HTPC in a FM-Tuner component

[sirtoby]

Project is currently on halt, please refer to this post for more details.

 

Hey guys,
Earlier this month, I found an old FM-tuner stereo component (Sharp ST 1122-H) in the basement of my dads house. It is from the late 70´s or early 80´s.
After the german government is planning to shut down the analog FM signal in the next few years, and due to the fact that even my iPod can receive analog FM signal it was pretty much worthless. I decided to mod a PC in this thing because I like how it looks. With the exception of some dust, it was in pretty good conditions. I decided to put a home theater PC in it, so it could sit next or unter my TV.
The dimensions are 400mm x 200mm x 100mm.

In terms of Hardware, I am not totally shure. The case gives me some restrictions: I can only use Mini-ITX Motherboards. If I want to use a graphics card it cant be longer than 200mm and I will have to use a 90° PCIe Riser (which I already bought) and a TFX Power Supply (also already bought). For the test fits I will use the Mainboard and the CPU of my main rig: Gigabyte h77n-wifi and an i5-3570k with a intel stock cooler. I am not entirely shure if I will use a graphics card or putting in a 3x 3.5“ drive cage.

 

I just did a quick sketchup concept with the mainboard and the power supply:

 

 

I was so excited to tear the Tuner apart, that I forgot to take Picures from it as a whole.

But fortunetly there is the Internet, here I found a Picture of it: http://www.vintage-tuner.com/tuner4/sharp/sharp_st-1122h-10.jpg

 

EDIT:

I just found two pictures I shot from the front and back on my Harddrive:

 

I hope you will enjoy my build log,

Sirtoby

 

 

Hardware:

 

Mainboard - To be decided

CPU - To be decided

Graphics card - GTX660 with Kraken G10

Power supply - Be Quiet! TFX Power 300W

Storage - 2.5" drive(s)

 

 

Index:

 

1. Teardown

2. PSU installation part one

2.1 PSU installation on the right side

3. Mainboard

4. Taking the PSU to the max

[Kilerbomb]

This is going to be really cool!

[saarwii]

Hey! I have had the same idea! found my case in a thrift shop for about 40 bucks!

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/108728-custom-case-component-layout-question/#entry1453197
 

But i have a little more room 440 x 330 x 120... So i can go full gpu.

doing mini-itx and riser to. Are you going to try to keep as much of the original felling as possible?

 

One thing i found out after disassembly of my case was that i wont be able to mount any components on the celling or the walls of the case...if i would like to get in and out of it easily in the future. So that might be something to look out for.

This is my current thoughts of the layout for my case

 

 

[sirtoby]

I try to keep as much of the original look as possible. I will try also to hide the cooling as good as possible. The buttons in the front will be reused as good as I can. The power button on the left (not visible in my picture) will remain its functionality but Im not shure what I will do with the other buttons and the analog displays in the front. I will think about that after the build is finished. Maybe I  can hook up the analog displays with an Arduino to show the system temps or something like that.

[TheSLSAMG]

This is bound to be awesome. I can't wait for it to be finished.

[sirtoby]

1. Teardown

The first thing to do was to tear the tuner down.
Since it was built in the late 70s there where no proprietary screws, just a whole bunch of Philips head screws. When I opened the case I found a lot of unused space and a very interesting solution of the front frequency-wheel:

 

So I removed all of the components. What I was left with looked very good to work with. Unfortunately the edges are sharp as hell and I have to watch out not to cut my finger.

 

[sirtoby]

This is bound to be awesome. I can't wait for it to be finished.

 

This is going to be really cool!

 Thank you guys! Today I fitted the Power supply. More about that, later tonight.

[saarwii]

I try to keep as much of the original look as possible. I will try also to hide the cooling as good as possible. The buttons in the front will be reused as good as I can. The power button on the left (not visible in my picture) will remain its functionality but Im not shure what I will do with the other buttons and the analog displays in the front. I will think about that after the build is finished. Maybe I  can hook up the analog displays with an Arduino to show the system temps or something like that.

You should absolutely hook upp the analog displays! im planing on hdd activity and system temps on my two!

A tip on the power button! usually these kinds of buttons works like an on/off switch...That is. They are either always on or always of...This is not how a computer power switch works. They are what you call momentary buttons. you push and when you release the button goes out again to the "off position". There are ways to work around it i think but you need a fair knowledge of electronics. But then you need to install a separate reset button for the system because holding in the power button wont work since it's already in...

I was planing just to mod the button so when you press it, it just goes back out again. You lose some of that nice 70's electronics feel but im i willing to give it up for a more practical case

[sirtoby]

Thank you for the tip. But I wont use the original power button, since it is for 230v and a little overkill for my purpose. I have a switch from my old case that works like you explained. I will simply hot glue the button cap and the switch together and somehow put that into the case into the case, probably also with hot glue. Do you know how I can get a PC to send CPU usage or temps serial over usb? I could grab that really easy with my Arduino and send it to the monitors. The other buttons from the front are unfortunatley soldered to the pcb, and look strange. I will probably come up with a solution like for the powerbutton

[saarwii]

yea you should...dont know how, il ask around at my university. Im fortunate enough to have the creator of arduino working in the basement of the school. Il see if he is in next time im there. 

How are you going to hook up the arudion? build it in to the case? MOB dont have internal USB right? 

I was planing on using heat probes or something. how does regular case fan controllers and heat monitors work?

[saarwii]

 Thank you guys! Today I fitted the Power supply. More about that, later tonight.

 Pics on the power supply! are you going to installa GPU at all? the new gtx 750 ti might be something to look at...but then you have to deal with airflow and heat...and then...noice

[sirtoby]

2. PSU cutout

To have more room for activities (or just a graphics card), I went with a TFX form factor power supply. I bought a used BeQuiet! TFX Power 300W from Ebay. It has two 12V rails with 14 and 16 Amps, so I may be going with the upcoming gtx750.



To fit the power supply, I needed to make a cutout to exhaust the air from the PSU-fan. For this I used my Dremel. I measured the right distance from the three holes.I did a jig out of cardboard to know where I have to drill the holes and where to cut. This was fixed with duct tape to the back of the case, where the PSU is supposed to go.
Then I went outside to Cut the metal. I am pretty impressed by my Dremel. It did a good job cutting the 1.5mm steel of the case.
I used standard Hex-PSU-screws to keep the PSU in place.

[ForsakenLive]

Can't wait to see more

Gotta love small from factor builds

[sirtoby]

yea you should...dont know how, il ask around at my university. Im fortunate enough to have the creator of arduino working in the basement of the school. Il see if he is in next time im there. 

How are you going to hook up the arudion? build it in to the case? MOB dont have internal USB right? 

I was planing on using heat probes or something. how does regular case fan controllers and heat monitors work?

"to have the creator of arduino working in the basement of the school"

Would be awesome if you could do that!

Since the Arduino is really small and can be powered by usb, I'll build it into the case. I will convert a internal usb header into a normal plug with the help of a converter that originally leads to a pcie bracket with two usb ports. I just remove the bracket and I have a internal usb port.The Pin heders are a great idea. I have a spare 4pin fan header on the board. If I just read the PWM signal and find out what temperature it converts to, it would be way more simple than what I planned before. It wouldnt even be difficult. Thank you, that makes it a lot easier to monitor the cpu temperature.

[saarwii]

The Pin heders are a great idea. I have a spare 4pin fan header on the board. If I just read the PWM signal and find out what temperature it converts to, it would be way more simple than what I planned before. It wouldnt even be difficult. Thank you, that makes it a lot easier to monitor the cpu temperature.

no prob.....but i think i gave you the idea by accident because i have no idea what you are talking about i literately just google, "computer case heat measuring" before i answered  

Il see if he is in...he is a busy guy but there are alot of smart people working there so

[TriBeard]

This looks really cool. I can't wait to see what all you can stuff in there. 

[sirtoby]

2.1 PSU installation on the right side

 

Guys, I failed. remember the post where I installed the power supply? I made the cutout it on the wrong side. So as I wanted to install the motherboard, I recognized my mistake. Facepalm.

 

 

So now I’ll cut on the right side.

 

The power supply is Installed at an angle. It is like that because I drilled the holes in the wrong position. I have to correct this, but for now, I’m just happy, that it is installed on the right side.

[sirtoby]

3. Mainboard

 

After fixing the psu mount, it was time for the mainboard. To keep it in its place I needed to do two things: make a cutout for the IO plate and mount some standoffs for the board to sit on. I took a couple of them out of my old case. I made a jig for the IO plate and cut it out of the back of the case with my Dremel. After, I installed the IO plate and put the mainboard where it should sit later. I then just marked the places for the standoffs with a sharpie. Fortunately the bottom of the tuner is made of particleboard and I can drill holes for the standoffs, and they can be screwed in easily. This worked out well and the mainboard is now sitting in the right position.

 

 

With the mainboard and the power supply installed, I recognized that a graphics card in this case will be a very very tight fit. I have about 100mm left from the PCIe riser until I hit the PSU. In order to install a garphics card, I need to mount the Power supply as far to the side as possible. Just for fun, I tested if the I could fit a EVGA GTX 660 in there. If it wasn’t too long, it would barely fit in terms of width.
 

 

 

I have a question relating to the power supply: Will the two rails of the power supply combine and deliver 30 Amps on the 12 volt rail, to deliver enough power for a 660? Or will there just be 16 Amps or 14 Amps? (which btw, would be barely enough for a gtx 650).


 

[sirtoby]

For those of you who lived under a rock or slept, because of timezones (or you did both because you are Patrick Star),

The NDA for the GTX 750ti dropped, and Linus released his Video featuring an incredibly tired Slick. I expected the 750ti TDP to be low, but that low? This card that is 23 percent faster than the GTX 650ti while using 40% less power (110W vs 64W).

I will definetly using an EVGA GTX 750ti in my build. I dont need a 6pin power connector, and the IO bracket of the card has a dark grey / black paint. Awesome. Here is Linus's Video:

 

[Father Fuzzy]

cool modding project 

[sirtoby]

I'm back!
I feel sorry for staying so quiet in the last few weeks. I needed to study. Math. There will be a test in 2 weeks. The time, I had to continue on this mod was very limited, but at least I made some progress:

 

The CPU usage scale is on a good way. I was able to see a change in voltage on the 4-Pin header, between idle and Prime95. Now I have to work  out the Arduino part.

I was also able to tell what signal range I could feed the analog scale. The whole scale can be reached throgh a signal with strengh 0-10. The maximum output, the Ardiuno is able to drive is 255.

 

Some other news, regarding the graphics card: My budget doesn't allow me to buy a new graphics card just for the lolz. So I will use a ATI HD3670 for test fitting and will replace it a little bit later with my EVGA GTX 660 from the main rig. You think that card is too long? You're right! But fortunately, there's NZXTs G10. The 660 will be watercooled, and with its 17cm PCB, it will fit. The watercooler for the G10 will be a "Alpenföhn Wasser". Nothing special, just an Asetek AIO watercooler with a 120mm slim radiator and an "Alpenföhn" badge on it.

I just hope, that my PSU is stron enough to drive it. Will test that later. But soon.

 

Don't expect too much over the next two weeks.

Have a nice day guys.

[sirtoby]

The PSU test:

I wanted to know, if the TFX power supply I bought is able to drive a decent amount of Hardware. Spoiler: It is.

My concern was, that the PSU can’t deliver enough Amps to drive the graphics card. EVGA recommends a 450W PSU with at least 24 Amps on +12V. My one only had 300W and two +12V rails with 14A and 16A.
So I hooked it up to my main rig with a i5-3570k and a GTX660. I then ran Prime95 and Furmark at the same time to take the power consumption to the max.
The first try ended with a fail: The graphics card drawed too much power and stepped down its clocks to 320MHz. The next try, I lowered the Power limit by 10% (to 90%) in Afterburner, and everything worked. I ran Prime95 and Furmark for half an hour without any problems. The Valley Benchmark also worked without any issues.
Surprisingly, the GPUs core clock still gets up to 1071MHz  ( stock EVGA boost clock: 1111MHz ).

 

The total Power consumption of the system is around 215W under full load.

[Madmanchris1]

Wow this Build is going to look so cool! Almost as cool as as that ghetto set up for the frequency wheel haha!

[Mr.Aries-Martis]

This gonna be very cool when its finished.

I can just imagine the way the old gauges look when powered on

 

Keep it going

[sirtoby]

Some news, and it's bad ones. My miniITX motherboard, that I wanted to use, died. It will be replaced in my main rig with an H77 ATX board that I have from a previous build. My motivation to spend any more money on an outdated socket isn't that high, so I won't buy another 1155 mITX motherboard for this mod. The project will be on halt until Intel releases Broadwell. I hope that this will happen in December/January. Until then, there will be some updates regarding the Arduino stuff. Apart from that, the case is pretty much ready to put the hardware in. Since the Z97 boards are Broadwell compatible, I might buy one in the near future and put a Pentium G3258 (overclockable  ) on it.  May happen if I can afford it. If I end up buying one, I will let you guys know it.

Have a nice day