Apple SC Peripherals - mods and makeovers

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

I've been fiddling around with an AppleCD SC and Hard Disk 20SC for more than a few years now. A pair of topics have popped up recently about using this series of cases to house SCSI2SD so I thought I'd gather together what I've posted in those threads and spin out a few notions I've come up with here instead of threadjacking any further. The other threads:








Various pic of the innards starting with PSU details:

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Thoughts were about retaining function of the power switch on the original SC series cases. Not much of a problem, especially if someone can identify that power connector. Finding it, the PCB Pins for it and better yet, a shrouded male connector for cable connect would be very helpful for this project and probably other Apple PSU case mods. This three position connector/two pin arrangement in the SC PSU is from the same series as the six position connector used in the IIsi PSU. Tha's wired a bit differently, adding another pair of hot legs for the aux plug out connection and what I figure probably has to do with the soft power switching setup.

I'll have to dig out the mounting bracket for the Optical Drive for comparison and another photo session, but here's what I have up so far:

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Front and back views of the sheet metal bracket show how HDD and probably CD are raised off the floor of the case. Not quite enough room for mounting SCSI2SD underneath a drive however.

More pics to come, just wanted to get this one rolling.

 

[Crutch]

Cool!  Thanks for the pics.  I left the original PSU in mine (one of the early unmarked beige 20SC’s, so it matches the color of my 512k-upgraded-to-a-Plus), removed the (bad) spinning platter HD, screwed a SCSI2SD 5.1 into one of the brackets made for it sold by Inertial Computing, and epoxied that bracket to the little struts running across the base of the 20SC after removing the lower metal liner. Then I hooked the vintage PSU to my SCSI2SD using a Molex connector.  Finally I used a little piece of bent styrene card (epoxied to the case bottom) to get a green LED to the right height in front of the little window on the case front, and soldered leads from the LED to the LED connector on the SCSI2SD so it blinks when the HD is accessed.  Here’s my finished setup in action — yeah it doesn’t show much that’s interesting, I’ll post pics of the insides when I open it up sometime soon (I am always scared to open the thing, it seems really easy to break the little tabs that hold the case together).  It’s fast!  (Well, probably helps that I have a 25MHz 030 in the Plus.)  At some point I want to add a second LED that’s wired directly to the PSU, so I’ll see the one LED lit any time the switch is on, and it will flash brighter when the HD is accessed.  Or I suppose I could use a single LED connected to the SCSI2SD but adding an inverter in between for the same effect if I want to get more thoughtful about it.

I would like to do this to an HD20 to really match the vintage look of my used-to-be-a-512k, but I haven’t seen a dead HD20 on offer lately (and by the way, the working HD20s for sale on eBay always seem to be at crazy high prices ... like $300??  Seems like it’s cheaper to just buy an old Mac that comes with one, weirdly, they’re not that rare.)

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

De nada. Can't wait to see what you did on the inside, I hope more folks will chime in to show what they've done. I'm working on several reversible hacks and more ambitious notions for printed versions in full and scaled down form factors of the SC Series peripheral cases.

 

[K Trueno]

Cool!  Thanks for the pics.  I left the original PSU in mine (one of the early unmarked beige 20SC’s, so it matches the color of my 512k-upgraded-to-a-Plus), removed the (bad) spinning platter HD, screwed a SCSI2SD 5.1 into one of the brackets made for it sold by Inertial Computing, and epoxied that bracket to the little struts running across the base of the 20SC after removing the lower metal liner. Then I hooked the vintage PSU to my SCSI2SD using a Molex connector.  Finally I used a little piece of bent styrene card (epoxied to the case bottom) to get a green LED to the right height in front of the little window on the case front, and soldered leads from the LED to the LED connector on the SCSI2SD so it blinks when the HD is accessed.  Here’s my finished setup in action — yeah it doesn’t show much that’s interesting, I’ll post pics of the insides when I open it up sometime soon (I am always scared to open the thing, it seems really easy to break the little tabs that hold the case together).  It’s fast!  (Well, probably helps that I have a 25MHz 030 in the Plus.)  At some point I want to add a second LED that’s wired directly to the PSU, so I’ll see the one LED lit any time the switch is on, and it will flash brighter when the HD is accessed.  Or I suppose I could use a single LED connected to the SCSI2SD but adding an inverter in between for the same effect if I want to get more thoughtful about it.

I would like to do this to an HD20 to really match the vintage look of my used-to-be-a-512k, but I haven’t seen a dead HD20 on offer lately (and by the way, the working HD20s for sale on eBay always seem to be at crazy high prices ... like $300??  Seems like it’s cheaper to just buy an old Mac that comes with one, weirdly, they’re not that rare.)

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That’s sweet!  It’s like the fastest possible Mac of the original design. How fast does it compare to say a stock SE/30?  Does your accelerator bump up the bus speed too?

 

[Crutch]

That’s sweet!  It’s like the fastest possible Mac of the original design. How fast does it compare to say a stock SE/30?  Does your accelerator bump up the bus speed too?

Thanks!  You got it, that’s exactly what I was going for ... the 1984(ish ... aside from the HD) look but more usable.  One day I’m going to do an internal SCSI mod so I can hide the HD too.  I will run some performance tests soon and report back, my SE/30 is in pieces right now on my dining room table (thank you to my wife for being patient with my project...).

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

More piccies of the giblets:





edit: CDSC-20SC-70pct-Series 3.5" Peripherals: direct comparisons

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

In the 20SC printed reproduction thread @PotatoFi posted I made the suggestion that printing scaled models in one piece would be preferable to trying to print at full size in sections. 80%/125% is one of my favorite conversion pairs for working at two sizes in prototyping as they scale back and forth with ease and little cumulative error.

However a quick approximation by slanted ruler yielded the figure of 70% as the optimal size for a series of 3.5" peripheral cases base on the SC Series form factor. The black box has power plug socket at one end and MOLEX on the cable. They're included with inexpensive bi-directional SATA/IDE/USB converters. Haven't looked for them or any other PSU, but some might be available for less or this one separately.

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One inch = 10%

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70% seems about right unless you want to match the width of the top of the Quadra 950 for MO/Syquest7270/Zip removables stacked on top. Looks very nice at the smaller 70% however.





A stack of full scale SC Series reproductions would be a bit much. I'd opt for AppleCD SC under a Compact with 70% scale HD 20SC/SCSI2SD stacked with removable media drive or two sitting next to the ergonomically correct height Compact.

Speaking of the SCSI2SD I don;t have as yet, here's what I think would be the optimal method of mounting it in either a full size reproduction or the 70% series shown:

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Inverted SCSI2SD ski jump ramp allows immediate access to the business end of the card making swapping SD cards for flexibility, portability between Macs and hooking up that tiny little USB connector/cable for tweaking setups.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Found them: illustrations were posted in the Additional New Case Ideas thread that was split off from the Clear SE/SE/30 thread. 'd suggest modeling the scaled preipheral cases in four modules. Case below would have been two injectiomolded parts attached to whatever chassis/bottom plate would work out best, metal or plexi. Top, sides and clip returns to hold tho to the assembly were to be router cut and bent. Detailing on top surface after the bend lines were grooved with a "V" bit and registration holes drilled into the periphery of the blank with same.

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Same could be done with return clips on the lower "side" for vertical orientation with "top/bottom/side unit" with return clips underneath. Same as with the MiniSC series, baseline would be without line detailing, but also without the "FDD" opening equivalent for removables. Those were to have been done on a router table jig setup as well.

A row of MiniSC peripherals could be configured in the Jonathan ProtoMac form factor:

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or as a full-on Jonathan hack. [}]   But back to the practical, a side-stacked rack of Jonathan inspired MiniSC peripherals would rock.

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An additional bit of depth  at the back end would allow for a slot loader or cartridge loader to fit in with MO/SyQuest20/Zip and a PSU Module to supply them all on the left and a swingout escape hatched SCSI2SD on the right.

Thats a good enough mix for now: informational, inspirational and loony tunes posts for the day complete. Back to AI to for some isometric views of the modular parts for MiniSC Peripherals next.

Comments?

 

[maceffects]

Comments: I wish I had more money to do so many projects. 

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

:lol: I wish I had more time and a longer attention span, projects I can do on the cheap.

Been toying with this a bit. I think I'll scale it up to 80% of real size so 5.25" removable media drives will fit/ The other option is to go with a more elongated riff on the SC form factor in miniature.