1969 MEETS 21st CENTURY - A Fun Project
About 2 years ago, Sandra and I were visiting with some friends of ours, Charlie & Julie Horvath. In catching up, Julie mentioned that they had bought some old console radios primarily for the beautiful cabinetry (although I know Charlie enjoyed getting those old units working). That got me to thinking that it would be really cool to get an old console stereo and convert it to a computer desk!
Well, after a long hunt, I recently "won" a 1969 General Electric A726G console stereo on eBay for only $49.99! This thing actually has solid wood in it. A few pieces of the unit have real wood laminate, but the laminate is at least 1/16" thick - not paper thin like modern furniture.
I spent $20 on a schematic to help troubleshoot the electronics and about $10 in parts to fix the electronics. I spent $20 on a wireless keyboard / mouse combination so I wouldn't have to cut into the nice wood! I made a few minor modifications to the cabinet for the computer to fit, and I bought a more modern turntable as well. My cassette deck fits nicely next to my monitor. My reel-to-reel deck fits well on the file cabinet, and as luck would have it, my scanner fits almost perfectly on top of the reel-to-reel! I'm really happy with the setup. One of the cool things is that I no longer have to put up with tinny-sounding computer speakers, because this thing ROCKS! This new setup will also make it easier to convert LPs, cassettes, and reel-to-reel tapes to CD!
Well, after a long hunt, I recently "won" a 1969 General Electric A726G console stereo on eBay for only $49.99! This thing actually has solid wood in it. A few pieces of the unit have real wood laminate, but the laminate is at least 1/16" thick - not paper thin like modern furniture.
I spent $20 on a schematic to help troubleshoot the electronics and about $10 in parts to fix the electronics. I spent $20 on a wireless keyboard / mouse combination so I wouldn't have to cut into the nice wood! I made a few minor modifications to the cabinet for the computer to fit, and I bought a more modern turntable as well. My cassette deck fits nicely next to my monitor. My reel-to-reel deck fits well on the file cabinet, and as luck would have it, my scanner fits almost perfectly on top of the reel-to-reel! I'm really happy with the setup. One of the cool things is that I no longer have to put up with tinny-sounding computer speakers, because this thing ROCKS! This new setup will also make it easier to convert LPs, cassettes, and reel-to-reel tapes to CD!
Check out the pictures below!
The unit.
The unit with the cabinet open to show the computer and turntable.
A view of the unit where you can see the computer, turntable, and reel-to-reel.
Check out the 1969 electronics and the wireless keyboard & mouse!
posted by T-roy at
5:33 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home