A Learning Adventure in the Workshop

Visible Computer Build Begins

My son and I made significant progress on the "visible computer" project this past weekend.  We installed the power-supply, motherboard, processor, memory and most of the drives.   The rest of the parts should come this week and then we will finish the physical build of the machine and then move on to the BIOS, OS, etc.

This really has turned out to be a great teaching tool as I had hoped it would.  We discussed what every part does and then my son installed it with my help.   He will definitely remember it by "doing" it.  He had a ball wearing the anti-static wrist band attached to our basement pipes...he looks very official.

So far, I am basically pleased with my part selections.  The MSI motherboard seems excellent.  The case is well made in general.  The clear acrylic is thick and well put together, but the power plugs for the included case-fans are cheaply made and bent, and the front on/off switch and reset buttons seem VERY cheap and poorly made.  The reset button sticks because the hole in the case is too tight. I will remove the button and widen the hole.  For the price and the fact that it is the only completely clear case that I could find, I am pleased overall in spite of the case's shortcomings.

New Garden Railroad Point-to-Point Track

A few posts ago I wrote that I had ordered a batch of Aristocraft track for this year's garden railway expansion.  It arrived and I mounted it on the treated lumber "shelf" that I installed a few weeks ago along the back fence.   We now have a 90' shelf of straight G-scale track along the back fence.  This will be our second "line" and will not connect to the original loop of track.

I have been trying to get an old analog LGB point-to-point accessory unit to work on this track so that it can operate like a point-to-point trolley line until I get the time to install the "turn-around" loops on either end of the straight track to form a dog-bone style layout, but no luck so far.   I love LGB, but their instruction manuals are truly awful and always have been.   They have a US subsidiary, so I don't understand why they have so much trouble making useful manuals.  In any case, I think that I have installed the point-to-point until correctly, so maybe it is defective.

The old LGB unit just sends the engine to one end of the track until it hits the bumper and then it spins until I turn it off...or it launches itself into space if the bumper is loose! I need to troubleshoot this when I get some time.

I really like the Aristocraft track.  It is cheaper than LGB-brand track and it seems just as good.  It also fits together perfectly with LGB track without adaptors...so it is easy to mix brands  Aristocraft track will be our new "standard" track except for the turnouts that will remain LGB.  The LGB turnouts still seems to be better quality and worth the money.

"Visible Computer" Project

Its been a busy couple of weeks at home and work, so the workshop has not gotten much use.

I did manage  to crank out a bunch of house projects, repairing plaster, interior paint, etc, but not many fun projects.

I began ordering parts for a summer tech project for my son and me.  We are going to "build" a computer from parts using a completely clear computer case that I found on EBay (made by Logisys).  My son will learn the components that make up a computer, and I will end up with a new computer at the end of the project (he's still too young to have his own at 6).  Also, it will be fun.

This project reminds me of the plastic "Visible V-8" engine model that I built as a kid.  The engine was clear plastic so that you could see the interior parts of the mechanics.  The model ran on batteries so that you could watch everything move.  I really liked it.  I see this computer project as our modern version of the "Visible V-8". (WOW!  I just found that the old "Visible V-8" model is still for sale...click here for link)

The clear computer case is Acrylic, so it does not have the heat dissipation properties of a traditional steel or aluminum case, but with 3 fans, I think it will be fine.  We also might install some interior lighting in the case so that you can see the internal parts "working" after in the computer is finished.

Goals for the final machine will be:

1.  Lots of storage for the family's multi-media (tons of digital photos and music)
2.  Strong backup capability to protect above (maybe RAID 1 drives)
3.  Inexpensive processing.  All we need is typical photo editing, web, etc capabilities.  No need for high end 3-D GPU until my son is older.
4.  Built in media card reader (for photo cards) and DVD burner (for backups)
5.  Components ready for Microsoft Vista OS when it comes out in 2007.  We will use XP Home till then.