Another DIY lunchbox

[michal_k]

Hi,

PCB has a plane on both sides that is tied to CHASSIS connector. Signal and Power grounds have separate pads.

As far as PIN1 selection I did it only for input. In my builds I skip it all together and just solder PIN1 to chassis, but if you're using some legacy equipment you may want to have the molex header over there. The other goldpin on the board is LINK selection. You can link all 8 modules if you want to

Regards,
Michal

 

[kante1603]

Thanks for clarifying Michal,I normaly do AES grounding too.
But it's always good to have the options,who knows,hahaha.....
Have around thirty 51x/500 modules so far,all in Volker's racks,no issues when pins 1 are linked to chassis (knock on wood).

Best,

Udo

 

[michal_k]

I don't have nearly as many, but they're all diy so I'm sure they won't give me any headaches with pin 1 tied to chassis

 

[ding]

Can something like this http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/WR8/ be put together with that PCB, a 3U rack and some eurorack rails? There is a bunch of mixer options and such in the back of that WR8 that have little use to me but 51x would be sweet. You got something similar done here http://www.groupdiy.com/index.php?topic=44507.msg557273. Did building in a PSU not work out too well for your liking on that project?

 

[michal_k]

I've abandoned the idea of building PSU into lunchbox for several reasons. One, it was a royal pain in the ass to do it in the first version of my lunchbox. I mean it literally took me hours. Secondly, 51x has two extra rails which meant I had to settle for switching PSU. It worked just ok, but I always prefer to have other options. So I figured it would be better to do PSU and lunchbox separately. If you want to mount it in one of those 3U flight case racks* there's just enough space left for PSU, you get 8 slots instead of 6 and it's better suited for travel.

So answering your question, yes, you can do psu and 6 slot lunchbox with my backplane pcb. But I've gone this way and I'm telling you there are better solutions.

*That's I was talking about

 

[ding]

I am sure you are right but I imagine it will be fun to try. 

 

[michal_k]

Hi,

I've added a poll on rack mount options to the black market thread. Please vote.

BM thread: http://www.groupdiy.com/index.php?topic=53711.0

 

[michal_k]

It's been one year and I'm still working on it. What you think about colour? I think I'll stick to grey but make it a bit darker to contrast with the rails a bit more.

 

[michal_k]

A couple of daylight shots.

 

[bruce0]

AndyMichael (oops), where did you get nutstrip drilled for 1.5"?  I could use some of that.

 

[michal_k]

It's not Andy I've had the strips cut on laser and then had the holes threaded at the mashine shop.

 

[ramshackles]

I was thinking that there is a lot of space on the left of that rack, behind the ears, which people *might* want to utilize for a power supply (assuming there is enough space...

If thats the case, 2 changes could be really helpful:
1. Move the power input to the other side of the rack (so it's close to where power supply could be)
2. Investigate possibilities for allowing PCB's and a trafo to be mounted there?

??

 

[Walrus]

1. Looks to me like the rack ears could be just unscrewed and swapped ends....
2. That's what DIY is all about!

 

[michal_k]

Walrus is right - rack ears are symmetric and can be mounted so that the longer one is on either side.