The story goes like this:
About half the families on my street decided to sell their damaged houses after Hurricane Katrina. One of them, right across the street, was a shut-in family that I never got to talk to, and seldom saw them outside. So to my surprise, after their house has been on the market for some six months now, the owner came back and began emptying out what was left in it. Besides a HUGE pile of junk, including smashed vacuum tubes, I found several items of interest! Obviously, the guy was a closet electronics nut, I never realized he had a ham/shortwave antenna in the backyard until they took it down! Here's some pics of what I found!

First pic is an old Oscilliscope! It's complete, I haven't plugged it in yet, but I threw an old MicroATX board on top for size reference. This will make a KILLER casemod if it's dead... and I might use it even if it's not!

Second pic is a plain box... full of ROMs, ICs and HUGE evil looking heatsinks.

I also found an entire complete boxed set of Mandrake Linux 8.1..... slightly wet, but ALL THERE!

I'm pretty sure I could fit two MATX boards in that case... would make the most killer LAN server ever! I'm already thinking up some way to make the O-scope screen in the front work...... hmmmmm.....

So, thank you, Katrina! You may not be the complete b30tch everybody says you were...
NAAAAAH.

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I hate you. That is like treasure to me......I want those heatsinks..

add- if the O-Scope is dead, I want the parts. Theres a transformer calling my name inside.

Im sitting here praying the scope is dead... it HAS to be turned into a rig! lol...

Great find you lucky b%^*(%^"&^d


Mark

Here's a shot of the heatsinks, they're yours if you want 'em, Nerdz. You can see on the black part of my desk a set of five 12V DPDT relays! Haven't tested them yet...

But the O-SCOPE is DEAD!

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For those of you who've never seen the inside of an old-fashioned O-scope:

And a shot of how much room is inside the shell! Should be able to fit two MATX boards with ease as long as I use low-profile cards.

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Quote: Originally Posted by FunkyStickman Here's a shot of the heatsinks, they're yours if you want 'em, Nerdz. You can see on the black part of my desk a set of five 12V DPDT relays! Haven't tested them yet... But the O-SCOPE is DEAD!

Napolean Dynamite Style Yessss

Unbelievable! More stuff! Several power amps, radios, a dual-chanel SCSI card (ultra2) and an old RadioShack XLR mic mixer.... he also had several unopened HO scale building kits, gobs of coax, a directional antenna (just the dish, no aerial) and so on. Here's a shot of some of the booty.

(edit) found another complete boxed set of Mandrake Linux 9.2! There's more out there, but I only took what I thought was fixable/usable... oh yeah, aluminum IDE HD rack, SCSI cables.... umm, more stuff...

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That'd be sweet if you could get that ocsilliscpoe to meter your CPU usage or something.

Nice find, I used to go to the local tip and pick up old computers, some of them acually still worked, i was to young to do anything withthem but has great fun messing with 'em!

Quote: Originally Posted by FunkyStickman For those of you who've never seen the inside of an old-fashioned O-scope... And a shot of how much room is inside the shell! Should be able to fit two MATX boards with ease as long as I use low-profile cards.

Bro, what an awesome find i think there is GREATness to this project if you actually put it into action.. not that I am doubting you but somethims projects like that can be overwhelming, so if you want to just give up now i will take those parts for you!

Cant wait to see what you do with this!

:::Echos the Napolean Dynamite Style YESSSS!:::

Quote: Originally Posted by denacopoliez Bro, what an awesome find i think there is GREATness to this project if you actually put it into action.. not that I am doubting you but somethims projects like that can be overwhelming, so if you want to just give up now i will take those parts for you! Cant wait to see what you do with this! :::Echos the Napolean Dynamite Style YESSSS!:::

No doubt this will be a daunting project... but I have the hardware, and a little skill, and with the support of everybody here I think I can turn it into something beautiful! I'm not short on ideas and parts, but I struggle with time and motivation. I have a family to take care of! Raising four kids takes a good deal of my energy. I'm also in the process of insulating and walling in my shed, which will become the new Simplicity Services LLC Computer Workshop/office.

I've already got some good ideas to do with this thing. The scope in the front is the tube covered by a green gel, and a plastic piece with the grid markings on it, and some edge lighting for the clear piece. I can put a small screen or LCD behind it, and it would look seriously pimp! The front panel is covered with switches, I may be better off making a blank new one (still using the awesome scope glass) and only putting in the switches that I need and a CD slot, etc. I've got two perfectly good MATX systems that can go in it if I can fit them, and if not, I'll put something else cool in it, like a network hub or something. I'd like to use a couple of the gauges you see in the photos of those power amps, too... would be killer to get a Musketeer 3 and have the tube showing through the front!

Ideas, ideas.... let's start with the basics. I'm going to gut the chassis and frame, clean up/paint the shell, and go from there.

As always, thanks for the support, and I'll wait until I have a little something done before I post it in the worklog section. I think this may even be cooler than the Podracer idea that I had. I'll gladly take advice and ideas.

Thoughts so far:

I can get a 6" Luminglass to put in the scope... from Thinkgeek.

I still haven't decided whether to build it retro (using analog gauges, etc.) or futuristic (with the luminglass, etc.) or a combination of both. The Luminglass is only about $25, much cheaper than a 6" LCD screen.

However, I can run the LCD as a monitor running xscreensaver's "Sonar" screensaver, which actually pings your network and shows them on the sonar as bogies, with ping times and IP addresses . Very slick, and would fit it perfectly.... but no cash for an LCD screen.

I've also thought of a way to use the old tubes... if you drill into the glass base of the tube, and put a yellow LED in there, it would almost look like the tube is working.... could be worth trying.

The front panel is actually not that big, less than 10" X 8", and the scope takes up most of it. I could fit it and a full size CD-ROM, but not much else. Unless I make the scope flip-down. W00t!

Pic is of the frame, after removing about 100 miles of wire and switches and crap. This is actually going to work.

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Quote: Originally Posted by FunkyStickman Thoughts so far: I can get a 6" Luminglass to put in the scope... from Thinkgeek.

Sweeeet project!!!!!

BAM!!!!
6-inch Super Bright Flat Panel Plasma Disk (Green) $9.95

Dude, you *have* to use that Oscope front. Pick up a slot loading DVD drive and mount it somewhere. Think about it, with 2 mobos you would need 4 switches (2 PWR, 2 RST), maybe some dials for fan controllers and lighting. That thing could be sooooo cool.

Then take it to the next level. I am guessing that those other panels you showed are the same width as the O-scope? Make a nice little rack and mount them all in it and put a case behind those other switch panels. Build a small folding farm with mATX boards. I mean, my head is about to explode. Of course that could be due to the Marilyn Manson I am listening to.....

Quote: Originally Posted by FunkyStickman ...I can get a 6" Luminglass to put in the scope... from Thinkgeek. I've also thought of a way to use the old tubes... if you drill into the glass base of the tube, and put a yellow LED in there, it would almost look like the tube is working.... could be worth trying...

Do yourself a big flavor and stay away from those tubes with anything sharp you punture them and they will implode, Since its under a vacume, when you rupture that seal Oxygen is going to rush in to fill that void and destroy your tubes.

I think that your Luminglass or even the T2 DEAL will be a fantastic way to keep the "O-Scope" alive!

After Katrina I picked up so many old computers that I got bored with it.Half worked with no work others simple work and others good cases for mods.But I did find a working 15"LCD NEC monitor,2 nice laptops and a mini vhs camcorder.It was like a giant flea market,Jo

FunkyStickman, Treasure Hunter.....

I just love your idea with the Luminglass.... Hope you find some use for those "switches"... they have
this "militairy, cold war look" to them... Using the Luminglass & leaving most ot the switches & 'pots
in place this case looks like a 'wierd 1950's "secret militairy weapon"....

TDR

I think you just found the perfect name for this.... I'll be posting it in the worklog project this weekend hopefully.

Project Secret Weapon!

Hah! You're Welcome!!

TDR

this is gonna be awesome. can't wait to see how it turns out. i agree, keep the switches if at all possible.