nice enclosure

On Tue, 3 Mar 2020 05:20:43 -0800 (PST), George Herold
<ggherold@gmail.com> wrote:

On Monday, March 2, 2020 at 4:07:33 PM UTC-5, John Larkin wrote:
On Mon, 2 Mar 2020 13:18:01 -0600, John S <Sophi.2@invalid.org> wrote:

On 3/2/2020 12:45 PM, John Larkin wrote:


https://www.dropbox.com/s/a88dfus3z1wrjii/P900_Box_1.jpg?raw=1

https://www.dropbox.com/s/6pjs77u4q8u6sr7/P900_Box_4.jpg?raw=1

https://www.dropbox.com/s/aiquxwbnwo05go8/P900_Box_5.jpg?raw=1


This was made by Protocase, to our Solidwords design and artwork. It's
laser-cut aluminum with a beautiful conductive finish that looks like
stainless.


Beautiful! I'll bet it cost a bundle.

$280 per. Very roughly 2% of the sales price of the product.

That sounds like a decent price. How many did you have to buy?
(If you don't mind me asking.)

I think that order was for about a dozen. It's basically one of the
standard Protocase designs, laser-cut for our hole patterns and front
panel art. They even cut the fan grille, basically free. They seem to
be horrifically nice people.

We left room for a front-panel color LCD and some buttons and a
spinner knob. Our launch customer is fine doing everything through
Ethernet. Amazon has some cool RJ45-to-bulkhead extender cables, and
an even more exotic USB-B to bulkhead extender.



--

John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc

The cork popped merrily, and Lord Peter rose to his feet.
"Bunter", he said, "I give you a toast. The triumph of Instinct over Reason"

 

[George Herold]

On Tuesday, March 3, 2020 at 10:10:11 AM UTC-5, jla...@highlandsniptechnology.com wrote:

On Tue, 3 Mar 2020 05:20:43 -0800 (PST), George Herold
ggherold@gmail.com> wrote:

On Monday, March 2, 2020 at 4:07:33 PM UTC-5, John Larkin wrote:
On Mon, 2 Mar 2020 13:18:01 -0600, John S <Sophi.2@invalid.org> wrote:

On 3/2/2020 12:45 PM, John Larkin wrote:


https://www.dropbox.com/s/a88dfus3z1wrjii/P900_Box_1.jpg?raw=1

https://www.dropbox.com/s/6pjs77u4q8u6sr7/P900_Box_4.jpg?raw=1

https://www.dropbox.com/s/aiquxwbnwo05go8/P900_Box_5.jpg?raw=1


This was made by Protocase, to our Solidwords design and artwork. It's
laser-cut aluminum with a beautiful conductive finish that looks like
stainless.


Beautiful! I'll bet it cost a bundle.

$280 per. Very roughly 2% of the sales price of the product.

That sounds like a decent price. How many did you have to buy?
(If you don't mind me asking.)


I think that order was for about a dozen. It's basically one of the
standard Protocase designs, laser-cut for our hole patterns and front
panel art. They even cut the fan grille, basically free. They seem to
be horrifically nice people.

OK, never heard of them.
https://www.protocase.com/

Good to know.
George H.

We left room for a front-panel color LCD and some buttons and a
spinner knob. Our launch customer is fine doing everything through
Ethernet. Amazon has some cool RJ45-to-bulkhead extender cables, and
an even more exotic USB-B to bulkhead extender.



--

John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc

The cork popped merrily, and Lord Peter rose to his feet.
"Bunter", he said, "I give you a toast. The triumph of Instinct over Reason"

 

[Phil Hobbs]

On 2020-03-03 10:19, jlarkin@highlandsniptechnology.com wrote:

On Tue, 3 Mar 2020 08:31:58 +0000, Andy Bennet <andyb@andy.com> wrote:

On 02/03/2020 18:45, John Larkin wrote:


https://www.dropbox.com/s/a88dfus3z1wrjii/P900_Box_1.jpg?raw=1

https://www.dropbox.com/s/6pjs77u4q8u6sr7/P900_Box_4.jpg?raw=1

https://www.dropbox.com/s/aiquxwbnwo05go8/P900_Box_5.jpg?raw=1


This was made by Protocase, to our Solidwords design and artwork. It's
laser-cut aluminum with a beautiful conductive finish that looks like
stainless.


I would have used CD welded studs on the front panel for attachment.
Would look so much cleaner.

We're not embarassed to admit that a box is held together with screws.
Personally, I don't usually like hidden fasteners.

The holes are clean conductive countersunk, and the back of the panel,
and the rest of the box, is conductive too.

Some sort of clear Alodine?

Cheers

Phil Hobbs


--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs
Principal Consultant
ElectroOptical Innovations LLC / Hobbs ElectroOptics
Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510

http://electrooptical.net
http://hobbs-eo.com

 

Phil Hobbs <pcdhSpamMeSenseless@electrooptical.net> wrote in
news:4ffb6f29-db6b-54bf-dc32-7cc5086daabd@electrooptical.net:

The holes are clean conductive countersunk, and the back of the
panel, and the rest of the box, is conductive too.

Some sort of clear Alodine?

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

It would seem vulnerable if it were bare Aluminum, so it must have
some surface prep on it after abrasive polish. It actually does look
like stainless, like John said.

Pan head screws are also a no-no on rack chassis exterior. We had
one that had thin metal on it so countersunk holes were a no go.

I fixed their mistake by placing countersunk screws into a flat
washer to bear the pressure and they had a lower profile than the pan
heads. Man, those chassis were a PITA to install into an already
populated rack.

Protrusion (like pan head screws) are usually a bad design choice
on rack chassis enclosure exteriors.

Should have a pair of hard anodized handles on it too to make it
easier to fit.

<https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/hammond-
manufacturing/1427C1/HM1274-ND/460033>

 

[Tom Del Rosso]

John Larkin wrote:

The control board behind the panel has LEDs on top and BNCs on the
bottom. I hope they all line up. We'll use light pipes for the LEDs.

Do you get light pipes custom molded or is there some kind of cut-to-fit
material?

 

"Tom Del Rosso" <fizzbintuesday@that-google-mail-domain.com> wrote
in news:r423ev$de7$1@dont-email.me:

John Larkin wrote:

The control board behind the panel has LEDs on top and BNCs on
the bottom. I hope they all line up. We'll use light pipes for
the LEDs.

Do you get light pipes custom molded or is there some kind of
cut-to-fit material?

Make a metal template with the exact hole layout of the panel. Use
that as a fixture for the BNCs BEFORE you solder them. Then Solder,
and detach. Now when you install in the enclosure, they will all line
up perfectly.

 

DecadentLinuxUserNumeroUno@decadence.org wrote in
news:r42m6o$14ku$1@gioia.aioe.org:

"Tom Del Rosso" <fizzbintuesday@that-google-mail-domain.com> wrote
in news:r423ev$de7$1@dont-email.me:

John Larkin wrote:

The control board behind the panel has LEDs on top and BNCs on
the bottom. I hope they all line up. We'll use light pipes for
the LEDs.

Do you get light pipes custom molded or is there some kind of
cut-to-fit material?


Make a metal template with the exact hole layout of the panel.
Use
that as a fixture for the BNCs BEFORE you solder them. Then
Solder, and detach. Now when you install in the enclosure, they
will all line up perfectly.

AND none of the solder joints will be under any mechanical stress.

It requires that the BNC connector be hand installed. If you use a
wave solder process, you will have to make a fixture that stays with
the assembly as it hits the solder wave.

I would hand solder. You likely do not have that many thru hole
parts, and hand soldering is less thermally stressful to the SMD
component set already on the board.

 

On Sun, 8 Mar 2020 01:31:00 -0500, "Tom Del Rosso"
<fizzbintuesday@that-google-mail-domain.com> wrote:

John Larkin wrote:

The control board behind the panel has LEDs on top and BNCs on the
bottom. I hope they all line up. We'll use light pipes for the LEDs.

Do you get light pipes custom molded or is there some kind of cut-to-fit
material?

Neither. We buy some little mushroom-looking thing that has a
diffusive half-dome end and a cylindrical shaft that pushes into the
hole on the front panel. It stops just short of the right-angle LED on
the pc board, where the light enters. It scatters light nicely on the
outside, so the LEDs are visible at high viewing angles, no matter
where the box is mounted in the rack. As usual, the light pipes cost a
lot more than the LEDs.



--

John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc

The cork popped merrily, and Lord Peter rose to his feet.
"Bunter", he said, "I give you a toast. The triumph of Instinct over Reason"

 

jlarkin@highlandsniptechnology.com wrote in
news:1uv96f5fdougmu9n3jjkual13j54a0qsvb@4ax.com:

On Sun, 8 Mar 2020 01:31:00 -0500, "Tom Del Rosso"
fizzbintuesday@that-google-mail-domain.com> wrote:

John Larkin wrote:

The control board behind the panel has LEDs on top and BNCs on
the bottom. I hope they all line up. We'll use light pipes for
the LEDs.

Do you get light pipes custom molded or is there some kind of
cut-to-fit material?



Neither. We buy some little mushroom-looking thing that has a
diffusive half-dome end and a cylindrical shaft that pushes into
the hole on the front panel. It stops just short of the
right-angle LED on the pc board, where the light enters. It
scatters light nicely on the outside, so the LEDs are visible at
high viewing angles, no matter where the box is mounted in the
rack. As usual, the light pipes cost a lot more than the LEDs.

Buy square or round acrylic sticks or rods, and make your own. Or
maybe you can 3D print them too! Heat them up to shape them.
Use jigs to make a repeatable identical sets.

Could use a COTS pipe and 3D print around it to encapsulate it and
shape the path.

Hey I know... 3D print a hollow pathway device, then have it
chromed inside like the model car guys do. Feed the light up through
that.

Or use fiber optic "ropes" to get it there, then laquer them in
place on a 3D molded pathway.

There has to be something out there cheaper than the greedy
overpriced light pipe turkeys out there.

 

Lasse Langwadt Christensen <langwadt@fonz.dk> wrote in
news:115aa4d1-0dab-4688-af21-113dd1117567@googlegroups.com:

søndag den 8. marts 2020 kl. 17.31.26 UTC+1 skrev
DecadentLinux...@decadence.org:
jlarkin@highlandsniptechnology.com wrote in
news:1uv96f5fdougmu9n3jjkual13j54a0qsvb@4ax.com:

On Sun, 8 Mar 2020 01:31:00 -0500, "Tom Del Rosso"
fizzbintuesday@that-google-mail-domain.com> wrote:

John Larkin wrote:

The control board behind the panel has LEDs on top and BNCs
on the bottom. I hope they all line up. We'll use light pipes
for the LEDs.

Do you get light pipes custom molded or is there some kind of
cut-to-fit material?



Neither. We buy some little mushroom-looking thing that has a
diffusive half-dome end and a cylindrical shaft that pushes
into the hole on the front panel. It stops just short of the
right-angle LED on the pc board, where the light enters. It
scatters light nicely on the outside, so the LEDs are visible
at high viewing angles, no matter where the box is mounted in
the rack. As usual, the light pipes cost a lot more than the
LEDs.




Buy square or round acrylic sticks or rods, and make your own.
Or
maybe you can 3D print them too! Heat them up to shape
them. Use jigs to make a repeatable identical sets.

Could use a COTS pipe and 3D print around it to encapsulate it
and
shape the path.

Hey I know... 3D print a hollow pathway device, then have it
chromed inside like the model car guys do. Feed the light up
through that.

Or use fiber optic "ropes" to get it there, then laquer them in
place on a 3D molded pathway.

There has to be something out there cheaper than the greedy
overpriced light pipe turkeys out there.


how much time are you going to waste on that when you can get a
100 for $13 on aliexpress?

Whatever.

He said his cost more than the LEDs did.

How many times are dopes like you going to declare to works of
others to be a waste of time? Yeah... buy more shit from China, ya
economy tanking twerp.

 

[Lasse Langwadt Christense]

søndag den 8. marts 2020 kl. 17.31.26 UTC+1 skrev DecadentLinux...@decadence.org:

jlarkin@highlandsniptechnology.com wrote in
news:1uv96f5fdougmu9n3jjkual13j54a0qsvb@4ax.com:

On Sun, 8 Mar 2020 01:31:00 -0500, "Tom Del Rosso"
fizzbintuesday@that-google-mail-domain.com> wrote:

John Larkin wrote:

The control board behind the panel has LEDs on top and BNCs on
the bottom. I hope they all line up. We'll use light pipes for
the LEDs.

Do you get light pipes custom molded or is there some kind of
cut-to-fit material?



Neither. We buy some little mushroom-looking thing that has a
diffusive half-dome end and a cylindrical shaft that pushes into
the hole on the front panel. It stops just short of the
right-angle LED on the pc board, where the light enters. It
scatters light nicely on the outside, so the LEDs are visible at
high viewing angles, no matter where the box is mounted in the
rack. As usual, the light pipes cost a lot more than the LEDs.




Buy square or round acrylic sticks or rods, and make your own. Or
maybe you can 3D print them too! Heat them up to shape them.
Use jigs to make a repeatable identical sets.

Could use a COTS pipe and 3D print around it to encapsulate it and
shape the path.

Hey I know... 3D print a hollow pathway device, then have it
chromed inside like the model car guys do. Feed the light up through
that.

Or use fiber optic "ropes" to get it there, then laquer them in
place on a 3D molded pathway.

There has to be something out there cheaper than the greedy
overpriced light pipe turkeys out there.

how much time are you going to waste on that when you can get a 100 for $13
on aliexpress?