Cobra-matic : Retro Bakelite Phonograph

[Mach]

Thanks! The doldrums of case modding, they make the mod master's work all the more impressive. Looking at Bod's BG mod makes me believe that I'm sleeping way too much.

[Mach]

Milestone post! The first post from Cobra-matic. Woot!

I connected everything and fired it up. DVD and wireless work fine. Big sigh of relief after the modding on both.

Still have some wiring to do but it's close...so close

Added the power led to the front using an amber led and acrylic

Added a duct for the psu to vent the exhaust from the case.

So some progress, more later when Hurricane Ike blows through. Modding time is currently going to covering windows and moving plants inside.

[DonT-FeaR]

nice work mate looks sweet

[Langer]

Great to see the progress mate, looking really good.

Cant wait to see it all together.

[The Infamous Mr D]

Indeed, the whole project just oozes quality. Looking forward to seeing it finished.

[Mach]

Thanks guys for the rep and the compliments! I had a chance to mod a little last night when the power came back on but fell asleep before doing too much. Got the throbber circuit hooked up but its not slow enough. I'll post a review on the throbber when I get more time.

Hurricane Ike blew through on Saturday so we're still cleaning up tree limbs and leaves. Some water damage to the house but not as bad as some folks. Hopefully things will be back to normal this weekend and modding can resume. Later....

[DonT-FeaR]

good to know your ok.

[Mach]

Thanks DonT-FeaR, Houston is still a mess but nothing like Galveston which was closer to the coast.

More work done on Cobra-Matic, the off-on-reset knob is working as is the usb rotary encoder for volume, temperature sensor, and relays for the leds. Nothing particularly picture worthy but one step closer.

On order is phosphorescent invisible orange (glows orange in the dark but is white under normal light) pigment for the letters on the bezel and some thin mini usb cable to finish the wiring. So not done yet but it's close.

[Mach]

Still waiting on the thin usb cables to be delivered but look what came in.

This is a half ounce of glow powder. Apparently a little goes a long way.

Lights out, how cool is that? I can see what they mean about a little going a long way.

Source: www.blacklite.com

Hooked up a Top Shelf Led controller to the power led so now Cobra-matic has a heart beat.

While waiting for the paint and cables to arrive, I hacked together a control program. This launches at startup to turn on and off the LEDs and El wire, adjust the system volume and mute from the knob on the case, and sample case temperature.

This is all being driven by a phidgets 8/8/8 interface kit, a 0/0/4 relay kit, and a temperature sensor. Slight overkill without the linear actuator lift kit but I can add other sensors if I want.

Lastly, I've been playing with the DVD drive. To recap, I hacked a window in the top so the DVDs go in and out without closing the CD tray.

The problem is that XP doesn't know a new DVD has been put in (no open close event) so it doesn't refresh. Using google-fu only finds people with autorun setting problems. I'm guessing it'll take a software hack or to cycle power on the DVD rom.

To that end I need your help. Anyone familiar with IOCTL calls in VB or other ways to manipulate DVD rom refresh? Can I put a relay on the DVD power and cause it to refresh by cycling the power? Actually it would be cool to put a micro switch on the DVD rom lid to have it refresh when the lid closes.

[DonT-FeaR]

nice glow powder... keep up the top quality work man