Are There Any Analog Gauges Out There?

[Maxi Murdok]

First off, thanks for reading this. Second of all, I know about the gauges Apevia cases have, and while they aren't the best,...or close to the best - for the case I am building they would work swell. It's just been difficult to locate any off the Apevia case for sale by themselves. Also, I discovered Gigabyte Visuals but other than Australia & New Zealand I haven't found any one closer that sells them, not to mention they are 3 in 1 gauges. I'd rather have analog gauges for each function monitored.

"For the love of god man, why?" ...you may be asking yourself. We'll, I'm building a Steampunk case and I would like to have working analog gauges. I have made non-working faux gauges that light up but functional gauges obviously would be much better. I have several tutorials on making my own gauges from real gauges, and the gauges themselves but it's no small under-taking, at least for me that is.

So, does anyone know if there are any other types of analog gauges out there on the market or anyone who makes them to order on spec? If I had the time I think I wouldn't mind supplying the steampunk community with analog gauges. I'm new to steampunking and so far my case is coming along better than I had hoped. The gauges would just be the perfect touch.

Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions you may have!

 

[Someone Somewhere]

What, basically, do you want them to measure? You should be able to get standard analog voltmeters/ammeters for next to nothing, but that's not really going to show you much.

Although an ammeter across the CPU or GPU +12V feeds would be a pretty nice indicator of system load...

How about these? http://www.amazon.com/0-20A-Measure-Analog-Ammeter-Amperemeter/dp/B00XBG2LMA/

Can't find anything that lights up, sorry. You might be able to retrofit LEDs, though.

 

[Maxi Murdok]

Hi! Thanks for the reply, it's appreciated! Well, the link you sent are basically like the 3 gauges I currently have for this project. To make my own all the tutorials have me taking the gauge apart and re-making the faceplate in Photoshop or Gimp to reflect what the gauge is for. I also have some rectangular ones as well, but I use them for lamps and other things. Some work, some are just eye candy that add to the feel of the project. For instance, the gauges need not be literal functional gauges. For instance I made a faux gauge that "monitors" the INTERNAL OPERATIONS DAMPENER or the LUMINIFEROUS AETHER MEMORY which in steampunk terminology could mean anything. But here again, even if they did just monitor system load or ram usage they would fit the theme even if just for show. And I do add LED's to them. God, I have tons of LED's - all colours. It's nice that those have gotten so cheap. I also add old vacuum tubes to my builds, I drill out the bottom - add an amber LED, seal it back up and blammo a simulated working tube. I dunno I think it's a nice touch but I digress,...The gauges I'd like to monitor temp, and yes monitoring the CPU would be nice, and I have a couple tutorials where they monitor bandwidth too, and I believe, ram usage as well. Some use software to perform some tasks but like I said, some of them go right over my head. OK, most of them.

The Apevia cases: http://www.apevia.com/productsInfo.asp?KEY=X-CRUISER-BK have built in gauges, I'm guessing here but I bet the gauges on those have some sort of proprietary aspect and can't be used on other machines. I searched high & low and I am yet to find any sold separately. Of course at the end of the day I might be able to find a used case for $50 bucks and find out the hard way. I'd still like to avoid having to do that. The other one, Gigabyte Visuals: http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=2685#kf seems to be out of production maybe? Newegg used to carry them but no longer. The only ones I found are in Australia/NZ - I have emails out to them to see if they ship over seas but really I'm not a huge fan of that gauge since its a 3 in 1 - wattage, temperature and fan speed. Which fan? I have no idea.

So, as it is right now I'm stuck with making simulated gauges which while are esthetically pleasing just feel like they miss the mark for a steampunk build. Working gauges would just be so practical and a good sell point as I intend to offer my services converting cases to the steampunk theme ( after I have a few made that is ). I guess I could bite the bullet and get started learning how to convert actual gauges to functional computer gauges. It's all about finding the time. With seven kids that's a commodity. ;-)

That's my story & I'm sticking to it. ;-) I guess I wish some company would make a retro set of gauges that, let's face it, would be strictly for show. I doubt they'd be accurate although, if software driven - they could get close. But maybe the software that drives the analog displays could also give you an on screen monitor that you could trust to give you precise information. Eh, sorry - thinking/wishing out loud. Granted the market for such a thing would probably be low & limited to the small demographic of steampunk artists. But I still say, if the gauges where bluetooth and you could set it on your desk - it would make an interesting novelty. Per chance to dream.

 

[Someone Somewhere]

I think the Apevia ones are software-free; it's just an ambient temperature sensor and two gauges driven off a fan controller built into the case. Possibly based on the temperature gauge next to it.

The difficulty with gauges like you want is getting an analogue voltage out of the PC - you need both hardware and software to work together.

That's the nice thing about measuring stuff like the current going to your GPU; it's something that can be easily measured simply by putting the meter in the middle of the wires. You're using it for it's intended purpose: measuring the amount of current going down a wire.