XE Retro Style LCD Monitor

[flashjazzcat]

Just finished this:

 

 

Apart from having to fix a loose wire, the thing worked perfectly first time. It's the panel and guts from my Kenmark 15" LCD TV inside the case of the Packard Bell 15" VGA monitor I picked up from the flea market a couple of months back. It was a drastic job, which I'll describe in detail tomorrow. The remote IR sensor, menu buttons and speakers work, and the unit has SCART, VGA, s-video, and composite inputs. It took me two days to do this and I am exhausted...

 

I'm toying with the idea of constructing some kind of Atari badge for the front.

Edited June 4, 2010 by flashjazzcat

[thgill]

Looks awesome.

[Lord Thag]

Nice job. Goes great with your sio2sd mod

 

I just picked up a nice Dynex 15' LCD that looks like it was made to go with my 800xl, and the signal quality is pretty decent too, even without a video mod to the XL (something I need to look into doing).

 

By the way, did you get the paypal transfer ok for the sio2sd?

[+David_P]

If you can get the side label from an XE lightgun it looks pretty snazzy. Down in my basement is my "Atari XE Game System" green composite monitor - once the repairs are done and my Ataris are set up again I'll put up a picture.

[Mathy]

Hello Jon

 

While you're covering "Packard Bell" with "Atari", you might want to spray the buttons silver.

 

greetings

 

Mathy

[labrat]

Looks great! I have a 14" LCD TV that I've been meaning to do something like this with; you may have just inspired a weekend project.

[puppetmark]

very very cool. I always wanted a matching LCD monitor for my XE computers!

[flashjazzcat]

Thanks guys! I'll put a few more pictures up later: the back panel turned out pretty well since I was able to get parts of the original steel chassis cut down on Thursday (must buy an angle grinder).

 

I just picked up a nice Dynex 15' LCD that looks like it was made to go with my 800xl, and the signal quality is pretty decent too, even without a video mod to the XL (something I need to look into doing).

 

By the way, did you get the paypal transfer ok for the sio2sd?

Would love to see pics of that Dynex. Yes - I received the PayPal transfer OK (many thanks). I thought I had responded by email: apologies if I didn't. It's been a hectic week.

 

While you're covering "Packard Bell" with "Atari", you might want to spray the buttons silver.

 

The buttons on the bezel are probably something I'll look at again later when I've physically recovered from this job. Since there are only four buttons, you can call up the menu, scroll through the options, and select one, but you can't make any adjustments. Really I need two more buttons and that will involve a complete re-design of the button daughterboard. As it stands, I've just meticulously traced the original connections from the daughterboard and re-wired the cable so that it plugs straight into the header of the Kenmark motherboard. The IR sensor daughterboard originally carried the power LED (dual colour), so I had to re-route the two wires to the LED which sits on the Packard Bell's button daughterboard. I was geniunely surprised to discover I had got all the connections right first time. The buttons are not an urgent issue anyway, since the remote control works.

[flashjazzcat]

OK. I didn't really take a lot of photographs during the conversion work: I was pretty stressed the whole time, because it was my best 15" TFT in bits on the table and the nicest case with holes drilled into it...

 

 

 

 

The steel chassis from the Packard Bell was cut up so all I had left were two supporting brackets for the panel and the I/O plate. The I/O fascia was glued in place with epoxy resin (there was a large lip which glued flat onto the inside of the back casing, so it's strong) after a suitable rectangle had been milled out of the back of the case, and the supporting brackets were screwed to the side of the Kenmark panel with standoffs (loose nuts) because the panel frame was narrower than that of the Samsung original. I didn't use the Samsung panel because the backlight cables wouldn't fit the Kenmark's inverter, so I played safe and kept things simple.

 

The Kenmark's PCB was hot-glued straight to the back of the case, as were the speakers. Everything fits pretty snugly and the front bezel snapped back on to create a fairly sturdy assembly. I had to drill a hole in the front for the IR sensor, as I also did around the back for the power jack, which had to be moved from the PCB to a suitable location just above the stand's hinge.

 

I notice the panel is actually not flush with the bezel: I assume the steel brackets can be bent forward slightly to bring it flush.

[w1k]

very nice

[Crazy Climber]

That's freakin' sweet!

[hitchcock4]

OK. I didn't really take a lot of photographs during the conversion work: I was pretty stressed the whole time, because it was my best 15" TFT in bits on the table and the nicest case with holes drilled into it...

I can understand your nervousness.

It looks great, though!

[+Guitarman]

Now, to go with the '130XE' and 'XM301', you should make a tag that says 'XD310' (D for display).

[flashjazzcat]

I'm keen to make a custom badge for it: I'm trying to find some kind of plastic sheet I can print onto which would be durable and waterproof.

 

I also managed to get into the panel's service menu and sort the AR and zoom out so that the display fills more of the screen.

[+David_P]

I also managed to get into the panel's service menu and sort the AR and zoom out so that the display fills more of the screen.

 

I must admit - when I read "AR" my first thought was "The monitor has a special setting for Alternate Reality?"

[flashjazzcat]

I must admit - when I read "AR" my first thought was "The monitor has a special setting for Alternate Reality?"

LOL. That must be what I'm living in at the moment if I'm doing jobs like this...

 

I had a look on the MyPix website and they do acrylic stickers and such like quite cheaply. I might make up a flat badge in a paint program and get one printed off.