The Pewter Box

by Mark12085

     OK, you can't really call this box an actual "box" since it really has
nothing to do with phreaking, unless you get really creative.  It is,
however, something that is worth throwing together on the weekend and showing
off to your extended family!

     The Pewter Box is a speaker made from a hard drive.  But Mark!  You're
on crack!  Believe it or not, you can actually make very decent speakers for
your radio, boom box, or whatever from a broken hard drive.

     The first step is to find a non-working hard drive that's any size, from
any system, smells like any... anything.  Hopefully the warranty is already
expired otherwise you are going to expire it now.  If the top cover is
simply screwed on, then unscrew it.  There is usually one or more screws under
a "Void If Removed" sticker.  If the top is riveted on, break out your handy
Black & Decker power drill and let the metal fly (you didn't forget your
safety goggles did you?).

     Once the top is off, spin the actual platter around with your greasiest
finger and move the head up and down like a DJ.  Taboo, isn't it?  Most
hard drives also have a PC board with all the microcontrollers and passive
devices screwed on the bottom.  You would want to remove that too.  Strip
all the PC boards, covers, etc.

     What you are looking for are the wires leading to the coil which control
the read/write head.  It wouldn't hurt to isolate the wires to the platter 
either.  On Seagate drives, or mine at least, a small ribbon cable comes out
from under the platter and head coils.  Some drives have terminals either
directly under the coil or on top of it.

     Get two 24 gauge or so wires connected to the speaker output of a stereo
up as loud as it goes.  Warning: try not to short circuit the two wires.  Now
connect the two wires to the coil terminals of the drive.  If they are the
correct wires then you should hear the coil like a speaker.  The head tends
to grind to the bassline (pretty nifty huh).  If you hear nothing, then
either 1) Those aren't the right terminals.  Poke around the drive a bit more
(hey it's already broken anyways) or 2) The stereo is not powerful enough or 
the volume is not high enough.  Once you have found the correct terminals, 
experiment a bit with the wires to get the best sound.  If you connect the
stereo in parallel to the platter, the platter will occasionally spin, adding
a nice effect.

    Obviously this would be very practical if a high powered stereo on the
highest volume was required.  What you should consider is a small 30 watt
or so amplifier, like the kits from Velleman or Ramsey or build one from
scratch and connect it between the "hard speakers" and the sound source.
Connect two or three hard drives in parallel with the sound source and have
a surround sound system.  Now take this to school/work with you and listen
to The Greatest Oldies in style.

Greetz to my oh so wonderful family, Smelly Zero, Ferntheil's Belly
Button, the bloodsucking dandelion, and to all my homies, homeboys, homegirls,
homers, and homes.