I made a little more progess today. I had gotten some really, really cheap scan converters. I found out why they were so cheap when I got the, no cables, and no documentation. I've learned a couple quirks to the cards, and I got an svideo output from it tonight from my rigged cables! I'm exstatic, I have the 1024x768 desktop displaying through an svideo connection to the capture card in my other PC (no TV handy). The color still needs to be tweaked, but now that I know the pins I need for s-video, I'm going to get the oddball connectors to make the cables for the card. I'm very happy becuse this is a big piece of the puzzle, after all, this is supposed to output to the TV. The questions in the previous post still stand though.
You could just use epoxy you have to mix yourself from Halfords; it's very very strong By mixing i mean it's comes in two tubes and you mix the contents of the tubes together to make the epoxy.
nice one on the TV cards! what make were they? I always like cheap if i can get it working (c: to answer your questions I would rivet the metal together this will be the strongest and easiest option. you can pick up cheap corner alu to hold the two parts together via the rivets. maybe even having the extrustion on the outside - could look good... why not use plastic for the front. unless i've missed a post where you state you want a curvy front then pvc or acrillic would be the easiest option. resin can be tricky to achieve a good final finish. for fixing the front to chassie then either bolts or expoxy. i like fixings over glue because it make things replacable. HTH
OK, after too much rambling, I scrapped the post, and I'm going for the short version. The scan converters are AITech 2138 PCI cards. No ne semed to know anything about them. I figured out how to get VGA into them by looking for the 15 ohm input impedance for the RGB lines, then fed them signal individually and checked the resulting color on the monitor pass through. I got lucky gueeing which input was vertical and horizontal synch. The output should have been as easy, but these cards can output 4 differnt modes, composite, s-video, RGB, and YUV (I think its component video). The trick is that RGB, abd YUV use pins that s-video does, so both modes have to be disabled as far as I can tell, for the card to output a signal. Once I got a signal, the colors were all faded. After scratcing my head and looking for some sor of software fix, my brother says 'why not adjust these trim pots here?' After feling dumb, I get my trim screwdriver, and begin fiddling. After a few minutes, I get close to a good match. I'll fiddle some more when the box is attached to the target TV. Next I need to get some of the specialized din connectos from Mouser or Digikey and make real cables As for e the epoxt, I want a shaved look on the inside, that and rivets may pose somthing of a hazzard if they are in the wrong places. Welding the parts would be nice, but aluminum is notoriusly hard to weld with the right equipment, and impossible without it. Expoxy seems the obvious choise. The front pannel will serve three functions, first, it hides the cards that are at the front. (connections will be rerouted to the rear) Second, it provides a place to plug in stuff that is supposed to be up front like ports for the console controllers, and third, it will hide the fact that this is a computer I have been feeling artistic and I though I might try casting somthing in resin after uing somthing like modeling clay or plaster as the prototype. But after some though, 1/4 inch plexy might just be the thing. I just came across a small, inexpensive router table (yard sale), and that just might be the thing to do. Looking at the Sony gear I have, it is all basically a flat front with chamfered edges. Thanks for the idea maeterlinck Fast construction would be a good thing too as I'm going to seriously tru and learn enough about one microprocessor or other to build a multi controller interface for my USB port. I like the idea of being able to use nes, snes, genesis, playstion and PS2 controllers on this box. hmmm, it also gives me some power button ideas..... I'm going to try and get some stuff and fiddle this weekend, I may get the better part of the chassis cut out.
I am in college in Raleigh, North Carolina USA, at NC State University. I have extensive experience in aluminum welding and I have access to TIG welding equipment. TIG welding is the only way that I know of to properly weld aluminum. Aluminum is hard to weld but done right it looks beautiful. I am thinking about making a similar case, but if you would like fabrication or welding help with your case, I would love to help. Also ignore the haters is this tread I really dig your ideas so far.
Oi Splynncryth no slacking now - you've had 5 days and no post (c: BTW: where did you pick up the AITech cards from? and how much? Cheers
Sorry, its been an eventful weekend. My 5 year old Nephew had a siezure out of nowhere, and went into the hospital over the weekend. I helped my sister look after her house, our Grandmother, and her pets while she was away. I'll be heading back to college this weekend, and I really want to get the inner chassis done before I lug it with me. So I'll be trying very hard to get things done. But rummaging aroung the basement this evening, I found an old, broken graphic EQ, but the VFD and spectrum analiser both appear to work OK. I think I'll try and locate the circuitry to transplant, and add them to the front bezel of this thing. If I can't figure it out, I know one of my professors will be able to help. The cards, as well as the SBC I found on Ebay. The seller's handle is victoryelectronics. So far I havn't been slighted, but I have also gotten what I have paied for. The seller seems to deal in industrial surplus, part pulls, and discount computer parts. For example, the SBC was sent back to the factory as an RMA and repaired. The slips were still in the box when I got it. It was under $50 after shipping, and it took some time to learn that Texas Micro became Radisys (before I found the freaking papers ). Once I found that, I was able to build a couple custom connectors to use the board, and set it up. I got the lot of 5 scan converters for about $10 after shipping. Since then, I have spent quite a bit of time looking for documentation, and trying to contact the company. Finally, tenacity, deduction, and a crappy oscilloscope won, and I've figured most of the card out. The moral of the story is tat while the equipment was not DOA as they advertised, it is all obscure hardware that has been a chore to get info on. You do get what you pay for, but somtimes you eat the bear as well now to go print my CAD layouts......
Can wait to see some progress pics. You seem to know what you are on about, Well i'm baffled anyway... Keep up the good work....
Once I have all the parts cut out, bonded, and looking like a naked case, I'll take lots of pictures I think its original. THe technique might come in handy for making some really small cases.
I went to buy the sheet aluminum today and the hardware store was out!! grrrrr. I'll try again tomorrow.
I'm trying to track down a store that actualy has Al in stock, AND won't require my leaving internal organs at the door. At this point, steel is looking like a more viable option.
