By Popular Request 2.0/By Popular Request 2.0 (Arsenal Computer).ISO/amiga_1/amytutrl.lha/SysCon

Text File | 1995-06-13 | 19KB | 372 lines

                          SYSTEM CONSTRUCTION:


Bench Outlay:

  A 2 X 4 will be bolted level along the wall about 30" above the floor.
The back edge of the plywood lays on that and the front edge is supported by
legs on either side and a support brace in the middle.

  The computer basically sits front and center.  A foot to the left is the
disk rack with the area in between for cup, glass, ashtray, elbow, etc.  To
its left propped up on something is the receiver (or just an amp).  To the
right is the mouse pad, then printer.  The disk rack, receiver and printer
are all angled towards you.  Behind the computer sits the monitor.  Propped
up against it on the left are the books and manuals, held up by a book-
end.  To their left is the left speaker.  On the right of the monitor
sits df1, as you know, and on top of it sits the moden.  Propped up
against them are the 3-ring binders held up by another bookend.  On their
right is the right speaker.

  On top of the Amiga is the plexiglas table.  In the upper right-hand
corner of the bench behind the printer sits the printer paper box with
4" X 4" blocks on either side of it.  Sitting across the blocks are the
drop-in files.  Attached to the top of the monitor on either side are those
plastic swing-out arms to attach notes, memos & data to.

  Df1 sits on top of four inches of books to clear the plexitable.  The joy-
sticks, pencil holder, hole punch, telephone, etcetera are yours to find
homes for.  The power supply is held up against the underside of the bench,
in the back, with bent nails and big rubber bands.  Pencils are stuck
in between it and the bench to allow for ventilation.  Your surge protector,
if separate from the outlet box, is mounted the same way..more to just get
them out of the way than anything else.  Your outlet box(es) should be
screwed to the 2 X 4 but wait 'til the end to make the final placement.  You
might want to mount one of the outlet boxes to the underside of the bench
where you can reach it if that's how you're turning on the system.  Other-
wise you'll have to rig up some kind of ON switch somewhere..there are
lots of different ways to do it.  No, sorry, you can't use the room's wall
switch.  Yes, it's handy, which happens to be the reason you can't use it.
If you replace it with one that has a "safety cap" over it, that'll be okay.


Materials:

 - 4' X 8' X 3/4" sheet of plywood, nice and flat and smooth

 - 8-foot piece of 2 X 4, nice and straight along the narrow edge

 - 6-foot piece of "closet rod", or whatever suits your fancy for the legs

 - 3-foot piece of square 1 1/2" X 1 1/2" board (2 X 4 will do)

 - (4) 3 1/2" X 1/4" lag bolts (have hex heads to fit socket or wrench)

 - (4) washers to fit lag bolts

 - (10) 1 1/2" (or 2") nails

 - (2) 2" woodscrews, panhead okay

 - medium sandpaper

 - (2) 8-foot sections of 3/4" plastic edge molding to go around the edge
      of the plywood.  Looks good and prevents splinters.  A little hard
      to find, only place I know is Southern Lumber.

 - small can of stain, brush, rag, paper towels, latex gloves, etc

 - monitor stand

 - plastic swing-out arms for monitor to hold notes (optional)

 - (2) TALL bookends (stationery store).  Those thin metal ones are fine.

 - 4" of books or something to fit under df1

 - books or a box to fit under receiver so it clears disk rack.

 - (4) large rubber bands

 - (2) pencils or similar objects


Tools:

 - hammer

 - screwdriver

 - handsaw, circular saw if you have one

 - ratchet & socket or wrench to turn the lag bolts with

 - level

 - hacksaw, vicegrips, anything to cut a nail with

 - drill gun, a few misc bits

 - 2 1/8" hole-cutter, like for installing doorlocks.  It's that or a
      jigsaw, but the holes cut by the hole-cutter look pro

 - staple gun, 9/16" staples

 - tape measure

 - stud finder, not totally necessary but nice.  If you haven't seen the new
     microwave stud finders (usually $19.95), check 'em out.  It's just a
     personal opinion, mind you, but I think you deserve one.



Bench Construction:

   - Cut the plywood 35" by approximately 7 feet.  If you have the room and/
     or extra stuff, definitely take all 8 feet.  If you have to keep
     it as small as possible you'll have to determine the width.  The
     35" measurement is critical; you can add some if you feel you need
     the extra depth.  Ideally, you will set up all the computer stuff on
     the floor and measure for the size you need.  The depth, still, is 35"
     minimum unless you don't plan on taking the half-hour to make the
     plexiglas table, which would be dumb.  With the 35" measurement the
     front of the Amiga sits about a half-inch in from the edge of the bench.
     If you want a little more room there (like to rest your hands on), add
     it on now.  Set the Amiga on the edge of a desk and see what feels
     comfortable, then make any necessary adjustments to the 35".

   - Cut the 2 X 4 about a foot shorter than the bench width, just so the
     ends don't show.  If you're making a short bench you might want to wait
     until you have the studs marked on the board.

   - If the ply has any warp to it, which it probably does, use it warp up.

   - Stain the ply and legs.  Put the stain on with a brush or rag, wipe the
     board with a clean rag or paper towels.  You can stain the 2 X 4
     if you wish..it won't show unless you look under the bench.  You can
     wait 'til later to stain the ply but this is a good chance to let it
     dry while you're putting up the 2 X 4.  You might want to put a gloss
     coat of Varathane or something over the stain.  You also might want
     a covering material of some type instead of stain, such as some neat
     linoleum, some stick-on felt, fancy shelf or wall paper, etc.

   - Take studfinder and find where the studs are, mark them with a pencil
     about 32" above the floor.  They SHOULD, ha ha, be 16" apart, but
     you'll have to make sure.  If you don't have a studfinder you can
     always do the knock-on-the-wall, test-with-a-small-nail method.  Ideally
     you want the ones nearest the ends and two in between.  If you can
     get three in all that's okay..this stuff isn't all that heavy.

   - Hold the 2 X 4 up on the wall where it goes and make marks on it where
     the studs are.  Drill 1/4" holes through the 2 X 4 at the marks.

   - Now you'll have to decide how high you want the bench.  If it's set up
     somewhere now and it seems just perfect, measure how high it is.  We'll
     subtract 3/4" to make up for the board thickness and that's our TOP
     mark for the 2 X 4.

   - Hold it back up against the wall with a level on it, get it approxi-
     mately level and the correct position, put a scribe or nail through one
     of the middle holes and make a mark in the wall.

   - Using a 3/16" drill bit, drill a nice deep hole.  If you miss the stud
     you screwed up and will have to go back to square one.

   - Drive a lag bolt & washer through the 2 X 4 until it peeks out.  Hold
     the board back up against the wall and drive in the lag a good ways.

   - This time make sure the 2 X 4 is exactly level and make the rest of
     your marks on the wall.  Remove the 2 X 4 and do your drilling.

   - If for some reason you don't have studs you can try something like shelf
     brackets and Molly bolts or something.

   - Mount the 2 X 4 to the wall and that's that.  Vacuum up the mess.

   - A friend might help a bit here but not necessary:  Put the back of the
     bench over the edge of the 2 X 4, lift the front and prop it up on
     something.  The idea is to measure the height we need for each front
     leg.  Floors can sag a bit away from the wall so we want a nice fresh
     measurement.  Also, if the room's carpeted then you're probably measur-
     ing from the 2 X 4 down to the carpet's tack board and not the actual
     floor.  Drive a couple of nails through the bench partways into the
     2 X 4 to temporarily secure it.

   - The legs go about six inches in from the front edge of the bench.  If
     you have a short bench, say six feet, put the legs about a foot in from
     the ends.  For a standard bench put them about two feet in.  With
     the level on the bench use the tape and measure the correct leg
     height, pressing the end of the tape firmly into the carpet.  It should
     be about the same as the TOP measurement of the 2 X 4, maybe a tad
     more or less, we just want to double-check.

   - Cut the legs and try them out, yes it'll sag a bit in the middle.  When
     you've got the legs exactly right drive a nail down through the bench
     into them.  We'll be taking them back off in a minute but they'll just
     twist off the nails.

   - Now for the only "tricky", if that's the word, part of the operation.
     Use the tape and in the center of the bench figure out how long the
     1 1/2 X 1 1/2 center brace should be going from the base of the wall
     up to the bench about 2/3 out.  The tricky part is cutting the angle
     on the top end of the board to line up with the bench.  No, it doesn't
     have to be exact, just a good exercise to try to get it as close as
     you can.  There are various semi-clever ways to do it, I'm positive
     anyone smart enough to operate a computer can figure one out.  If you
     feel pro, cut both ends.  Just make sure you re-measure between cuts.

   - Now hold it in position, take a pencil and at the top make a long mark
     on each side where the woodscrews will go up, perpendicular to the
     bench.  Remove the board, hold one of the woodscrews along the
     mark and move it so that about a 1/2" will come out the end (and into
     the bottom of the bench).  Make a better mark along that line and drill
     two holes side-by-side following the mark as a guideline.  Use a drill-
     bit the diameter of the woodscrews.  Put the screws through the holes
     and verify that about a 1/2" to 3/4" pokes out.  Remove the screws.

   - Now you'll want to prop the bench up, watch the level and when the
     board is just right, stick the scribe through the two holes and mark
     the bottom of the bench.  Take a smaller drill bit and drill into the
     bench.  It doesn't matter if you go through, it won't be seen.  As you
     raise up the center section of the bench to level it you may actually
     lift one of the legs off the floor if the bench has a warp, obviously
     nothing to be concerned about.  Make sure the bench stays flush on the
     2 X 4 during all this.

   - Put the brace back into place and drive in the screws.  Things should
     feel nice and secure.

   - Position all the equipment.  Get everything perfect and then make a big
     X about 3" behind the Amiga in the center.  We'll cut a hole here with
     the doorlock hole-cutter for cables to go through.  Make another mark
     behind your printer and another one behind df1 (but far enough away
     from the wall to clear the 2 X 4).  Maybe another one behind your
     receiver.  The front of the Amiga is about 1/2" from the edge of
     the bench.  Leave 5" between the back of the Amiga and the front of
     the monitor stand for the plexitable.  Get everything lined up just
     right, get the holes marked then take it all apart.  You might want to
     put a few pencil marks where the Amiga sits just to get it back exact.

   - Remove the bench, take it back out to the garage, drill the holes and
     touch-up the bare spots with the stain.  Don't blame innocent me if
     you get stabbed by one of the exposed nails.

   - Cut the heads off two fresh nails.  Take a drill bit the same size as
     the nails and drill a hole deep enough into the BOTTOM of the legs that
     just about 1/2" of the nail will stick out.  Tap the nails into the
     holes leaving the 1/2" free.

   - Reassemble everything, this time using five or six nails across the
     back into the 2 X 4.  Feed the nails back into the holes in the tops
     of the legs, then put a level against the legs, get them exactly
     straight up and down then press down on the bench and drive the bottom
     nails into the carpet.  If you're on a hardwood floor you should drill
     pilot holes for the nails.  If you're on cement, try epoxy.  This is
     serious business here.  One kick and it might be "Good-bye, printer.."

   - The next step would be to set up the equipment for good, feeding the
     larger cables through the holes first.  All of my big cable ends fit
     through, some just barely.  When it's all wired and running, unplug
     the power cord and staple all the extra wiring up to the bottom of
     the bench.  Be REAL careful not to staple through a wire, of course,
     ESPECIALLY the big cables.  Put the molding around the edge of the
     board and that's it!  Except, of course, for the...



PLEXITABLE:

Materials:

  - 9 1/2" X 30" X 1/4" clear plexiglas, cut by the store.  I tried a dark
      piece but the clear shows the least glare (bouncing down from the
      monitor).  You'll probably have some paper or a binder open in front
      of you most of the time anyway so it won't matter.  Tap Plastics is
      definitely the place to get this done if you live at all near one.

  - (3) 3" pieces of 1/2" to 3/4" round plexiglas for the legs.  They should
      also cut these for you, just so the ends are nice and even.

  - Get the smallest amount of plexiglas glue you can, it's only to glue the
      legs on with.

  - (6) stick-on rubber feet.  Try a hardware store, hobby shop, maybe just
      pick up some screw-on types (Radio Shack?) and glue them on.


Plexitable Construction:

  - Get two things about 3" high, sit one long edge of the plexi on them, put
      the legs into position along the other edge, one right at each corner
      and the third one right in the middle.  Everything look good?  Now
      try it on top of the Amiga just to make sure one of the legs
      doesn't go through the cable hole or something.  It will overlap
      2" to the left and about a foot to the right.  The front edge runs
      along the indentation line on top of the Amiga (about an inch behind
      the Function keys).  The back edge should almost touch the monitor
      base.

  - Yes, it's in the way of the drive slot, and yes, you'll get used to
      it and after a week or two never give it another thought.

  - After the legs are glued to the table we're going to glue feet to their
      bottoms.  The other three feet we're going to glue UNDER the front
      edge, one at each end of the computer and one in the center.  They'll
      nestle up against the inside of that indentation.  Get everything
      marked with a pencil, set it back up on the 3" blocks and glue on the
      legs, giving them the recommended time to dry.  Glue or stick the feet
      on the bottom of the legs and on the underside of the table.  The feet
      combined with the slight forwards tilt of the plexitable allows for
      air circulation for the Amiga.

  - Set it up and away you go!  I didn't feel the need for a leg at the
      front-right corner..you write on the solid part on top of the computer
      and keep disks you're currently using over on the right.  The extra
      leg just would have gotten in the way of the mouse cord and pad.  I
      also thought that the mousepad might get jostled and snap off the leg.


  The Plexi table does raise three new problems, one of which is that it's
a little more awkward to insert and remove disks from df0, but like I said
you'll get used to that in no time.  The second problem is that, unless you
remove the table, the cover for your Amiga (if you have one) won't fit
anymore.  That's life in the fast lane, kid.  You can always lay a nice-
looking piece of cloth across the keyboard.  The last problem is that it
makes it impossible to change joysticks, not that it was any easy operation
before.  I solved that by building a switchbox that allows me to use the
Wico, Suncom or mouse in port #1 and the Wico and either Suncom in port #2,
but yes, that's a little elaborate.  If/when you have to change joysticks
just lift the table off, binders, pencil and all and set it aside for the
duration.  If you can handle a soldering iron you could always make "exten-
sion cords" for the port jacks, maybe with the female ends flush-mounted in a
little box mirror-taped to the side of something.  That's what I was going
to do until I decided upon the rotary switches.

  I'll describe the switchbox just in case you want to do something like it.
It's the same size as df1 and sits on top of it, under the modem.  There are
seven toggle switches and two rotory switches.  The toggles control the
computer, the hard drive, the modem, a Yamaha keyboard, the receiver just by
itself, a Reminder Light (a small blinking red pilot light next to the
switch to remind me about whatever) and a switch that reverses the
stereo speakers.  Don't mind me, I just like switches.  The two rotary
switches are for the joysticks and mouse.  The three joysticks and mouse
plug into the back of the box; two cords come out of it that go into
ports 1 and 2.  All parts acquired at Quement.  The rotary switches are
2-way, 4-position, nice ones, about $10 each.  If you're good enough to do
this then you'll be able to figure out which joystick pins are used and
which aren't.  Appendix A of the Amiga manual has the pin layouts and you'll
probably also have to do some testing and probing.  The joysticks use five
pins, the mouse seven.  For the extra two on the mouse I just by-passed the
rotary switches and ran them straight down to the Amiga.  As far as all the
toggles controlling the various hardware, I have this mass of wires coming
out the back of the box going down through the cable hole to the 2 X 4 where
they go into a custom 12-socket outlet box.  I also have a few green pilot
lights next to some of the switches to remind me something's on, like the
power supply to the Yamaha keyboard.  More?  Okay, inside the box I have one
of those Leviton touch-type dimmer controls.  I removed the touch panel and
soldered a thin wire to the copper prong.  Lined up with all the switches
is a nice bright brass bolthead, with the thin wire attached to it from the
inside.  Touch the bolthead and the bench lights dim or brighten.

  Okay, so I'm like that.  SOMEbody has to be!

                                       *

  Stay looses, gooses!


                                  ** The BenchMaster **