//Retro_PC_Radio.exe
The Retro PC Radio project is still in an early planning phase. The goal is to use my old Pentium 200MHz pc and put it into a box that looks like a very old radio. It will be able to play cds, mp3s and stream internet radio while looking super cool and confusing the hell out of people.
All the controls on the case will look like old radio controls. The mouse will be controlled by knobs (being taken care of in my Mouse Mod project), and external play, pause, forward, rewind and skip buttons will all be wired into the computer. There will be a small LCD screen also in it, but it will be covered by a screen that looks like a speaker, to conceal the high-tech goodness inside.
Wish list:
- FM Radio tuner
- WiFi card to play internet radio
- TV Out (not sure why, but why not?)
- LCD screen (maybe touchscreen?)
|
|
The complete project log is below... archived from my regular blog.
I don't think it matters much to anyone, but it does to me... I'm sort of behind schedule on the project. Its only by about a day or 2 so far, but its still frustrating. I know that until I just put my foot down and decide to stop tweaking the algorithms that I won't really be making any progress in other areas. Instead of thinking about mechanics and design of the actual site I am dreaming up a new and better algorithm. Its getting out of hand.
Also, I have a 2nd project that I kind of really want to do... but its going to have to wait until after the current one is all wrapped up. Its going to be a sort of digital jukebox. I've got an old Pentium 200Mhz (with MMX, w00t) pc that is just lieing around gathering dust. All it is really good for now is a crappy dedicated router (of which I already have 2), or a unix/linux box (but it doesn't have enough ram to run any graphical desktops like KDE or GNOME). But for some reason it can run Windows 98. So I'm going to be installing that on it, and just running Winamp fullscreen. For a case, I want to custom build something out of wood that will make it look like a vintage radio. I'm going to build-in a small lcd screen (maybe touchscreen to keep the peripherals I need at a minimum). If I can't pull off the touchscreen (because they are rather pricey at $250USD each), I'm thinking of modifying a regular mouse, and somehow taking the pieces out and creating two nobs... so the cursor will be controlled kind of like an etch-a-sketch.
The mouse-to-knob mod I can probably do right now with the old mice I have lieing around, just to use as a 'proof of concept'. I think I might do that if I want to take a short break from my other project.
