Control panel mockup

Genuine missile status indicator lights, found on eBay. "Missile Away!"

Airliner surplus cockpit loudspeaker

"Nuclear Consent" cockpit switch, used in flight simulators.

LCD Screen (for movies and photos)

Ominous LED countdown timer will go here. (Useful for the kitchen)

Airliner surplus, found at a Tucson scrapyard

Bank of randomly-blinking LEDs goes here

Surplus indicator dial

Possible photo card reader

More blinky lights

Control panel mockup by Telstar Logistics.

This is a very rough mockup of the Cold War-style control panel I want to build for our kitchen this summer. I'm aiming for a look that's part-Batcave, part-Dr. Strangelove.

Some of the parts shown here are real, other are just paper printouts, positioned for size and placement. I've been gathering parts for about 2 years... the next step is to figure out how to wire it all together so it does something... and nothing.

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Comments

travísimo says:

Hahah... you obviously have the same cold war tech fetish as I do. :)
Posted 55 months ago. ( permalink )

feralboy says:

Oh, man.. that is so hot.

Did you see this watch? I would say it's right up your alley.
Posted 55 months ago. ( permalink )

Matt Stevens says:

Todd, given the sources of your parts, please be very sure that it does nothing. ;-)

Instant fave. Fun idea.
Posted 55 months ago. ( permalink )

jurvetson says:

By far the coolest home remodeling idea I have ever seen.

Make 2 while your at it, and you could make a tidy profit on the whole project.... ;-)
Posted 55 months ago. ( permalink )

travísimo says:

Heh. Steve's right.

...although I'd imagine that collecting all the parts for multiple panels would involve considerable effort. :)
Posted 55 months ago. ( permalink )

Nell M says:

Awesome project. Hope you post a photo of the finished product.
Posted 55 months ago. ( permalink )

The Rocketeer says:

I agree with Steve... you could make some profit on this idea. You have one of the coolest homes I've ever seen. I'd love to do some of the things you have done with your home. Keep up the good work.

While I'm recouperating, I'll dig around in my junk bin and see if I can find some old 12 volt counters that increment digits when triggered (from the cold war era).
Posted 55 months ago. ( permalink )

travísimo says:

I suggest using some Nixie tubes. :)

For those who aren't familiar with the term, I mean those old tubes that had a separate cathode for each of 10 digits that would glow when brought to a fairly high voltage relative to the anode. The "display" portion of the tube looked like this:

Posted 55 months ago. ( permalink )

Matt Stevens says:

So that's what they're called. I've always associated them with electronics from my youth. My dad had one of the first electronic calculators--a big old thing covering the area of a modern tablet PC, but many times heavier. It used nixie tubes for its readout, and the entire device used to fascinate me. I still remember its hot-electronics-and-plastic smell.

EDIT: Anybody over the age of 30 or so will know from personal experience what I mean when I say "early electronic calculator." But I recently realized that a lot of adults don't remember the days of rotary-dial phones, 5-channel monochrome TVs and analog records. So, now I describe these things.
Posted 55 months ago. ( permalink )

Telstar Logistics says:

Speaking of Nixie tubes, check out this entry on the FANTASTIC Finkbilt blog. Lots of info on how to build/use Nixie tubes.
Posted 55 months ago. ( permalink )

Cranky Media Guy says:

Seems like all you guys are into Cold War stuff. In that case, you'll LOVE conelrad.com .
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

Telstar Logistics says:

Of course we love conelrad.com!
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

Matt Stevens says:

I checked out your set of "after" photos for your house (fantastic, BTW), but the kitchen photos didn't show any blinky self-destruct panels. Did you ever have the chance to build this thing?
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

Telstar Logistics says:

No, Matt, I haven't. The kitchen control panel more or less migrated to the living room media rack, shown below. The top panel, for example, is a hybrid of a vintage control panel from a training simulator, with a blinky clock that I added myself. Likewise, I also added the row of yellow lights you can see in the photo to an old Marconi Noise Generator. (Here's what it looked likebefore.)

In other words, many of the "zones" I planned to build into the original "all in one" panel have diffused throughout the media rack.

Within the rack, I still plan to scratch-build one panel that will integrate some of the other elements shown above - esp. the old missile launch indicators, shielded switches, and perhaps a small video screen. (it would replace the chrome thing below the oscilloscope in the photo below.) It'll happen... soon. I promise. Really.

For the kitchen, I've got a new idea: I want to build a "Cold War Kitchen Timer" -- basically, a small metal enclosure with a burly rubberized keypad on the front, and a big red LED countdown indicator sticking out of the top. It'd work like a regular kitchen timer, but when the timer strikes zero, it would play an audio file of an air raid siren. It's a fun idea, but seeing as how I have no idea how to do the actual electronics, that one might take me a bit longer to figure out! But what is life without silly projects to keep us inspired, eh?

Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

Matt Stevens says:

They keep us inspired, too. By the way, ever think about using two keys, turned at once, to start that timer? :-)
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

bsmif says:

Hey I recognize that spare meter!
Posted 32 months ago. ( permalink )

paperrobots1999 says:

Oh man, these are incredible. I need one for my desk, I don't even care what it does. How come no one makes phones like these?
Posted 31 months ago. ( permalink )

feralboy says:

the patron saint of nerds, steve wozniak, hasa nixie tube watch!
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

intenstinal_fortitude says:

If you ever get to Orlando/Winter Park, FL - you need to check this place out. Little bit of this- little bit of that...

www.skycraftsurplus.com/index.asp?PAGEACTION= CONTACTUS
Posted 26 months ago. ( permalink )

The Rocketeer says:

intenstinal_fortitude I drove past that place two weeks ago when I was there! If I had known it was a haven for blinky light panels and switches, I might have stopped and drooled a bit...

I'll be back one day...
Posted 26 months ago. ( permalink )

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Control panel mockup

Comments

travísimo says:

feralboy says:

Matt Stevens says:

jurvetson says:

travísimo says:

Nell M says:

The Rocketeer says:

travísimo says:

Matt Stevens says:

Telstar Logistics says:

Cranky Media Guy says:

Telstar Logistics says:

Matt Stevens says:

Telstar Logistics says:

Matt Stevens says:

bsmif says:

paperrobots1999 says:

feralboy says:

intenstinal_fortitude says:

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