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Old 27th Nov 2019, 2:40 pm   #35
Zelandeth
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Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, UK.
Posts: 931
Default Re: Sun Microcomputer II Motortester 1215

Quote:
Originally Posted by dominicbeesley View Post
Cute! I'd keep it intact though. I've been following this with interest. It really is a nice piece of kit.

D

Oh don't worry. There will be nothing destructive done and the original functions of the machine will be utterly unaffected - being able to use it as intended is key to it having a home in my garage. The idea here is purely to help the thing be a little more relevant in the 21st century. The only visible signs of changes will be a video source selection switch, and even that can be fitted through a blanking bung by the remote control socket so I don't need to drill a hole in the case.

The idea of having a decent sized display in the garage I can stick manual pages, wiring diagrams etc on other than my phone is something that I've had in mind for a while now.

The idea would be to set up a small single board computer (Raspberry Pi most likely as I'm familiar with it) inside and have a switch to allow me to choose the video source.
The monitor is only connected to the computer by a single twisted pair carrying composite video, so breaking into the signal path is trivially easy. There's even a convenient passthrough power lead available which would have originally fed the optional printer.

I wouldn't consider hacking the original machine around in any way that was detrimental to it.
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