Scratch Build – In Progress Valve Radio Conversion: Thermionic Logic - 26/01/14

There are a couple of capacitors on the list without voltages and I cant find the product numbers for the transformer.

 

The transformer is an EFD20. The capacitors will run on 5V unless specified otherwise (the 250V one is part of the power supply to the valve, and the 25V one is part of the supply to the grid which makes the magic eye "move").

 

Do you think that a magic eye VU meter could be modified to work?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Magic-eye-VU-meter-Indicator-tube-PCB-assembled-without-tube-and-socket-nixie-/200900390374#vi-content

 

Tricky. You'd have to have something that effectively turns CPU activity into an audio signal. Seems to me a more awkward way of doing it.

 

We could use audio signal though...?

 

You'd need a piece of software that outputs CPU activity as a sound of increasing volume as activity increases. Then you have to isolate that from the sounds that you want to hear through your speakers. It's messy. If you thought that the Elektor circuit was complicated, this is a way more complicated solution.

 

Yeah but if we take an output from the front panel audio I/O connector and use that as the input for the VO meter circuit that should work. Would indicate volume rather than CPU activity but would still look pretty cool.

 

That's not how it works. You have a sound card (or chip on the mobo), and it has a 2 channel (stereo) output. It may have surround sound also, which bumps it up to six. If you use one of these channels for the CPU, you cannot use stereo or surround sound. It doesn't matter which physical audio connector you use; it's the source that's the problem.

 

Source would be audio as opposed to CPU activity.

 

Ah, sorry, I'm with you now. You want the magic eye to act as an audio volume indicator? Yeah, that's easy. You just hook up that eBay circuit to any audio port, and feed power off a 12V Molex.

 

Yeah, would be a cheaper solution even if only temporary. Have a new mobo and CPU to buy so funds limited for this project atm.

 

Been doing a couple of small things since my last updating while patiently waiting for parts to arrive.

There was a little clearance between the PSU bracket and the PSU itself so I made use of this to fit some green felt for vibration dampening purposes.




Have decided to use the original pegboard back panel so got out my tin of black kiwi shoe polish and set to work.





Got my mobo back from scan after RMA testing (nothing wrong with it they tell me although system still crashes) so thought I'd fit it all into the internal compartment to test fit and cable routing. Using an old GPU for test as 7850 is in my other machine. PS anyone fancy buying me an R280X?!!




Have a 30mm gap between the inner compartment and the outer cabinet in which to fit these cables, avoiding the 200mm fan and switches at the same time.




Had to cut out a recess so that I could get the graphics card seated properly.




Will fit a brass plate into the recess to make it look better.




Postie delivered my H80 cooler today. Not sure whether to use the fans supplied or the two AF120s I had originally planned to vent the case with. Would the high airflow fans be much worse than the high static pressure ones for the job?




Sprayed the AF120 surrounds to match the rest of the brass.




Hoping to sell off this mobo and CPU in favour of an ASRock Z77 Extreme4-m and an i5 4670 but that will need to wait for a couple of months. Will run better in the mATX format and mobo will match the colour scheme much better!!


Thought I'd end the update with a non build related pic. Shetland can get a little stormy in the Winter months (all 6 of them!!) so its good to have projects to occupy our time.

 

Holy crap! Run little man!
That looks awesome, though. The water here is lame and brown. I guess the occasional ship in your yard would suck...
Sucks you still have crashing problems. everything is lookin' good. -'cept that chip in your last cut. Got any wood you could dress the wound with?

 

Wow those waves are awesome

Shame about the PC being unstable. What board ram and CPU are you running?

 

Have the actual chip sitting in the shed so will see if I can glue it back in place.

Board is an Asus M5A78L-M/USB3, cpu is an FX8350 and ram is corsair XMS3. Was originally tripping the asus surge protection but now its just freezing.

 

I would recommend you to try diferent RAM. My freind got same problem and when he swaped Corsair with Kingston, problem was gone.

 

I'm not too fussed about getting it working for my own sake as plan to replace it anyway but would be good to know what the problem is so that I can sell it all in good faith.

 

Guitar sold to boost component fund. Do you think I'd be safe enough selling my FX8350 even though system itself is unstable?

 

A little stormy I'd quake myself if those waves were coming at me & wasn't a crazy surfer, that's quite a picture.

Good progress Boorach.

 

So I realised that having all my usb ports on the bottom of my case wasn't going to be particularly handy for connecting the occasional memory stick or camera cable. Was planning to place an IO panel on the side but thought I'd make use of one of the original design features to place the ports on the front of the base.


In the pic below you can see an original condition Murphy A72 (apart from the duff grey aftermarket grille cloth). You can see that the base has a cutout in the front.




I decided to use black acrylic to make a recessed insert for my new base section although I changed the cutout shape as thought the original too angular.




After a little sanding, staining and oiling here is the base in situ.






Also fitted the back properly to get a feel for how the finished exterior will look.




Next job is to make a housing for the H80.