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Post by valhalla on Sept 23, 2020 23:42:13 GMT 1
I spent a little bit of money last night on a secondhand 5-way Ethernet switch unit, and a bulkhead mount RJ45 connector block, so I hope to be able to get the main internet connection down to one port on the side of the cabinet - that will save having the lead permanently dangling out of it when it isn't required.
I went ahead and bought the Warwick BNC header kit.
The "helping hands" in the workshop was back in today, and he's getting far too excited about the boom. I honestly don't know who is the worst of the two of us; he was in the scrap metal bin before we had even finished talking about this, and hoiked-out one of the old Disco3 rear wheel bearings (or half of the assembly) which he reckons will be great to mount a boom on top of. The idea here is to make a pole that swivels from the base of the cabinet, then rigidly mount a boom arm on top of the pole. This will allow the arm to be braced down to the pole to reinforce it all, and avoid the sag that supervag mentions above, yet still allow it all to swivel around. I have a few ideas how this can be achieved, but it all depends on whether I can rescue an old rotary washing drier from the old garden..........
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Post by rhyds on Sept 25, 2020 9:23:58 GMT 1
Cheapie switch is a good shout, though if its a very inexpensive one I'd suggest making it easy to powercycle the unit as they sometimes need a nudge.
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Post by valhalla on Sept 25, 2020 23:14:22 GMT 1
The Warwick BNC header kit turned-up this afternoon - a very impressive turn-round.
I'm glad I went for this, as the kit looks like all the fine details have been thought about, and it's all in the bag. The main frame to support the BNC connectors is plastic, not metal, so I'll need to ensure that it is positioned just right to avaid being clouted by itinerant booms that "helping hands" might fabricate.....
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Post by valhalla on Sept 27, 2020 23:03:47 GMT 1
Some more of the bits turned-up yesterday - the Ethernet switch box and the RJ-45 bulkhead through-connector. I didn't get a chance to fit them today, but I did get three things done;
The first (main) thing was to fit a decent steel pattress box and double mains outlet to the side of the trolley. Although I'm still waiting for the internal multiway mains outlet to arrive in the post, the external one is quite important, as it allows a separate laptop to be left running on the top of the cabinet without running out of battery during the day, which is useful if you want to run a separate PC for the scantool (Autocom) and keep it alive all day between cars. I also opted for a double USB charger outlet on the sockets, as both head-torch and Pico pressure transducer need a regular charge, which I don't want to have to keep plugging them in to the front of any PC's; I want to keep the batteries topped-up properly. The head-torch uses the Apple USB charger for the iPod that runs the garage music, and that means that I have to stop the music when I charge it......as the battery is not great in that old iPod;
The next thing was to fit the BNC manifold for the Pico leads, and that was pretty straightforward, although I did the fitting of the BNC through-connectors slightly different to the instructions, to make the fit and feel of them more solid. The Warwick instructions infer that you fit the BNC connectors to the plastic manifold, and then just push the assembly back through the 4 holes that you need to cut in the trolley. I went further, by fitting the BNC's so they clamped all the way through and onto the steel cabinet, so the BNC retainer-nuts are effectively clamping the plastic manifold to the side of the trolley - much stiffer;
Then the final thing (as above) was to locate the Pico box itself, secure that to the shelf with stand-offs (offcuts of ply) to give plenty of airflow around it.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 27, 2020 23:33:25 GMT 1
I died at the price of the breakout leads.
Who then has been sending me the pm's in your account name remmington since September 21st
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Post by valhalla on Sept 29, 2020 0:38:42 GMT 1
I had a spare hour this evening to weld-up a bracket to support the M93p PC under the top of the cabinet, so I can start to lay-out the leads properly.
Given the caveat from Rhyds about the thermals on this setup, what I hope to do is use the trolley as it is for a day or two, and see if I can keep an eye on the temperature of the surface with the IR camera. It's a wrinkle-paint finish in grey, so I should be able to get a fairly good idea of the heat distribution, which will happen if the processor heat is conducted out through the PC casing on its top; the PC casing is in direct contact with the trolley-lid.
I have done a "visual" on the airpaths through the top of the cabinet, and I reckon there should be a good supply of clean air over the top of the keyboard and its sliding tray, without there being an excessively open-path for grinding dust, etc. What I don't want is something that is going to need continual removal from the cabinet every month or so, just to vacuum all the airways inside its casing.
The mains lead turned-up tonight as well, which gives me 10metres of flex and a plug, distributing out into a surge-protected 6-gang outlet. If I can fix that neatly inside the cabinet, then the remainder of the layout becomes easier, just keeping the mains away from the signals.
It should start to get a bit tidier inside the cabinet from now onwards........less of a Work In Progress....
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Post by sorted on Sept 30, 2020 17:27:36 GMT 1
The next thing was to fit the BNC manifold for the Pico leads, and that was pretty straightforward, although I did the fitting of the BNC through-connectors slightly different to the instructions, to make the fit and feel of them more solid. The Warwick instructions infer that you fit the BNC connectors to the plastic manifold, and then just push the assembly back through the 4 holes that you need to cut in the trolley. I went further, by fitting the BNC's so they clamped all the way through and onto the steel cabinet, so the BNC retainer-nuts are effectively clamping the plastic manifold to the side of the trolley - much stiffer;
Looking really good. Slightly more advanced than my years old laptop with a dodgy copy of VauxCom. A silly question and I’m sure you’ve checked, but mounting thr BNCs that way won’t allow any shorts between the sockets through the metal cabinet will it?
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Post by valhalla on Oct 1, 2020 0:10:49 GMT 1
Looking really good. Slightly more advanced than my years old laptop with a dodgy copy of VauxCom. A silly question and I’m sure you’ve checked, but mounting thr BNCs that way won’t allow any shorts between the sockets through the metal cabinet will it?The silly question is the one that isn't asked....... you could actually be absolutely correct here, I may have unwittingly re-commoned all the BNC earths here !!! Not necessarily a problem with a 4423 'scope, but an issue with a 4425 'scope where it is assumed that the grounds are allowed to float from sensor to sensor.
I probably owe you a drink for this one.....
When I fitted the BNC male/male manifold connectors, I did use the isolator rings behind the securing nut for each one, but I know that the 13mm hole that the Warwick people tell you to drill (which should normally be a clearance around the BNC) is a pretty tight fit on one or two of them. 15mm diameter would have been better in that case.
What I will do now is do a quick isolation test on all four BNC bodies for erroneous grounding, then maybe improve the insulation a bit more, as I hadn't fully considered that, in my excitement to be actually fitting something to this cabinet....
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Post by valhalla on Oct 1, 2020 22:31:39 GMT 1
To put my mind at rest, I did a quick resistance check between all the BNC outers (signal grounds) and the trolley casing. Having confirmed all was OK, I then went ahead with an insulation test across the lot again. All effectively open-circuit (>550MOhm) at 528V DC test-potential, so I'm fairly happy that they will not interfere with any of the signals.
The BNC adapters as-supplied have a nylon casing around the central portion. If you look at these sideways-on, the nylon sleeving forms a top-hat that sits through the coloured washer, the plastic manifold, the trolley casing, and then acts as a male thread for the steel nut.
What worried me when you asked the question above was, "Does the metal nut have enough clearance off the trolley case, and also away from the inside BNC connection, to be isolated?" and I think I have proven tonight that this is the case - a good question all the same.......
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Post by givusaclue on Oct 1, 2020 22:33:39 GMT 1
I reckon the next thing you’ll be fitting to that cabinet is pneumatic tyres, it’ll be heavy enough to turn your touchscreen bracket into a guillotine if your floor has any undulations
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Post by valhalla on Oct 2, 2020 22:35:24 GMT 1
I have got some big hospital-trolley castoring wheel units that are rated 250kg apiece, so there is a "Plan_B" if required......
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Post by givusaclue on Oct 2, 2020 22:45:48 GMT 1
Pneumatic Tyres are kinder to the load, a couple of my ac machines are so equipped
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Post by valhalla on Oct 4, 2020 21:06:27 GMT 1
I didn't get much done to this today, as the admin for the shop has been attrocious; it took me 3.5hours to sort-out the bills for customer accounts.
What I did do was to properly attach the new 6-way mains outlet inside the cabinet (2x pan-head M5 screws) and lots of clips. I then realised that I was not going to be able to tidy the mains leads at the length they were, so I found some new-old-stock mains leads for both the PC power-supply and the screen (1 each "kettle lead" and "Mickey Mouse" leads) that had useless EU plugs on the end, shortened them each to their respective minimum precise lengths for the fitting, and wired a loose mains plug on the end. It now looks much, much neater in the cabinet.
I then tidied all the other leads, so the area around the top of the cabinet was clear of all hanging "spagetti" before sorting-out the conduit and clipping for the screen harness. I was able to make a grommet/clamp to the screen frame from an old Rover P6 battery-tray grommet, and this neatly clamps and seals with two 4mm rivets to secure it. Before committing myself on the screen harness, I also threaded an ethernet patch-lead up through it all, and that is to allow a laptop on the top of the trolley to have an internet connection whilst it works. The Cat 5e lead tucks nicely under the screen when it isn't needed, thus obviating the risk of the connector slamming through the screen when it gets trapped at night.....
The final thing was to offer-up the Ethernet switch-box, and make sure that it all works. This also entailed fitting the RJ-45 bulkhead through-connector to the side of the cabinet, which would have gone well if it wasn't for the fact that I made a dog's dinner of the two fixing holes, by reversing their orientation through the cabinet......doh....!!! It does, at least, work. Unfortunately I then discovered another "feature" of this installation, which is that the 6-way mains adapter is too low in the cabinet to permit the switch-box power-supply to plug-in, so that is temporarily plugged on the outside of the cabinet whilst I consider my options there.
Hopefully I will be able to use the camera tomorrow to get some shots!
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Post by rhyds on Oct 4, 2020 22:29:23 GMT 1
Have a look at the ethernet switch you're using's power requirements. You may find another, smaller power supply (or one with a trailing lead) will be available.
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Post by valhalla on Oct 4, 2020 23:47:51 GMT 1
Have a look at the ethernet switch you're using's power requirements. You may find another, smaller power supply (or one with a trailing lead) will be available. I think I might have some spare 12v supplies around, as they were supplied alongside some equipment that a mate was handling a while back, and were surplus to requirements.
The supply here states 1.2A @ 12V, so should not be too bad to source. If push comes to shove, I can always make a mini extension lead to power the unit elsewhere in the cabinet, but it would be great just to get rid of it, as it is well oversized for what it has to do.
The switch seems quite well built (Netgear) and has a manual pushbutton to force it to use port_4 as an uplink. I certainly had no problems just plugging it in and using it within a few seconds, although I might have a look to see if there any instructions worth studying online (probably not very enlightening, if they exist)
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