Interocitor Mk15

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Well, the time has come to start my second proper mod. I was torn between improving my current LAN machine (The Interocitor Mk.14) and doing something completely new and different. However, I saw another one of those fantastic oscilloscopes on ebay and my mind was made up. I am building a new and improved Interocitor, with all the ideas I had for the old one that didn't quite come off! It will have an improved layout, more cooling, lighting system and a larger case window.

The hardware list will be:
Abit LG-95 Micro Atx Motherboard (I won this in Custom PC Magazine!)
Intel Core 2 Duo CPU (Not sure which one yet)
Nvidia 8800GTS 320Mb (When finances permit)
2Gb of Geil DDR2 Memory (Already purchased)
500Gb Samsung SATA2 HDD (Already purchased)
Laptop Style DVD-RW (Nice Slot Loader)

I want to really make a feature of the old valves contained in the case so they will be moved to a much more prominent position and lit with superbright LED's. The knobs dials & buttons on the front of the case, will again, be made as functional as possible. So Lets get started....

Here's my new case....I'm starting the stripdown.

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Valves in the top of the machine...

Carefully saved for later...

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This one is going to be super cool!
I'm amazed looking at the pics... they don't build stuff like they used to.

Quick question: Are the black metal sleeves over the tubes... are those like, 'air shrouds' for forced-air cooling?
Or are they there just to hold the tubes down?

Hey guys, am I calling the valves "tubes"?

The black metal sleeves provide some protection for the delicate valves and hide the glow of them as well. The sleeves are spingloaded and have a bayonet fitting to secure them to the socket where the valve plugs in. Also if a valve 'lets go' they keep all the broken galss in one place.

I need at least 16 valves for this project....here's why....

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Today's Update

Spent another couple of hours stripping the old machine...
Carefully unscrewing everything...

Cutting the wires...

Getting there...

Carefully with the Cathode Ray Tube...

Nearly...

Front Panel Free at last...

This thing is put together like a battleship. I am working methodically and saving all the important parts. The screws and nuts are all old british imperial sizes and will almost certainly be unavailable, so I'm carefully saving them for later!

See you soon

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Work, work, work..... All work and no modding makes Ouch! a very dull boy.
I haven't had much time off lately and it was beginning to get me down. But there is good news for Interocitor fans. I spotted this on ebay. Hardly used, and mine foer the princely sum of £33 GBP or approx $60 US.

I had to drive down to hastings yesterday to collect it. So we had a game of mini-golf a paddle in the sea and fish & chips!

Back to the mod. I may get some more done later and I've got some interesting ideas about incorporating lasers into the mix.

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Update.....

I'm experimenting with the idea of lasers for the new interocitor. Here's how to make them do those wonderful spirograph patterns.

It doesn't matter how high quality your electric motors are there's allways a bit of slack in the bearings. This is enough to produce a pleasing effect that varies with the speed of the motors. It gives those spirograph type patterns.

So, I have ordered a couple of cheap 40mm PC case fans that will be donor motors. I will stick small mirrors on them and experiment. If this works, I will either have the laser on the front of the machine on the screen or, pointing out of a hole in the top shining on the ceiling. It's gonna look cool.

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More stripping today......

I centre punched all the rivets holding the aluminium frame together. Ready for drilling out the rivets.

Using my excellent new drill I drilled the rivets...

Then I freed the top and bottom frames

Making a start on the front panel I carefully removed all the knobs and labelled them before putting them away......

More later....I might actually get to be creative soon.

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Stripdown is finally finished....whew!

I cleaned the parts in good old warm soapy water and used an old tooth brush to remove the grime of several decades.

The quality of construction of these old items has to be seen to be beleived. All the parts are signed by the man that made them...

I really need some sheet aluminium, so I will visit my local scrap metal man tomorrow and see what I can find. The prices charged in local DIY shops are crazy! I have found a cheap case that will surrender it's I/O panel and it's MATX motherboard tray. I don't fancy making one from scratch!

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My nice plastic mirror tile turned up today so i spent a while cutting small circles out of it with a hole cutter. It was really difficult as the perspex is very thick and it all generates so much heat that the blade kept sticking!

I then stuck the small mirrors onto the fan motors using araldite epoxy. I left them on a nice flat surface in the kitchen to cure.

When I returned the mirrors have magically 'floated' to a new position in the glue and then set firm.....2 40mm fans wasted and 2 difficult mirrors. D'oh!

I'll have to bin the lot and start again.

I also visited my scrap metal man and he did not have any aluminium sheet, so I'm stuck, until next week!

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I tried my laser experiments yesterday and found that with 2 little mirrors spinning on the 40mm fan motors you do get a spirograph type pattern that varies with the fan speed.

I just taped everything together and used a laser pointer and a couple of zalman fanmates to control the speeds.

The trouble was that the patterns were tiny and to project them onto the front of my little screen in the interocitor I'll have to find a magnifying lens of some sort that will make the patterns bigger. As you know the Interocitor case is quite small as it's a LAN PC so this problem will have to be solved.

I could project the patterns out of a hole in the top of the machine so that they hit the ceiling but I don't think that the effect would be so pleasing.

The only other thing would be to go back to the idea of an LCD screen in the front window, but I did that last time, so I want to avoid that if I can.

More experiments!