Omega-TI Posted March 27, 2018 Share Posted March 27, 2018 Do any of you guys with 3D printers have the capability of making a reproduction of the old Radio Shack Science Fair P-Box kit case? There were two different styles. I personally like the newer tapered look one (without the branding of course), but the standard one would work too. Any idea of pricing? Also... anyone know a source for PDF's of all the instructions manuals for those old kits? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Loguidice Posted March 27, 2018 Share Posted March 27, 2018 Printing it, most likely without much issue depending upon the actual size, but designing the actual model is another thing entirely. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+chue Posted March 27, 2018 Share Posted March 27, 2018 (edited) There's a real one on Ebay for $75 https://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-UNBUILT-Radio-Shack-Science-Fair-Frequency-Standard-P-Box-28-140/201847183920?hash=item2eff079a30:g:~0AAAOSw3v5YsgJt Edited March 27, 2018 by chue 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+chue Posted March 27, 2018 Share Posted March 27, 2018 Some instruction manuals here: http://my.core.com/~sparktron/pbox.html Not PDFs though, just images 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted March 27, 2018 Author Share Posted March 27, 2018 There's a real one on Ebay for $75 https://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-UNBUILT-Radio-Shack-Science-Fair-Frequency-Standard-P-Box-28-140/201847183920?hash=item2eff079a30:g:~0AAAOSw3v5YsgJt Ouch! Spendy... Some instruction manuals here: http://my.core.com/~sparktron/pbox.html Not PDFs though, just images Good enough! THANKS! It only takes a few second to turn them into PDF's. I did not bother to clean it up, but I might when I build one. I slapped together an example below... AM Amplifier Radio.pdf 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discgolfer72 Posted March 27, 2018 Share Posted March 27, 2018 without any size reference or any hole/size spacing I threw this together for the top portion using a standard breadboard as a hole spacing template but its quite small 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted March 27, 2018 Author Share Posted March 27, 2018 without any size reference or any hole/size spacing I threw this together for the top portion using a standard breadboard as a hole spacing template but its quite small Cool! Hopefully someone pops in with the correct spacing. You know, sometimes actually seeing the parts is half the fun, especially if you plan to display it. Some of those old things our fathers and grandfathers built were pretty cool. Can you still buy a Gillette "Blue Blade" razor blade? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted March 27, 2018 Author Share Posted March 27, 2018 without any size reference or any hole/size spacing I threw this together for the top portion using a standard breadboard as a hole spacing template but its quite small BTW - Please let me know if/when you get it perfected and completed. I'm interested in buying one! I do not think I'd be the only one either. Maybe we could all build some projects with discrete components and show them off here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discgolfer72 Posted March 27, 2018 Share Posted March 27, 2018 (edited) I stretched the bread board out a bit so its a bit bigger the holes will be spaced more and a bit larger but should still work for any thing that's not an ic or eeprom man using the breadboard standard and stretching it lol its still pretty darn small 64.10 mm(just over 2.5 inches ) wide 58.70 mm(2.3 inches) deep going by the hole count in the pictures its super tiny guess I can leave it breadboard standard and just increase the hole count to make it a more manageable/larger Edited March 27, 2018 by discgolfer72 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted March 27, 2018 Author Share Posted March 27, 2018 I remember them being at least 5.5" X 4.5. Maybe you can discern the actual size by referencing the battery in this video? Printed up in BLACK would be really classy, especially with a narrow grey bottom. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAiPIJLjvRs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted March 27, 2018 Author Share Posted March 27, 2018 I also wonder if it's possible to still source those little spring connectors? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discgolfer72 Posted March 27, 2018 Share Posted March 27, 2018 I also wonder if it's possible to still source those little spring connectors? going by the video I should be able to count the holes within the aa battery and get a close enough size the holes are pretty far spaced so def no ic / eproms but will suffice for any thru hole components Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted March 27, 2018 Author Share Posted March 27, 2018 EXCELLENT! BTW - - I just found << THIS LINK >> where some guy totally updated a project complete with modern parts sources and it includes an awesome new PDF manual! Something for your board already! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COREi64 Posted March 28, 2018 Share Posted March 28, 2018 (edited) I remember doing some of these kits in my youth. I remember having so much fun assembling them, and the pride when it all worked. Takes me back to when my grandfather took me to Radio Shack to pick out a kit I'd like to work on during one of my summer vacations. Great memories. I'd be happy to do this. Would just need to know the hole size and spacing. Wouldn't take me too long to draft up a model and print off a prototype. I'm envisioning the top in black with a nice mirror finish on it, and perhaps the base in a nice natural/translucent material. Any color combination would of course be possible. So many possibilities that could be done with this idea to build presentation circuits to relive the "good old days". Thomas COREi64 Edited March 28, 2018 by COREi64 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted March 28, 2018 Author Share Posted March 28, 2018 By today's standards those original kit's are pretty basic and not very useful, but still a LOT of fun and a learning experience. Now days we'd probably use stand-offs to mount RPi's, Beaglebone's Bones, Arduino's or even proto-boards on them and then mount controls or support circuitry on the 3D printed boards themselves. There's probably 100's of uses for a modern version. It would be fun to make something up for display that showed the workings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zonie Posted March 28, 2018 Share Posted March 28, 2018 (edited) Personally, I hated the P-Box. Easy to melt with a soldering iron It was easy to cut for switches, and such. Edited March 28, 2018 by Zonie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted March 28, 2018 Author Share Posted March 28, 2018 Personally, I hated the P-Box. Easy to melt with a soldering iron It was easy to cut for switches, and such. HA! I found doing projects on P-Boxes or perf board (like shown below) was much easier for AND CHEAPER for me. Every time I tried making PCB's I would invariably miss a trace or do something else that required me to start over. I lost patience having to re-etch boards. Point to point soldering was an easy way to go. Years later when Tech 200 came out and you could just put the magazine's PCB layout on a copy machine was making PCB's easier... but by then the computer bug hit and I abandoned electronic projects for years. A black & silver color combination would match my TI! Who knows, someone might come up with a cool TI project for a new modern P-Box type base too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discgolfer72 Posted March 28, 2018 Share Posted March 28, 2018 (edited) im printing my first test right now i sized it at 5x 4.5 but my larger 3d printer is busy \so had to use my i3 mini and even tho it says in the specs the print size is 5.9x5.9 i had to shrink it down to 119 mm x 107.30 we will see how it looks then adjust from there i can already see i need to make the outer walls less thick (waste of plastic having them so thick ) Edited March 28, 2018 by discgolfer72 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted March 28, 2018 Author Share Posted March 28, 2018 A beauty in the making! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discgolfer72 Posted March 28, 2018 Share Posted March 28, 2018 how about this lol scaled up the mini 3d printable ti99 on thingiverse to 5 x 4.5 inches then replaced the keyboard and cart tray with breadboard lol 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COREi64 Posted March 28, 2018 Share Posted March 28, 2018 Starting with a more traditional approach, I replicated the basic box as best I could from photos I found on the net. Only spent a few minutes this evening on it, but wanted to try printing something tonight... Here's the render, we'll see what it looks like in the morning... Thomas COREi64 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COREi64 Posted March 28, 2018 Share Posted March 28, 2018 Pleased to say it came out pretty much as you see in the render. I didn't print it in black, as I don't develop in black. I use cheaper less popular colors for that. Anyways, based on the component sizes on a picture, this is what I came up with. From memory, I think it's fairly close to the original size. Now.... where to go from here? I'm open to suggestions. Thomas COREi64 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discgolfer72 Posted March 28, 2018 Share Posted March 28, 2018 Pleased to say it came out pretty much as you see in the render. I didn't print it in black, as I don't develop in black. I use cheaper less popular colors for that. Anyways, based on the component sizes on a picture, this is what I came up with. From memory, I think it's fairly close to the original size. Now.... where to go from here? I'm open to suggestions. Thomas COREi64 looks nice you just need to add the numbers on the top row and letters going down the left at it looks to be an exact match 1 thing how is any other color than black cheaper lol the store I get my filament from sells it all for the same price (microcenter 14.99 for 1 kg ) and after pricing other brands on amazon the trend is the same (just picked up a new hot end ) the only brands I found where one color was cheaper than any others actually had the black around 1 dollar cheaper per 1kg roll and if you buy a 2kg roll black is even better priced than others looks like to make mine match the box art i need to make it have a more drastic angle and scale it up a bit more i also need to change the holes from breadboard square to perf board round then knock off some wall thickness and remove extra material from the front and back side considering ive only ever seen the pics above and never had one in my hands its looking good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted March 28, 2018 Author Share Posted March 28, 2018 Well, since you asked... Suggestion(s): 1) From an aesthetics point of view, every project deserves to 'pop', not just be a 'Plain Jane' or "Ho-Hum looker". To that end, the original P-Box was re-designed. Notice the raised area with the lettering on the sides? That would 'add a little something' to the over all look. 2) Now in the front where the 'Science Fair' raised lettering is, I'd increase the front protrusion out a full inch and replace the lettering with a recessed indent about 1/2 inch tall and 3 inches wide. This way anyone making a project could add their 'own badge' printed up on their printer using the same method << I show here >>. 3) Create a bottom about 1/4 inch tall of a different color (grey perhaps)? 4) I also would not be opposed to a couple of extra rows and columns. 5) Of course the MAIN part SHOULD BE BLACK... red looks so cheap! .......................................................... well..... you DID ask! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discgolfer72 Posted March 28, 2018 Share Posted March 28, 2018 (edited) Well, since you asked... .......................................................... well..... you DID ask! ok so now I have the actual perf board at around 5inches that makes the total size 153.11 x 158.90 mm and per request I added a nameplate / build info recess to the bottom right Edited March 28, 2018 by discgolfer72 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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