ReMaking My Bedside Lamp

Back in my university days, I once purchased a rather spiffing bedisde lamp from the local lighting shop. It used low-voltage halogen bulbs, like many desklamps these days, but these were mounted in removable pods that could be attached to four rails coming up from the base of the lamp. This allowed the bulbs to be put on any side of the lamp, as well as sliding up and down.

Removable Pod

The whole thing looked marvellously space-age and for six years it sat by my bedside. Unfortunately the years haven't been kind to it, with the stainless-steel parts getting stained, the brushed metal becoming rusted metal, and one of the glass pods having an unfortunate meeting with a wall last Christmas.

Old and Busted

The worst part of it was the power switch, an unorthodox design that uses a rotating wheel to form a connection, had somehow cracked and started to turn itself on and off at will, as well as heating up alarmingly when the lamp was in use.

Cracked Switch

The time had come, my friends, for a new lamp.
I looked far and wide, seeing some attractive but hideously expensive models, and a lot of cheap rubbish, and never quite finding what I wanted. I started to think about whether I needed to throw away a still-working lamp when I could instead try to fix it, or even improve it.
I remembered the Maker's Motto: If you can't open it, you don't own it.
Well, don't I own my lamp? Sure, it was ugly and unreliable, but I knew that I had the skills to fix it, and even improve on it.
I knew I would need some kind of base, something to put the bulbs in, and a rigid structure to hold it up. The first two requirements were filled with a trip to the bargain store for some of my trademark stainless steel cookware, and the frame could be knocked up from something I already had lying around, my Meccano Big Ben kit. With plenty of long beams and some solid plates for mounting heavy things to, it would be just the ticket for my new lamp.

My first step was to put the two bulb assemblies into a single mounting, in this case made from a clear-topped metal jar.

Halogen Bulbs

The bulbs are kept in the same sockets from the old lamp, and screwed into the bottom of the jar. The two smaller holes are to provide ventilation in the sealed container.
That done, I attached the jar to the Meccano frame.

Bulb Holder

The frame is a rigid design, with the bulb holder pivoting up and down. I decided against making the rest of the frame movable, as I couldn't get the Meccano joints to reliably hold the weight of the bulb holder in place.

Back View of Lamp

The base of the lamp was made from a metal cooking bowl, which was the right size and shape for the job, and already had some nice-looking circular holes cut around the rim. Bolting a small Meccano assembly over one of these holes let me attach the power cable so it can't be pulled out. The lamp runs on 12 volts, with an external power brick, so I only had to deal with low-voltage wiring in this case.

Front View of Lamp

I used a simple toggle switch from my parts bin for the power switch, so now I can turn the lamp on and off without burning my hands on the cracked rotary switch it had before.

Finished Lamp

With all that done, I put the freshly rebodied lamp back on my bedside table, and sat down to finish my book...

All Your Base are in Japanese

Back in my local Gametraders, I made another exciting find on the Retro Games shelf.

Zero Wing

Yep, it's Zero Wing, of All Your Base fame! According to the old price tag still on the box, it was purchased in Kuala Lumpur for the bargain price of 239 dollars (Malaysian dollars I guess) but I was being offered this slice of videogaming history for a mere ten of our gold coins. How could I resist?

The cartridge, designed for the Japanese version of the Megadrive, won't fit in an Aussie console, but I have ways around these obstacles...

My Megadrive Test Rig

Using the guts of my second Megadrive Backpack, I fired up the game and prepared to see a little slice of gaming history first-hand...

Why yes, I will press start button!

I waited for the now-infamous intro to appear...

Hmm...

This is not as I expected...

What you say?

It seems that I had not in fact found the poorly-translated English version of the game, but the untranslated Japanese version. Oh well, nothing for it but to take off every "zig", or as they say in Japan...

Having got that out of the way, I decided to actually play the game, and was further puzzled by all the in-game text being in English again.

Wow a side-scrolling shooter on the Megadrive!

So is it the Japanese cartridge? Is it a Chinese pirate version with English text hacked in (Hence the packaging with no SEGA logos)? Am I expecting too much for ten dollars?
The answers to these questions and more probably won't be found in my next update!

Learning Illustrator

Just a quick post to document my first attempts at using Adobe Illustrator for creating graphics instead of my usual Photoshop. I've played with the tools before, but I needed some kind of inspiration to get really into it.

The only thing that could save me was the power of SEGA!

With the graceful lines and curves of the Megadrive to guide my hand, I was quickly able to adapt to the Illustrator workflow and start playing with line thicknesses and vertex handles.
Even after all these years, Sega's little console that could is still proving its worth.

The Megapack - Sega Megadrive Backpack

Recently I was browsing the Burwood branch of Gametraders and I was fortunate enough to find my favourite console project base, a Sega Megadrive II, in working order with controllers and cables.
A redesign of the original Megadrive, the smaller Megadrive II board can be fit into a variety of casings, and its power requirements are low enough that it can be used for a portable system, like my earlier project, the SEGA MDP. After purchasing the console, I took it home and ripped out the circuit board for my next Sega-related project.

In the meantime, I was left with the empty plastic casing, which I knew from previous experience makes a great basis for a retro-geek fashion accessory. I'd already made my last MDII into a backpack with built-in MP3 for my lady love, but I liked it so much I had a hard time giving it away. Now was my chance to have one for myself.

Grinding out the inner framework leaves a bigger interior space and a sturdy outer shell, perfect for carrying your personal possessions.

Megapack

I chopped some straps off a cheap schoolbag, which as well as having a red and black colour scheme to match the console, are adjustable for added comfort

Megapack showing straps

Keeping things together at the fat end are these silver hinges, originally intended for jewel boxes and other woodwork projects.

Hinges

The pointy end of the console is held closed with these silver latches, also intended for use on wooden boxes. A little bending was needed to get them mounted cleanly onto the curved surface of the Sega, but they fit well now and have that great "clicky" briefcase feel when you open them.

Metal Latches

For the inside, I chose the same black fur as my last Sega backpack, but with a different choice of fabric for the side panels.
The sides are still covered with a red Chinese print fabric, glued at the bottom over an accordion-folded cardboard frame. The expanding side panels let the bag open wide enough and fold away when closed.

Megapack Open

The side panels and lining are sewn together by hand and form a single unit that is then attached to the plastic case with velcro.

Megapack Open

The finished backpack is fairly small, big enough for my wallet, keys, mobile phone and, ironically for an old-school Sega fan, my Nintendo DS Lite (which I then use to play Sonic Rush, so it's OK)
To give you an idea of the scale of the finished backpack and how it looks stuck on someone's back, you can check out these glossy model shots below.

I call this look "Blue Steel"

For extra credit, try getting one of these past the bouncers on a Saturday night. "Why yes, it does look like a suicide bombing rig..."

My back isn't that big, the bag is just small

As well as being incredibly stylish, the Megapack is a lightweight and tough receptacle for your personal effects when out at the arcades playing Virtua Fighter and guaranteed to trump your mate's ironically hip "Vote Pedro" t-shirt at the next techie social event.
My only complaint is that the Megadrive is a bit thin to keep much stuff in. Now the N64, on the other hand...