Antique Radio 1.0 Beta
Okay, well I’ve finally built up the old antique radio my Dad owned to a “usable” level — it’s been a hell of a lot more expensive in terms of both time & money than I originally planned. Of course, I had always known (as most hobbyists do) that it probably would cost a bit more than I planned.
So, submitted for your approval, here is what I’ll call “Antique Radio, version 1.0 Beta”. 
The full view…
A (Zaxxon-style) angled view of the controls & speakers.
Plain view of the controls and speakers.
Okay, so I know the hardcore nerds (i.e., people like me) will only care about the list of equipment used — so here goes:
- Apple Mac Mini (PowerPC G4 @ 1.42Ghz, Bluetooth, no Airport, 512MB RAM, 80GB HD)
- Dell 20″ LCD (2001FP)
- Adesso Wireless Keyboard w/ Trackpad (to the far left in the top photo)
- A pair of Orb Audio Mod 2 speakers with a Super 8 subwoofer tucked away in the radio cabinet.
- Also in the cabinet is an Onkyo M-282 stereo amplifier. The line out from the Mac Mini goes to this, and it produces enough thump to make the Orbs sing, and it feaures RCA outs that I feed to the Super 8.
- Three Griffin PowerMates, using the beta version of Proxi to allow them to act as controls to launch & control iTunes. And without Proxi, only one works at a time, so if you’re thinking of doing this on a PC, make sure you have a tool that can allow you to leverage multiple PowerMates…
Next up, I need to start cutting some wood to provide better support for the amp inside the cabinet. I’m going to see how proficient I get with a jigsaw and a dremel when I do my basement, and then I’ll make a decision about how I want to mount the speakers to the radio’s cabinet. Right now, I’m leaning towards keeping them external because I may be able to allow for “flexible aiming” of the speakers. I also need to figure out how I’ll ultimately mount the PowerMates so they can be used as knobs. Oh, and I need an LCD mount… some kind of funky articulating arm would be perfect!
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.