Thousand Dollar Supercar Posted January 16, 2021 Share Posted January 16, 2021 (edited) Oldschool home entertainment circa 1940s(?) (edit: I now believe it was made around 1957): I didn't choose this project - my brother just turned up with it on my birthday in 2012 (a frabulous, grabulous, zip-zoop-zabulous present). It contained the expected Bakelite record player and reel-to-reel tape machine housed in the top, and a built-in valve radio. I set the needle to 88mph to see if I would be transported back to 1945: Nothing happened except a loud 50Hz hum. None of the other gizmos was fully operational either. I pulled the radio and speakers out: My plans were to use the cabinet for storing booze, and to put some electronics back into it which were more functional and decorative than the original stuff. Basically keep it as a man cave accessory / conversation piece. Edited January 12, 2022 by Thousand Dollar Supercar updating estimated year of manufacture 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Thousand Dollar Supercar Posted January 16, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted January 16, 2021 I had a cheap guitar practice amp kicking around, plus various old speakers and a hand-me-down micro system. I chopped them all up and made a new speaker panel, like so: I got some new fabric (the old stuff was rotten) and covered it up... Then I put the guts of the guitar amp in behind, and put the controls where the knobs of the old valve radio were. This meant I had to use rotary switches for on/off and for the overdrive button. I cut holes in the cabinet for the guitar input and headphones sockets. So in this photo, the original knobs are now controlling the guitar amp: I've also got a few vintage bulbs, a plasma globe and random junk in the hole where the radio dial used to be. This is just 'proof of concept' decorative electronics and I'll be developing this aspect further. =) I sat the micro system in one of the side cupboards, so that (in theory) I could play my music and jam along. The cabinet actually produces almost excessive bass for some reason, but anyway..... I put some lights in the back of the cupboards, and that's about where the project got to in 2014. Here are some staged photos: 20 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Thousand Dollar Supercar Posted January 16, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted January 16, 2021 Fast forward half a decade, and not much had changed. I put microswitches into the cupboards so that the lights actually turn off when you shut the doors, and I continued puzzling about what I should put in the radio hole and how I should control it. I decided I wanted a retro-style control panel, so I tried to make one out of a piece of wood covered in the vinyl wrap from the guitar amp case. I got to this point and decided it was rubbish and unable to be saved: One of the problems (besides using wood, the wood being too thick, me not having a drill press to line up the holes etc etc) was trying to sit that modern-style voltmeter behind the panel to hide its age. So I went to Kumeu and bought a voltage gauge from an old car, and started on version 2 of my control panel. The panel was always going to sit in the top of the cabinet somewhere, but I thought it would also be cool if it rose up automatically when you opened the lid, for no good reason. So I bought my first linear actuator, in giant overkill size, without thinking it all through too much. Here is the mock-up of control panel v2 in its raised position. All of the stuff is just sitting in place and is not wired up. I'm gonna cover the panel, most likely in leather, then I'll start deciding what all the switches do and wiring them up. I'm basically an electronics magpie, and over the last few years I've been buying any shiny things for this project that catch my eye. I can't be bothered acquiring the knowledge to create anything too clever with them; I'm just aiming to create a simple retro/steampunk-inspired display that's hopefully not entirely lame. After all, it would be nice if this project actually got finished within a decade of being started.... 21 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Thousand Dollar Supercar Posted May 2, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted May 2, 2021 Making slow progress on this whenever I can be bothered. The control panel is covered in leather jacket, and we have volts! I bought a kitset of a motorised chain similar to a tank track, and used it to create a motorised curtain. The curtain grinds its way noisily open and closed, which adds to the cheese factor. It's lit by some Christmas lights: Hopefully the lights in front are sufficient to stop lights behind from being visible through the thin fabric. I discovered that my plasma globe causes my neon bulbs to glow dimly, which is kinda cool. I hope I don't have to ditch the plasma globe because it scrambles electronics in its vicinity. Next up on this project is puzzling out what the rest of the controls should do, and deciding how much effort to put in. I'd quite like a magic eye VU meter. 19 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Thousand Dollar Supercar Posted July 11, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted July 11, 2021 My magic eye VU meter parts arrived! Magic eye tubes were used as signal strength indicators on old valve radios, to help show you when you'd tuned the station accurately. Fast forward 90 years and this kitset just makes the tube displays dance to the music. I went for a pricier kit, but made up for it by getting the tubes on TradeMe and supplying my own case. Here's the kit assembled: I set about installing it in the project box and started to freak out that it would look like a monster face - the box for the head, tubes for eyes and a grille for a mouth. I added a Tesla nameplate below the grille to try to minimise that, but from some angles.... Anyway. Here's a video. Behold the pointlessness! 24 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Transom Posted July 11, 2021 Share Posted July 11, 2021 Cool - what was that music track ? Knightshade ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thousand Dollar Supercar Posted July 11, 2021 Author Share Posted July 11, 2021 Just now, Transom said: Cool - what was that music track ? Knightshade ? That's 'Run of the Mill' by Judas Priest. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuXoalKim9c I picked it because of that quiet section which shows off the fact that the kit works in stereo. With most busy and full-sounding music tracks, the tube displays just sit near their maximum most of the time. 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kempy Posted August 28, 2021 Share Posted August 28, 2021 Is that an Aerolux Cross I spy? @Thousand Dollar Supercar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thousand Dollar Supercar Posted August 29, 2021 Author Share Posted August 29, 2021 (edited) 11 hours ago, kempy said: Is that an Aerolux Cross I spy? @Thousand Dollar Supercar It's a knockoff no-brand "Neon Cross". Surplustronics used to sell them but they don't seem to be listed any more. Hindu "Om" lamps are still available but unfortunately those can't be inverted for Satan worship. The left channel of my magic eye kit has stopped working. The tube now just indicates the minimum level. I need to fix this before I can go any further. =( Edit: I traced the problem to an open-circuit resistor. Of course I don't have a replacement one of the right value, but I'm pretty sure that Ohm's law is temporarily suspended during lockdown... Edited August 29, 2021 by Thousand Dollar Supercar 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Thousand Dollar Supercar Posted November 27, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted November 27, 2021 More parts arrived. There's pre-assembled kits to drive analogue VU meters and another magic eye. I've wanted this circular kind of magic eye since I first saw them, cos they're daft and creepy. My radiogram never had one, so I'm adding it, even if it's from slightly the wrong era. The hardest piece to obtain was the eye's trim surround, because the few that come up for sale are attached to 90YO radios that collectors keep outbidding me for. I would have preferred brass or a similar metal: The eye is going to sit on the front face of my radiogram above the display window, and I'll experiment with giving it a direct audio input from the guitar amp or using its mic input to pick up the speaker cavity sound mix. The VU meters will just be installed somewhere inside the display area, trying to look retro despite their LED backlighting. As they're another item that reacts to the music, they'll hopefully help distract from the fact that you're basically looking at a static collection of lights. I've got all the key parts for this project now, so nothing is holding up anything else. I'm hoping to make some progress over summer. =) 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMH63 Posted November 27, 2021 Share Posted November 27, 2021 Hey bud. I have a garage full of these old radios. If you want any bits let me know. Happy to remove the eyes trim if I have one that your after. Saves you losing any more auctions to collectors . Pm me a pic of the one you were looking for and I will see what I have. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thousand Dollar Supercar Posted November 28, 2021 Author Share Posted November 28, 2021 @GMH63 That would be great if you've got an eye trim with a hood/eyelid that you'd be prepared to part with.. My first choice would be brass, bronze or similar, but brown Bakelite/plastic would also match existing trim on my radiogram. Re the collectors, the cheapest broken 'project' radios with magic eyes seem to fetch ~$50+ for small ones and ~$100+ for tombstones, plus there's the challenge of getting a whole radio to Auckland. They seem to be worth a few hundred once done up (everyone in Napier and every trendy hipster needs one). I wasn't gonna pay that just to scavenge one piece of trim, and in the process, ruin a proper antique to adorn my abomination. But if you've got a trim piece on a radio that's already missing parts, let me know.. I'd also be interested in a couple of logo / nameplates and large valves (not working) for decoration. Will pay monies plus shipping. Pic for thread: 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Thousand Dollar Supercar Posted January 12, 2022 Author Popular Post Share Posted January 12, 2022 I've discovered that my radiogram is actually from about 1957, newer than I expected. It is (or was) a La Gloria Recordergram, made here in Auckland by Dominion Radio and Electrical. A nice example sold on TradeMe the other day for $100. I got the magic eye installed and working: It responds fast (no damping) and the microphone input works well. I nearly came unstuck a few times with electrical oversights, but I managed not to blow anything up. So now my cabinet has some kind of sink plug affixed to the front of it for some reason cyclops vision. I'm working on multiple bits of the project simultaneously at the moment, with varying degrees of success. The common thread seems to be that I throw stuff together out of hoarded junk because I'm impatient. Here's my TV screen thing: Don't worry, it'll sit right in the back in the dark where (fingers crossed) it's barely visible. Hopefully you'll just see the screen and the illuminated gauges. Nobody will know I used a bit of cupboard door, tile edging, copper cut from a hot water cylinder and tarnished on my gas cooktop etc. There's a digital photo frame at the top, which will run a slideshow of random stuff like period advertisements for electronics and alcohol. The bit between the analogue meters at the bottom is a light-up display from a cheap Chinese UPS. It may look out of place, but I can't live without incorporating its red "UNUSUAL!" warning somewhere! And here's my ripoff of the Starlight Headliner, an option I'll definitely be specifying on my next Rolls Royce. Take one piece of left-over roof flashing, drill it full of holes, spray it with rubberised underseal, hide the remains of some Christmas lights behind it, seal it with left-over draft stopper..... Wow, staaaars! They twinkle in random ways and it's all very cheesy. I've cut alcohol out of my home life lately, but the day this project is finished, I'm allowed to buy myself a bottle of Absinthe: I'm gonna need something at least this hallucinogenic in order to appreciate the end result of whatever it is I'm actually making here! 16 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Thousand Dollar Supercar Posted April 23, 2022 Author Popular Post Share Posted April 23, 2022 Welcome back to my art project, where I thought I was aiming for retro.... Today it's looking more like sci-fi futurism. You can see I've put a mirror on one inner wall of the radio cabinet enclosure, to give the illusion of space. I've polished up a bunch of metal valve shrouds and illuminated them from within using neon bulbs, to symbolise the glow of an actual valve. I've incorporated an LED spotlight which is faulty and flickers in an atmospheric way. On the right of the above photo, a pair of 'icicle' Christmas lights chase up and down inside the case of an electrified bug zapper. This both conceals them and helps them cast shadows. I've embedded strings of LEDs into the floor which chase off into the distance, deliberately laid out to give forced perspective. Unfortunately you're not really tricked into thinking the interior of the radio cabinet is impossibly large like the TARDIS - it just looks like a cross between Tron and a penny arcade machine. Here's a piece of interior decoration in the light of day. I cut out and folded a metal box, mainly to give me somewhere to house another moving coil meter. Then I wrecked the meter by accidentally drilling into its internal mechanism when making a hole for a backlight bulb. I managed to half fix it, just enough for it to mostly work. Atop the box, a valve shroud is hiding the light fitting. This either looks like a rubbish bin, or a steam train chimney on a boiler. On the side of the box, there's a vent grille which exists so that I can stick another neon inside and have the glow coming out. Everything has to glow. Also, everything has to hurry up. I've only got another 8 months until my ten-year deadline for this project, and I'm looking forward to kicking back with my first ever glass of Absinthe and tripping out to the pretty lights. 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Thousand Dollar Supercar Posted May 1, 2022 Author Popular Post Share Posted May 1, 2022 The analogue VU meters are alive! Because they're modern, their LED backlighting is super effective. Each of them sits beside its corresponding magic eye, which of course was a silly decision, because it highlights that the magic eyes are even more laggy and unresponsive than the analogue meters. I've just basically got some electric stuff spasming half a step behind the beat. Why did I jam the analogue meters into valve shrouds? I don't know.... if the magic eye VU meter box already looked a bit like a robot face, now I've made it worse by giving him some bazookas. Everything is just temporarily hooked up directly to its respective power supply at the moment. Once I have all the elements at least to this point (only a few are still yet to be finished and livened for the first time), the next step will be to re-route power to the deflector shields re-run all the power via the control panel. 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Thousand Dollar Supercar Posted September 18, 2022 Author Popular Post Share Posted September 18, 2022 (edited) There's less than one month to go on my 10-year deadline! All of the cabinet's controls are electrically working now, but the control panel is just floating loose with a dodgy mess of wires hanging out of it, waiting to cause short circuits. This weekend I spent time stealing images for the digital photo frame which sits at the back of the cabinet's interior. Because this photo frame is old and inexpensive, its black levels are bad and its resolution is only 480*234. If you resize a portrait image to fit that height limit of 234 pixels, it's only this big: To avoid the photo frame filling the cabinet interior with too much light pollution (even from the "black" background either side of the image), I've turned down the backlight and brightness settings. This means that vibrant pop art images look the best, particularly if I can crop them a bit to suit the widescreen format and crappy resolution. Also this weekend, I made the spotlights for the motorised curtain fade out smoothly when switched off, and I hooked up a red/green illuminated pushbutton switch to operate the linear actuator for the control panel. This switch is going to trigger the control panel to rise up automatically when you open the top lid of the radiogram. Even better, it's also going to provide users (me) with endless "light goes on... light goes off" fun by allowing manual raise/lower control. Fails: To implement the control panel's master key switch, I used some dodgy worn-out relays which I saved from the bin at work perhaps 15 years ago. One of them should have stayed in the bin - it has burned contacts, so it fails to switch on more often than not. You end up cranking the key repeatedly to get the 12V accessories to start, as though my radiogram is some kind of British car. I accidentally crushed something against one of the circuit boards, which pushed a heatsink over against a capacitor, piercing it. This circuit board was for the main magic eye. Before discovering the fault, I kept trying to switch the eye on, wondering why it was taxing the power supply and getting hot but the eye wouldn't light up. I'm lucky I didn't fry anything. So I have a lot of cable tidying and mechanical assembly still to do, plus some improvements to the case (it needs wheels, and it needs something done about the state of its varnish). The celebratory Absinthe has been purchased, but I don't know whether I'll be drinking it on schedule. Stay tuned for the next exciting instalment of: Edited September 18, 2022 by Thousand Dollar Supercar clarity 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Thousand Dollar Supercar Posted October 7, 2022 Author Popular Post Share Posted October 7, 2022 I couldn't resist buying a bunch of 100-year-old radio faceplates from Barry. I thought I could put this one to use: I chopped off the recessed central part to leave just the border, gave it a polish, then crossed my fingers.... It almost fits. Sort of. Maybe in the dark you won't really notice. Unfortunately I won't be hitting my deadline on this project, for two reasons: Work is sending me overseas I couldn't leave well enough alone and I decided to implement my hidden Satan worship button. Satan emoji! When you press the hidden switch, it's gonna plunge the interior into darkness, turn on some red ambient lighting and light up this cheesy inverted cross: By using a diode, I've made it so only the rear of the cross's two parallel plates turns on, giving it that 'silhouetted in fire' effect. Heh heh, cool. The upside of having to go overseas is that I'll save a little bit on restocking the cabinet with booze. New extended completion goal for this project is the start of November. 15 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igor Posted October 8, 2022 Share Posted October 8, 2022 At first glance I thought was your inverted cross was a flaming sword. Either way a very clever project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thousand Dollar Supercar Posted October 8, 2022 Author Share Posted October 8, 2022 1 minute ago, igor said: At first glance I thought was your inverted cross was a flaming sword. Either way a very clever project. Yeah, unfortunately it does look a bit like that. I guess I made a Power Metal button then - hit the switch and take a drink whenever you hear Dragonforce or the Thundercats theme. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Thousand Dollar Supercar Posted June 22, 2023 Author Popular Post Share Posted June 22, 2023 On 27/11/2021 at 23:25, Thousand Dollar Supercar said: The hardest piece to obtain was the eye's trim surround, ......... I would have preferred brass or a similar metal: I finally got hold of one, identical to the stolen image above. It will be a better match for the brass door handles on my radiogram. Here it is in place of the chrome surround which was visible in my Nov '21 and Jan '22 posts: Other recent shopping hauls include a bunch of postcards of old ads for alcohol and sci fi, plus a few small radio badges. What else have I been doing besides buying stuff? Bugger all except maintenance - this project is now so old that it's starting to break down of old age before it's even finished. Two of the dodgiest analogue / moving coil meters gave up the ghost, and so did one or two little backlight bulbs (I'm using bulbs instead of LEDs cos it's more hipster). So now this 'MILLIAMPERES' meter is new: (probably for the best - the old one in my 7/10/22 post might have had radium paint and I should stop trying to fix it just in case) This one is new too: The surround I've stuck over it is to help with my improvised illumination. Another thing I replaced was the accessory relay with the burned contacts, because having that relay interfere with firing up the project was getting annoying. So I'm still really at the same point - I've got some unappealing tidying and mounting/assembly tasks to do. These tasks are complicated by years of ad-hoc wiring additions made without much consideration for final assembly. Maybe I'll finish them some day. =\ 9 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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