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Pseudonymous maker "Darkextratoasty" has brought an old Samsung combination TV and radio unit back to life as a Raspberry Pi-powered reasonably-portable computer, retaining its black-and-white cathode-ray tube (CRT) display.

"I got it from a family member," Darkextratoasty explains of the Samsung BT-123AJ TV/radio at the heart of his build, a portable device released in 1982 which combined a 5" black-and-white CRT TV with analog tuner with an AM/FM radio and support for AC, DC, and battery power. "[It has] a Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ shoved inside to turn it into a usable standalone computer."

In addition to the TV/radio and the Raspberry Pi single-board computer, the upcycling project makes use of a HiFiBerry Zero DAC+ HAT add-on, a universal RF modulator, and a 19V laptop charger as a power supply — feeding a 5V 2A buck converter and a separate 12V buck converter.

A composite video signal is sent from the Raspberry Pi to the RF modulator, which — as its name would suggest — modulates it into an analog radio-frequency signal that can be fed directly into the Very High Frequency (VHF) antenna input in the TV's original circuitry. The high-quality audio signal from the HiFiBerry Zero DAC+ is also fed into the modulator, providing audio capabilities through the TV/radio's built-in speaker, while power for both the modulator and the Raspberry Pi come from the buck converters tapped into the 19V supply.

"There really wasn't a lot I did to the TV/radio," Darkextratoasty notes. "I removed the power supply section, replaced the IO panel, and connected the output of the RF modulator to the VHF input. The power section was super easy, it was it's own PCB and a transformer. I simply unplugged it from the main board and tossed it.

"The I/O [Input/Output] panel was a massive stroke of luck, it simply slid out so I didn't even have to cut anything to replace it. I modeled it in Fusion 360, added some cut-outs for the Raspberry Pi USB and Ethernet connectors and a DC jack, and 3D printed a replacement."

More details on the project are available on Darkextratoasty's GitHub repository, alongside a basic schematic; 3D-printable files for the IO panel are to follow "once I've revised them a bit," the maker pledges.

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