Desert Bunker

This thrown together hunk of junk was made in a matter of fifteen minutes, but significantly improves my ability to detect and use access points previously untouchable by my consumer-grade USB Wifi adapter, the DWL-G122.

I salvaged the dish from my roof, of which I didn’t even know existed until I went out back the pick weeds and noticed the oddly shaped semi-dome in a strategically hidden location. The presentation stand was found innocently wasting away in my garage.

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I was finally able to get all of the critical parts that I needed to put my beloved but obsolete Gateway Solo 9500 laptop back to working condition again. Since I’m seriously considering putting this whole motherboard into a custom case of some sort, I decided not to buy new screws and/or keyboard keys.

I dug through dozens of boxes in my garage, and came across the USB and sound input/output module, so I that’s another ten dollars kept in my pocket. I found a perfectly working Solo 9500 CD drive on ebay, which only set me back about twelve dollars, plus shipping. Another part I was very lucky to find, was the USB and sound input/output module. Some crazy snake oilers were peddling this hard to find piece for about eighty-eight dollars, while there was a single seller from Philadelphia who was kindly only asking for ten dollars. If it weren’t for him/her, my restoration project would have screeched to a complete halt for a while, possibly months.

Adding pictures of my collected parts and the re-assembled laptop soon.

Patient: Gateway Solo 9500

My goal is to get this eight year old laptop to full working condition, without spending a lot of cash. Some of the problems I might encounter during this procedure are:

• Missing Screws (though might not be a problem if I find another suitable enclosure)
• Overheating CPU, on a count of not being used for many years
• Rare/hard to find parts
• Boredom

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This is my crappy version of those $10k touch screens that allow multiple inputs. The software I used was TouchLib, and I followed several tutorials from Instructables.com. A big thanks goes out to cerupcat for this ingenious yet cheap and simple implementation.

Parts needed:
• A webcam with high FPS.
• A small to medium size box.
• A piece of blank paper.
• A sturdy piece of flat and clear material.
• Scotch tape.
• Soft, even, and non-directional lighting (make sure you have multiple light sources to prevent hard shadows.)

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I decided to switch to a blogging scheme instead of a not-so-organized html based layout. This will be a lot easier for me to maintain, easier to read, and give those who wish to ask questions or leave comments a simpler way to contact me.

I enjoy what I do and I hope you do too.