Nice, cheap desktop cases!

[moogah]

I actually suprised this hasn't made it here yet.  x0xb0x builders will be familar with this case and can attest to it's quality

http://www.pactecenclosures.com/Plastic-Enclosures/PT-Series.html

Under 25$ !!

Obviousy an all metal case would be the ideal, but, these are really quite nice little cases with many advantages over other options like the hammond sloped panel cases. 

[MTE]

PT Series  ;D  ;D

I Love It !!!

:)

[Wilba]

Yeah I'm getting the PT-10 and squeezing my MB-SID v2 into it.

There's just enough room in there for four PICs, eight SIDs, eight shift registers, eight "banksticks"  ;D

On a related note, Front Panel Express have told me that despite Front Panel Designer not letting you make big panels in 1.5mm thick aluminium, they can make them for you. It's related to this because the panel on the PT series are 0.062" (1.5mm) aluminium. I also plan to not use screws on the front panel and just glue it on, and it should be flush with the case and look pretty nice.

I feel like showing off... here's my current front panel layout using Front Panel Designer:

MBSID_panel_v3.png

[c0nsumer]

For what it's worth, I've used these cases twice, and they are pretty well made.

I first used one when building an x0xb0x, and then a bit later when rebuilding a PAiA FatMan.

Having used them, I think squeezing in four MIDIbox SID's (especially with controls) will be really tight. It was already a tight fit with pots and a switch along the very front edge, and the PCB was well back in the enclosure. I wish you luck with it, though. It's probably doable if things are fit just right.

Personally, I would suggest still screwing the front panel down. There isn't a huge lip around there, and I don't know what kind of glue would hold it well.

-Steve

[moogah]

eight SIDs

... eight?  :o

[c0nsumer]

Also, don't forget about heat. SIDs get somewhat warm when running, linear regulators need air (and maybe heatsinks) to cool them, and all the other parts are going to produce some heat.

-Steve

[Wilba]

c0nsumer: It's not as tight as I initially thought... everything does fit nicely on the PCB size suggested by the PT-10 mechanical drawing. It will house eight 6582 SIDs (MB-SID v2, 4x stereo channels), which don't get as hot as 6581 SIDs... still, I am allowing for a bit of a grill opening in the back panel. Unfortunately, everything is still virtual at the moment, just plans and PCB layouts, so no photos yet, but I promise there will be a great show-off when it's all put together. I will hijack this thread no further  :-[

Those are some great pics, by the way, it was nice to see a real one being used. How did you make the panel for the x0xb0x, and what material is it?

[c0nsumer]

It's not as tight as I initially thought... everything does fit nicely on the PCB size suggested by the PT-10 mechanical drawing. It will house eight 6582 SIDs (MB-SID v2, 4x stereo channels), which don't get as hot as 6581 SIDs... still, I am allowing for a bit of a grill opening in the back panel. Unfortunately, everything is still virtual at the moment, just plans and PCB layouts, so no photos yet, but I promise there will be a great show-off when it's all put together. I will hijack this thread no further  :-[

Ah, okay. That makes sense... I thought you were going to try and re-use existing PCBs. With the PT-10 allowing two PCBs to be easily mounted (one behind the front panel, the other in the bottom of the case) I could see it being pretty easy to fit all this in there. I'd imagine the biggest problem is finding board layout software which will do it, and a board house which will mfg them for a reasonable price.

Are you planning on doing one board for all the controls / LEDs / display to mount to, then another for the rest of the logic? (Actually, if you did controls and LEDs on one side of the board, you could probably fit most of the other stuff on the other side. Then the power supply / audio stuff on a sub-board mounting to the rear panel... But now my thoughts are just wandering. (If I had access to PCB software which would allow me to lay something like this out, I'd do it. It would be an excellent project.)

Those are some great pics, by the way, it was nice to see a real one being used. How did you make the panel for the x0xb0x, and what material is it?

Thank you. The case wasn't used as well as it should have been in the FatMan, but it worked. I was really fitting two odd-sized boards into an enclosure they weren't designed for, but in the end it worked out.

The front panel for the x0xb0x is the original metal one, with a rear-printed lexan decal applied over it. I didn't like the original x0xb0x panel, so I designed my own artwork for it and had them printed. I actually had 12 panels made up and sold 10 of them at cost to others who made x0xb0xes. The reason for this was because the printing of a single panel overlay would cost around US$120, but they were $31 or so each in quantities of 10. (If I had of had 100 made, this would have dropped to around $11 or so.) Likely because the design is rather complex and included many cutouts there were some problems with the printer, but they were very good about correcting everything.

More info on the layout and application of the panel (this was NOT easy) can be found under here.

The FatMan Plus overlay was designed in the same way, but someone local printed it for me as a one-off. It's inkjet printed vinyl with textured lexan laid over the top, then I did the cutouts myself. This printing technique isn't holding up very well and I wouldn't recomment it. The rear-printed Lexan is excellent, though. Were I to ever manufacture something which needed a series of overlays to hold up to years of use, this is the method I'd use.

-Steve

[Wilba]

Are you planning on doing one board for all the controls / LEDs / display to mount to, then another for the rest of the logic? (Actually, if you did controls and LEDs on one side of the board, you could probably fit most of the other stuff on the other side. Then the power supply / audio stuff on a sub-board mounting to the rear panel... But now my thoughts are just wandering.

Yes, the main PCB has the PICs, SIDs, 5x DIN, 3x DOUT and the "optimized C64 PSU" circuit. The control surface PCB is behind the front panel and will have the controls/LEDs/tactile switches/4x20 PLED display.

(If I had access to PCB software which would allow me to lay something like this out, I'd do it. It would be an excellent project.)

Yeah, the motivation for me is striving for a really polished second MB-SID, having already done a very unpolished first MB-SID as a mass of modules and wiring. Of course I'm also having fun along the way with the layout and planning and construction.

[c0nsumer]

Yes, the main PCB has the PICs, SIDs, 5x DIN, 3x DOUT and the "optimized C64 PSU" circuit. The control surface PCB is behind the front panel and will have the controls/LEDs/tactile switches/4x20 PLED display.

Do you know what switches / rotary encoders you are using yet? I was having problems finding some that were either tall enough or short enough so that the PCB holding the controls could be put in front of or behind the PCB for the display. If I had put them far enough from the display for this not to be a concern, they would have been a long ways from the parts of the display which the buttons are supposed to select, and that looks bad. What I ended up doing was a layered approach with the switch PCB mounting on top of the display PCB. Using a PLED (OLED) the display will be set back a little further in the case than with an LCD, but it should still look acceptable. I hope. I found parts which would have made this design work okay with the display mounted directly on top of the controls PCB, but there were issues with finding a distributor which carried them. :\

Yeah, more rambling. Sorry.

-Steve