Where to put the computer

[carl425]

Building a multideck layout in a spare bedroom and determined to make the most out of every available cubic foot of space I was worried about how I could fit the JMRI computer into the room without blocking the view of the railroad.

Here's what I came up with:

The keyboard slides back on a pair of drawer slides when not in use.

I used the 100mm VESA mounting holes on the monitor to attach it to a piece of plywood.  The 22" widescreen monitor is just inside the limit of visability, but it feels about the same as using a laptop on a desk.  Works for me.

[mlehman]

That's a well-thought out solution. I face the same issue, been wanting to add JMRI for sometime now. A few more obstacles to overcome, but this would solve the "where it goes" issue. Mine will probably be in staging (shared area with my Cascade branch, but the same issue as in the main layout room -- limited space.

[riogrande5761]

Sounds like you've answered your own question.  ^_^

[BroadwayLion]

NICE! I just put a computer in my train room. It is on an old end-table, at the end of the western isle right against the southern wall.  It is an old Win XP machine rebuilt with an Ubuntu operating system. Its only purpose at the moment is to play music. If I drop a cat-6 cable down to the Library office, I can connect to the internet there, then I'll be able to listen to my favorite talk radio programs.

As if I did not have enough distractions in the train room.

 

I am going to mout my "spray booth" (cardboard box) on the wall above it.

ROARING

[hon30critter]

carl425:

Very creative solution!

Dave

[carl425]

Thanks for the responses.

There's something satisfying about mixing technology with lumber - wonder why that is...

[mlehman]

Carl,

I'm not sure why that is, but that is a good observation. I know in my case I feel confident with throwing wood up to do just about anything. Computers not so much, so maybe the boost of confidence with woodworking rubs off a little on fixing up the little electronic monsters and gremlins?

[Lake]

If it is a lap top, then just sign out and close it. What more is needed?

That is all I do.

[BroadwayLion]

mlehman

Computers not so much, so maybe the boost of confidence with woodworking rubs off a little on fixing up the little electronic monsters and gremlins?

LION does not have much in the way of woodworking skills. The layout of him looks like a cross between Rube Goldberg and an orange crate.

Now computers, that is something the LION can do. The 'puter of him has FOUR monitors on it, and the LION can do lotsa cool things with it. On the right of  me is a rack with four servers in it (the fifth server is in a separate building), and next to that three more utility computers used in the backup process. Final computer back-up is off site in a cloud.  To the left of me is a work bench with other computers in various stages of coming or going, and behind me is a wall of out of service computers, that will in all honesty never be put back into service. Yes, I could rebuild them from scratch, and I have done that many times, but it is more cost effective just to buy a new one. Modern compuerology is so advanced that the only part worth saving is the case. And that is not worth it!

I do rip open dead hard drives, the platters look real pretty, and the FBI cannot read the data off of them since they are on my desk and not in their lab. There is a real powerful magnet in there that is worth saving, and a real cool little motor that is not worth saving.

But the best thing is that stuff that I tear out of the computers can end up on the railiroad. Obsolete parallel port printer cables have 25 conductors in them, the newer ones have 25 pair of conductors in them. The ribbon wire makes nice scenic features on the railroad, from coregated metal, to garage doors, to walkways along the tracks. (Elevated Subway, you know).

Oh well, if you want to learn computers, just take them apart to see what goes into them, and if you want to PM me about them, feel free to do so.

ROAR

[mlehman]

Lion,

Thanks for the offer. I actually don't mind cracking them open and massaging the hardware so much. It's just the confusion that comes once they're powered up

I certainly agree that keeping ye olde harddrives in sacred limbo until tyhey can properly be disposed of. I do like the idea of cracking them open and extracting something useful, I may give that a try. Beats shooting them, which is how one friend disposes of them

Right now I have my eye open for a ~3" fan. I need one to add some air flow to the heat housing  I added to our new snowblower. A simple question: What voltage do computer fans run on? Is it AC or DC?

We now return you to your regularly scheduled train and track...

[carl425]

mlehman

Is it AC or DC?

Assuming you're talking about case fans, most of them take 12vdc.  They are sometimes run on as little as 3-5 volts when the goal is silent operation - probably not of interest for a snow blower.

[rrinker]

 If it's like my snowblower, there should be a 12V takeoff for the light (and the connector is actually in place on mine for the heated hand grips that my model doesn;t come with..hmm, wonder if I can add that). However, it's a pull off the magneto, and I'm pretty sure, though I haven't checked, that it's 12V (nominally) AC, not DC, since all it does it light up an ordinary bulb. Rectified and filtered, it will drive a computer fan just fine, but you will need a resistor - after rectifying and filtering 12VAC, you'll have more like 16V DC, too much for the poor computer fan.

 Now if you are talking about a snowblower fitting for a garden tractor - there will be a 12v DC system (well, 13.8) to charge the battery. Stick a pair of 1N4001 diodes in series with the motor to drop 1.4V off that and the fan should run fine.

 Standalone snowblowers, at least all the ones I've seen or used over the past number of years, even with electric start, do not bother with batteries, which usually fail in the cold anyway. They have, like mine, a 120VAC starter motor and you just plug it in. Being brand new though, mine seems to start on the first pull anyway - plus it helps that they actually ran a line along two walls of the garage and put heat radiators in, connected to the basement zone. While I have the basement set to 64, so it's not too cold for the cats (and the dogs during the day when they are crated), the garage, with no insualtion on the exterior walls and no special sealed garage door, just the basic rubber strip along the bottom, is quite a bit colder - but well above the outside temps, especially on those recent days when we had single digit outside temps. Make getting in the car very comfortable, and no need to warm anything up. Of course, the warm air all goes away the instant the door is raised. Hmm, I really should pull a Tony K and extend the layout into the garage..... 

               --Randy