Shona's Retro-Themed HTPC : Complete. All pics added to post #1

Hi folks,

This is my first proper foray into modding.
The reason behind it is that my girlfriend got given an old TV for her flat when she bought it.
The TV didn't work that great and gave burning smells when used but she really liked the look of it.
I suggested, half jokingly, that we put an LCD TV inside the old TV's case and she loved the idea.
I figured I may as well use the rest of the space inside the old carcass somehow and the HTPC idea was born.

I have a spare Epia 13000 jobby with a DVD/CD-RW combo drive and 40 GB laptop HDD so I figure buy a TV card, cheap LCD screen and cheap-ish 2.1 speakers and throw them all in and wahey.

So, background out of the way, on to the pics of the victim and what we did to it...

This batch of pics show us gutting the old TV.
I think its older than me (seriously, its at least 26 years old, maybe more) and its certainly had 26 years worth of grime inside!

Here's the pics.

<EDIT>
I have created links to all the pics from this first post to make it easier to view them all.
Picture 1

Picture 2

Picture 3

Picture 4

Picture 5

Picture 6

Picture 7

Picture 8

Picture 9

Picture 10

Picture 11

Picture 12

Picture 13

Picture 14

Picture 15

Picture 16

Picture 17

Picture 18

Picture 19

Picture 20

Picture 21

Picture 22

Picture 23

Picture 24

You can see how well the new screen fits in the old hole here.
Picture 25

The holes where the buttons were, will relocate them somewhere else.
Picture 26

Picture 27

Here's the naked screen.
Picture 28

Damn stanley knives are dangerous!
Picture 29

And my ghetto plaster...
Picture 30

And my new pride & joy!
Picture 31

Picture 32

Picture 33

Picture 34

Picture 35

Picture 36

Picture 37

Picture 38

Me, ready to rob a bank to fund the project!
Picture 39

Hehe, just kidding, its my sanding booth...
Picture 40

...which just so happens to be my girlfriend's bath!
Picture 41

Got the 1st coat of paint on the shell now.
Picture 42

Picture 43

Picture 44

Still lots of primer showing so a few coats to go.
Picture 45

Picture 46

Picture 47

Picture 48

Picture 49

Picture 50

Picture 51

Picture 52

Finally, the screen is mounted inside the front!
Picture 53

The screen's buttons from the front being relocated out of the back.
Picture 54

Picture 55

Picture 56

Picture 57

Picture 58

Picture 59

Picture 60

The new power button...
Picture 61

...that sits behind this.
Picture 62

The reverse of the front panel.
Picture 63

Picture 64

The fan's mounting holes match up almost perfectly with the speaker's existing ones!
Picture 65

View from the front, will be hidden by the speaker grille.
Picture 66

Dremel'd floppy cable which is soldered to the other end of the power switch.
Picture 67

Inside the sub
Picture 68

Picture 69

Picture 70

The 'modded' screwdriver. its sooo ghetto!
Picture 71

Picture 72

Picture 73

Finally, after using almost a whole charge of the dremel the internal's are removed.
Picture 74

The panel behind the door on the front housing the hidden power isolator and USB ports.
Picture 75

The internals of the subwoofer's connections
Picture 76

The mess in my GF's living room.
Picture 77

The slot for CDs/DVDs. black bits are marked pen which I used to hide it a little before I sanded some more.
Picture 78

The stealthy grille for the speakers.
Picture 79

The sounds system liberated from it's enclosures ready for testing.
Picture 80

The sub-woofer (and tweeter above) mounted to the chassis.
Picture 81

Tweeter on other side.
Picture 82

Optical drive mounted behind slot with ghetto mounting system.
Picture 83

Breaking into the power transformer for the speakers.
Picture 84

Wasn't the easiest task but dremel to the rescue once again.
Picture 85

Hot glue fortehwin! now ready for mounting
Picture 86

My home-brewed mobo tray.
Picture 87

The underside of said tray.
Picture 88

Tray mounted in base of the chassis
Picture 89

Insulating the screws from the underside of the mobo
Picture 90

But still have the ability to access the screws!
Picture 91

Everything mounted. needs some tidying up done on the cabling etc. Note the HDD mounting system (though its a bit hard to see).
Picture 92

Another internals pic showing the mess inside.
Picture 93

The PSU, Sub and sound control circuits.
Picture 94

Fired it up and holy s***! It works!!
Picture 95

Trailer Park Boys fortehwin!!
Picture 96

The place hasn't gotten any tidier. I really need a garage for this kinda thing...
Picture 97

Picture 98

Picture 99

Fellow forumite's lovely 'modification' of my picture
Picture 100

Money-Shot 1

Money-Shot 2

Money-Shot 3

Money-Shot 4

Money-Shot 5

Money-Shot 6

 

nice pics!

I'm curious to see how this will end up!

 

Was that even color? I'm interested how it will turn out.

 

Just a lil dusty there , looks like a cool idea.

 

Thanks guys.
It was colour, must've been one of the first!!
I'm wondering if my girlfriend is a little confused with dates though.
Were colour TVs even available back then?

Ah well, it'll be colour for sure soon!

As soon as I work out the whole media centre software counundrum...

 

Interesting idea, I can't wait to see this mod in progress. Why not try to find a similar sized speaker (car speaker?) as the one the TV had, and build/buy a simple amplifier so the TV can run independently of any external sound equipment? Sure, there are the ones that will come with the LCD TV, but they're almost ALWAYS grossly underpowered, and the built-in amps are barely capable of powering piezo buzzers, let alone full range speakers!

 

I was planning to use a 2.1 PC speaker setup and modify it so that it gets switched on with the rest of the kit. I have a Creative 4.1 setup I plan to use in 2.1 mode in this.

Kinda worried about magnetic interference if I plonk the sub and the sattelites inside the TV shell too.

 

Good lord, we had exactly the same telly when i was a kid! I know how it smells....

 

LMAO!!

OK, my mrs and I took our large paper sheet with the size of the hole for the screen drawn on it to PC world last night.

Holding the sheet up to the monitors on display it seems we'll need a 20" 4:3 LCD.
That won't be cheap...

 

Looking good so far, please don't break anything new like usual!

 

Hi oasked, don't I know you from someplace?

Yeah, I'll be a bit more careful than my usual cavalier attitude as it'll be my girlfriend's money buying the parts...

 

hehe.. opening up those old thing is like opening up an ancient tomb..a travel in time to unreveal the secrets of the past 70's. hehe
good luck

/GNU

 

Awesome idea... Keeping my eye on this one!

 

OK, I think a Samsung Syncmaster SM203B screen will fit perfectly.

Problem is, I can't get exact measurements of the screen size without the stand.

Anyone know where to get the exact measurements of the visiblw screen area, size of the screen with housing (without the stand) and where to get one as cheap as poss?

I'll start another thread with this questions in...

 

Dont worry about magnetic interferances from what i know, speakers have sheilding in their cases, besides how many people sit a sub right next to their rig? (i do and no ill effects so far).

If you are removing the speakers from their cases, im sure there are ways to sheild them from the rest of the parts.

And if you have a 4.1 system, why not use them?
Mod the sattelite speakers with some longer cables, and re-route connections for them from the back of the sub (my speaers at least) to the back of the TV box. Worst case scenario - you dont use them, and its a 2.1 box.
Best case - 4.1 instead of 2.1... and you win the lottery...

I personally would be more concerned about virations from the sub than interfearance... but thats why my sub is sitting on a 4" piece of foam

 

the screen size is the diagonal of the screen, so if you know the aspect ratio (4:3 unless its widescreen, then its 16:9 (i think)), and you know the diagonal, some algebra should be able to figure it out...

however after a few hours studying for my calc II exam later this week, i care not to think about math for the rest of the day.

 

Good point.

I was planning to take the speakers out of their cases but if I leave them in, they should be fine.

Hadn't thought of potential problems with vibration though, will need to think about some kinda vibration dampening...

The old screen ratio is 4:3 and I know that the width of the hole I need to fill is 44.5cm.
Can't remember the height but I'd assume its about 33.3cm by using the ratio.

I think that Samsung is gonna be a pretty good fit...

 

I think the best option might be to make a cardboard template and visit a local computer store with lots of monitors.
You will look like a mad man holding it up to each monitor, but in the end it will be worth it. And dont neccesarily buy the monitor from the store... newegg it or something

 

be very careful when moving the CRT it can kill you

 

Hehe, that's exactly what we did.
Unfortunately, not many non-widescreen 20" screens there, in fact, only one.

That's the only reason I know 20" is about the right size.

The CRT is out of the case now but its still sitting in my living room.
Gonna bin it soon.