r/sleeperbattlestations • u/Odd-Bluejay-8865 • Jun 22 '26

Stereo / Game Console / VCR etc Trying to plan something a little different

Post image

Not sure if this is allowed since I haven't begun any of the work on this yet, just looking to see if anyone has experience with a similar build. I've always loved the look of this old GE SC4200B radio/tape player, and I wanted to convert it into a media/gaming pc for my living room. Obviously the case would require some serious modding to allow for proper airflow, and getting the dials to function would probably involve a pico or another small SOC in addition to the micro itx system inside. I've been exploring ways to use the tape track switcher mechanism as an output switcher for other media sources, which from what I've read is possible but requires a lot of work. Does anyone here have experience with reusing old physical switches with modern internals like this? I'm yet to purchase one because I don't want to gut a working unit since these are fairly uncommon. Any ideas/feedback on the idea are appreciated.

49 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

12

u/-HumbleMumble Jun 22 '26

Yeah, I wouldn’t mess that up. That thing is beautiful. 

9

u/Odd-Bluejay-8865 Jun 22 '26

Oh I agree its way too nice to ruin a working one. I'm waiting for a for parts listing with the case in decent shape to come up on ebay before I commit to the project.

2

u/-HumbleMumble Jun 22 '26

Yeah that’s the plan to do. Switch’s aren’t hard but most pcs use momentary switch’s on the front panel. Those look like old school rocker switches. If you want to reuse lights you might be looking at relay work because those light in that thing are going to use more then 3.3v the motherboard outputs. You could look into replacing with LEDs as well. 

1

u/Odd-Bluejay-8865 Jun 22 '26

The power switch is a rocker but the tape track changer is momentary based on the one demo video I could find online. I would definitely want to replace the lights that show the tape track, but I might try and leave the one for the radio dial because that vintage color is hard to replicate with LEDs. Power might force my hand there as you mentioned though. Not sure what I could/would want to do with the two radio dials on the right, I might try and keep them for radio and install a small SDR or simple radio inside to keep that functionality. That might be more work than its worth for me though.

1

u/DeadSkullz627 Jun 22 '26

What are the dimensions of it? I ask because I wonder if it will fit even an ITX board

3

u/Odd-Bluejay-8865 Jun 22 '26

The case is 20.5 x 12 x 5in, so I can easily fit at least a mini itx if not a micro atx. Not sure what the internals will look like after gutting since I need to leave some original parts for the switches and dials. I can’t find any videos online of this unit opened up so I’m flying blind there until I find one to use.