The DJ CD storage case PC: Worklog

[2stroke (Jay)]

After having so many issues with notebooks and usb power along with grunt and not having my good notebook covered in dew, I thought why not build a mobile pc. PC overclocking and case mods have always being my real main hobby and I did have a whole dedicated to this before I got into astronomy, so why not do something that involves both worlds

I thought why not use some old c2d gear thats just wasting space and get a mobile pc on the go. Since it's only being used for guiding/ mount control / imaging ect 775 gen gear should be fine. I picked up a cd storage case used by DJ's off ocau that will house a old 17" LCD 1024x 1280 in the top till i get a 18.5", the bottom section will house the pc parts and be sealed off with a 5mm keyboard on top.

The specs
CPU: Q6600 overclocked to 3.2ghz
MB: Asus PK5-vm
RAM: 4g ddr2 hyperX
GPU: ATI 4850
VID: 17" 1280 x 1024
PSU: CM PCA 450watt
COOLING: swiftech water for cpu and maybe gpu H20-x20 edge 240 rad

I grabbed a 2 port usb 3 card today for camera control as it can allow over spec amps so my ccd's wont have to fear ohms law unlike with a notebooks and the bs going behind the scenes with usb spec and millamps drawn being as sad as 100ma. I also plan to put in a hd tuner and some speakers so i can watch tv if need be. The main aspect though is to have it all build into the case so its just open power on and go, yes it will use 240volts but its only being made for use at MPAS and my backyard where mains power isn't and issue.

As for os I'll tripple boot osx 10.8.4, win xp and windows 7 ulti x64, yes this hardware runs osx sweet Will put some pics up and make this a work log

[2stroke (Jay)]

Well some small updates i got a old chassis to fit into the case to save mounting work and to also make it more stable, yer the cuts are ruff but will be cleaned up and there going to be sealed off anyhow. Next part will be cutting I/O holes and then pop riveting the chassis into the case. Also a pick of a few LCD i can choose from.

[AdrianF (Adrian)]

Nice project.

Reminds me of the ones I used to make when I worked for a university. But we used mini all in one motherboards and a 12" LCD. They where built into a ally briefcase from Supercheap. With an inverter built into the case we could run off a car battery or 240.
CD burner accessible from side of case.

Adrian

[2stroke (Jay)]

Originally Posted by AdrianF

Nice project.

Reminds me of the ones I used to make when I worked for a university. But we used mini all in one motherboards and a 12" LCD. They where built into a ally briefcase from Supercheap. With an inverter built into the case we could run off a car battery or 240.
CD burner accessible from side of case.

Adrian

Cheers would go ITX though using a micro atx gives me much more options and also just using old parts laying about.

[2stroke (Jay)]

Quick update have cut the i/o sheild hole and slots for usb3/dvi as well as the power, it looks dodgy in this image but its not so bad in real life. Just need to mount the LCD in the top now and also pop rivet the case to the the pc case body. After that will just be some tidy up work like some rubber strip around the io holes ect and a false top to cover components and house keyboard. Will be ditching the water cooling though as i can't be bother modding the case bottom for a 240rad atm maybe later though ill see. And yes they are half hight pci/pci-e slots though the pc case inside house full hight slots.

[2stroke (Jay)]

Starting to take shape now all internals fitted, I could have done this alot better but really need this thing up and going fast . I think this will be mark I haha with a new build when I have the time. All that needed now is the top section with the LCD which ill do tomorrow, then the top panel to neaten it up, hoping to get a mini keyboard in there. A vist to clark rubber to clean up those cut holes and bam its ready to rock n roll. Put a 500gb 7200 in it because it was faster then the greens i had about and i'am not taking ssd's and wd blacks from my main system.

[2stroke (Jay)]

LCD fitted going to use some straps to support monitor, this is shaping up to be real nice. The lcd was partted from its housing then the housing pop riveted to the case lid, its very stable and turned out a perfect fit.

[2stroke (Jay)]

A couple of pics of xp and win7 going on it. Can't wait for the false floor/roof and the mini keyboard to finish things off. Just have a slim dvd sitting on it to install the os's, will wack another hdd in tomorrow for osx as its getting late :/

[2stroke (Jay)]

Well keyboard fitted and isn't that nice a mac one to After all if your going to be running mountain lion as a third os that command key comes in handy Also setup all rails for faulse top which is going to be made out of 3mm mdf sheet with a box for the mouse to sit in. Out of time today to do this so its for another night. Still have to also add a power on switch and the comm and a few extra top usb 2.0 ports to the the false top. It's coming along very nice and have had it out in action a few times already and it is working sweet. No need for usb hubs and the worry of usb faults with this baby pumping the hard amps, the meade dsi is working like a champ for once.

[nebulosity. (Jo)]

Go mac

Looking very nice Jay hope it all works out great.

Jo

[2stroke (Jay)]

haha cheers jo, rofl just thinking of walking into the mac store with it haha. Keyboard was a perfect fit though so happy with it

[2stroke (Jay)]

Well its pretty much finished off now apart from the rubber for the slots. Added a 2nd hard drive along with a 2 port com + LTP pci card to give a total of 3 real coms and 2 LTP's. Theres a stack of USB 2.0's and 2 x USB 3.0 so the thing pretty much loaded out way beyond what i could ever use. Added a top fan to the cover to exhaust heat and also made the top cover and put stick-o-felt over it for a nice pro finish. If use your club or backyard or somewhere with a 240volts supply ditch your laptop and build one as its solved all my usb power issues, i'am downloading for the ccd much faster with out defects (from my initial trial) and there no need for lame adapters and hubs. Anyhow I think its the most useful DIY project iv'e done for astro work yet.

The only issue its taken my mac keyboard lol

[2stroke (Jay)]

Time for a update, since Forgey has being using it like nuts i thought i better make things a bit better. I stripped out the guts replaced with an intel i5 750, asus p7p55d, 4 gb of ddr3 which will go to 16gb shortly. I added a gigabyte GC-WB300D which has bluetooth 4.0, wifi
a/b/g/n with 300mbps and dual antennas which are housed inside the case. A daul comms card has being added and a parallel to come on my next trip to msy. The amd 4850 has being changed to a nvidia gt 430 to keep temps down though the primary purpose was it was the best low profile card i could get my hands on for a cheap price.

Now for the real mods made, by using a low profile i could un-bolt the vga port which are attached to all LP via ribbon cable i was able to route the vga cable inside the case. I also modded the power cable so it was split inside the case. With this done i was able to route power and vga signal to the 17" LCD without using external cables and now only 1 IEC C14 cable is needed to power the whole system. Before this i needed 2 IEC C14's and a DVI to VGA and a vga cable. I also made a pocket for the mouse which also is now connected inside the case so both the keyboard and mouse are fully integrated into the case now, no more worries about forgetting to pack a mouse.

Also grabbed a wifi game pad and well i think the only thing ill be adding now besides the LTP card will be some speakers for sound and music hahah. I was going to do a touch screen but really i think it would never be used. The case still needs some final cosmetic work but beside that its now done an dusted.