About
Welcome to the Caleb Entertainment System Blog: An adventure in computer building.
I am Bobby Byam, and this blog chronicles my first home-built computer.
In January, 2011, my wife Patti and I decided to use part of our tax refund to build a device that would help entertain our son, Caleb, as well as have other useful features. I’ve had the idea for awhile now to put a computer inside an original Nintendo Entertainment System case and put an NES emulator on it. Now, that dream is becoming a reality and it is going to be much more than just an emulator.
I decided to blog about this and document my steps and struggles. This is my first computer build ever. There is plenty of well explained info on computer building online, and in theory it is pretty straightforward. However, I’ve heard there can be many gotchas and other hurdles in practice, especially if you’ve never done it before. To top it all off, I’m going to be cramming a 1080p HD-capable media player in to the inner dimensions of an original NES case.
Given my tendency to thoroughly plan out sizing, yet still manage to get it wrong, along with all the unknowns about the project at this time, it truly is going to be an adventure. Hopefully my experience in software, firmware, and robotics engineering will help out along the way. Its definitely going to be a challenge, so sit back and come along for the ride!