This was the most ambitious Discarded Tech project to date, the objective was to create a case for the famous Raspberry Pi using nothing other than stuff that was laying around… enter stage left… The Digital Linear Tape (DLT)!
The humble DLT was developed around 1984 by “Digital Equipment Corporation” (DEC)
Original capacities were around 94Mb and today’s Super DLT versions go 600GB and up! (And yes, somehow in the world of cheap hard drives, and flash storage, it is still required to make tape backups… although I have worked with quite a few CTO’s/CIO’s that have finally admitted that there is a better way, all we are waiting for is better bandwidth, and lesser download restrictions, then uploading “tape images” into a cloud looks like a viable backup storage solution!)
Unboxing the Raspberry Pi… the nervous anticipation did cause quite a sweaty palm!
For this project, simple tools namely: Stanley knife, small pliars, a good work surface, and loads of patience! Firstly I started with carving out the internal plastic structure, so that the Raspberry Pi motherboard would fit snugly, without being squashed when the lid is screwed on!
As you can see, careful craftmanship with a Stanley Knife needed here to ensure that the RJ45 socket and dual USB ports are accessible once the case is screwed bacl together.
More careful carving, micro USB port exposed for power etc etc
WOW, I could not have planned it better, having the Raspberry Pi logo visible in the little window was a real winner!
The tape flap kept in tact by getting the spring loaded in place to expose the HDMI port
Once baked smother in a light “Raspbian” image on an SD card and boot!
So, in conclusion, if you are looking for a cheap case for your Raspberry Pi, take a look around at some of your old Tech, see what you can re-use before it just becomes more… Discarded Tech!