about making one of these artificial flame-props.

expensive

Some of those those can be pretty expensive.. but I have purchased them pretty cheap for my little halloween thing we do here. Honestly, I will probably never buy another one, after I dismantled one. The smaller LED versions are a fan, some white silk, and usually 2 orange LEDs and 1 blue LED. The higher brightness ones are the little halogen bulbs with a orange gel and a blue gel. There are a couple of things you could do to try and emulate this. You could use the fan and the silk, but instead of using a constant on LED, substitute a few ultra bright LED's with a strobing circuit. Another option is Glade makes these new flameless candle airfresheners that have a flickering LED inside. They are about 10 bucks. I have seen some internet stores that sell the flickering LED tealites from anywhere between 3 and 10 bucks each as well.

Hope this helps and looking really good so far!!

They are way too expensive, but I think widefault's suggestion was to use the materials he listed to make one.

Thanks for suggestions guys, I was thinking of maybe a frosted acrylic (plexiglass) tube with amber or red film inside and a couple of these little xenon strobes at the top and bottom (without the colored lens covers). They run on 12 volts and flash 120 times per minute but so far I can only find a US supplier that wont ship to the UK. I guess they think Im a terrorist- ha.

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/j...g?t=1201682378

Yeah, I was thinking building would be a lot simpler than buying. I imagine most folks here probably have everything but the mylar already available to them.

As for the strobes, find a place that sells DJ equipment. They may have something that runs off 12 volts. Maybe even auto parts places, sometimes strobes are part of roadside emergency lighting kits.

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Originally Posted by widefault

sometimes strobes are part of roadside emergency lighting kits.

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Just what are you suggesting? :D

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/j...g?t=1201894287


Wasnt me.... honest :twisted:

You need a plasma disc in there!
http://www.microcenter.com/random_ac...n_the_lab.html
Check out the pic of the side, low down.
http://www.microcenter.com/images/em...side_large.jpg


Edit:
I wouldn't go with the strobes, they can cause electrical interference. However, if you really must, check out these. IIRC (and yes I used to, ahem, have some...) the bulbs are about the size of christmas tree light bulbs.

mmmmm... that plasma disc is mighty pretty, fits perfectly with the borg mod too.

I hadnt even thought about Maplins thanks for the link :up:, Hadnt considered interference either. I think those strobes are likely candidates. Im hoping that as theyre used in cars, they wont generate too much interference as you wouldnt want them clicking thru your speakers. Good price too. So I might try them with an inline suppressor and maybe some shielding and see how it goes.

Heh, didn't mean it that way. I mean the kits you can buy to keep in the car. Some of them have a red covered strobe that plugs into the cigarette lighter.

Those plasma discs also generate some interference, although it should be possible to shield the rest of the components from them.

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Originally Posted by jiggiwiddit

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/j...g?t=1201894287


Wasnt me.... honest :twisted:

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All that I noticed was the picture to the right :P

me too actually

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Originally Posted by ownaginatious

All that I noticed was the picture to the right :P

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Originally Posted by gntlkilr

me too actually

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STOP THAT! Or I'll be chucking a bucket of cold water over yas.... :D

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STOP THAT! Or I'll be chucking a bucket of cold water over yas

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Wet t shirt competition eh:rolleyes:

Nice find, lookin forward to seein this one completed.

ok.... after a long pause, project back on track.... more updates soon :)

ooo cant wait!

Very cool! Awesome, I was very disappointed when the project seemed to die out.

Can't wait to see what you do!