Very Small FB3 Enclosure

I thought I'd share my over-engineered FB3 box. I made this back in September, crunching for a show I had booked in Seattle. I tried to leave room for the DMX port, but I doubt it will fit. I chose this enclosure since everything else at Fry's and Norvac was ugly. I imagine I'll put the FB3 in something else sooner or later. Perhaps I can find similar extruded aluminum that's just a little bigger.

Included here are a few pictures that should do most of the talking. Do note the two mini DC fans. Bill at Pangolin kindly explained that cooling wasn't necessary, but I put them in there anyway since I like fans. They work REALLY well. So well in fact, that if there's fog or anything else in the air, they CAKE the FB3 with it. -I disabled them for now.

I figure I'll put a resistor on them one of these days and wire them back up so they do something besides look neat.

Here are the pictures. I figured I'd just do a chronological pictorial ending with the end product.

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:) Hey, that's really nice.

Where did you get that ribbon cable connector for the back of the DB25? I've never seen one of those before, it seems like a much better idea than soldering wires.

Also, the cutout for the DB25 is REALLY neat, mine looks terrible in comparison, did you just use the Dremel?

Cheers

Jem

Jem
Thats an IDC 25-way d-conn
look here
http://cpc.farnell.com/jsp/search/br...equestid=73130

And Plat. I agree with Jem - top work.
PS whats the car hiding in the background?

Rob

Thanks for the link Rob, I might need to get one of those for my 'new' projector ;)

Jem

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jem

..Also, the cutout for the DB25 is REALLY neat, mine looks terrible in comparison, did you just use the Dremel?

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Thanks! I used the Dremel to cut more or less square shapes, than filed with a triangular file to get the shape and a flat file to widen it out. I also beveled the edges a little bit. After everything, I sanded all the parts to brush the aluminum and did the final cleanup with rubbing alcohol.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by stanwax

Jem
Thats an IDC 25-way d-conn
look here
http://cpc.farnell.com/jsp/search/br...equestid=73130

And Plat. I agree with Jem - top work.
PS whats the car hiding in the background?

Rob

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I was pretty stressed shortening that cable with that crimp-connector. It was a one-shot job. It ended up barely long enough. I imagine I'll try to order a replacement later on, just so it's neat.

That's my 81 Celica ST. It's been in the garage for a tuneup for a while. Any day now. :)

-Jonathan

Nice job Platinum,

Nothing is ever over engineered if you do it yoourself :D

Andre

WOW, two fans for the FB3? It only dissipates a few tens of milliwatts of heat. I wonder if the wavelength shifts lower when you cool it so much ? :D

Bill

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pangolin

WOW, two fans for the FB3? It only dissipates a few tens of milliwatts of heat. I wonder if the wavelength shifts lower when you cool it so much ? :D

Bill

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Har har. :rolleyes: I'll admit I'm very airflow-conscious.. -perhaps to an extreme.

At least they will get rid of the smoke if you short cct. something!

VERY nice work i may wanna do this once i get my fb3 :)

do you by any chance have any measurements of it?

Here are a couple of pix of the FB3 i just finished mounting today.

The first pic shows the extra boards - A very over kill power supply.. (I decided A linear supply has a lot less components than a switch mode, and is a lot simpler, so theory says it should be a lot more reliable) A front panel board, holding some LED's, and a last board with a few opamps to buffer the LED signals, and some other bits.

The bottom pic shows the completed unit. Polycarbonate front panel decal, key switch, and big red kill switch :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dave

Here are a couple of pix of the FB3 i just finished mounting today.

The first pic shows the extra boards - A very over kill power supply.. (I decided A linear supply has a lot less components than a switch mode, and is a lot simpler, so theory says it should be a lot more reliable) A front panel board, holding some LED's, and a last board with a few opamps to buffer the LED signals, and some other bits.

The bottom pic shows the completed unit. Polycarbonate front panel decal, key switch, and big red kill switch :)

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Now that is more like it!
very nice work!

Damn! You do nice work, Dave!

That's very cool. And all in a 19 inch rack mountable package. Awesome!

Adam

HI Guys good Job!
Hardware and software are the best
I made this small box with switching power supply inside
I need change the logo for pangolin inside, but I made only the box
cheers!

very nice!!

lots of fantastic engineering skills!