BillFitzmaurice.info

Niiiiice. Looking forward to the pics and video!

And I'm in total agreement with you on "the total presentation package." At a party or dance, even Hifibob's rig with no "light show" is "just a" "Damn bloody loud as hell and where did my spleen go?" sound system...albiet one of the best on this board, but I digress. Similarly, someone with $10K worth of lighting and lasers and two, 3-way Gemini speakers and a 200-watt amp is not going to impress anyone, or leave a memorable impression of the evening. You need a fine blend of both.

A small shame about the no logo on the plexi...would've looked SO pro. But I definitely understand "If it ain't broke." That's sort of how I feel about my OTops. They aren't real pretty, but damn if they don't SOUND like $2K tops. Off the top of my head, there might be a way to get the logo on there using a Dremel (rotatry tool) with the proper bit/tip. When you put a logo on plexi, essentially what you're doing is "scuffing" the plexi in the area where the logo goes. You're turning a clear piece of plastic into an opaque piece of plastic. I'm sure there's YT vids on it. Just a thought.

Press on, good Sir. Looking forward to seeing the final result! And I really do dig that fancy LED controller. I'll do something with this 5M strip of 5050 LEDs I bought...probably a "company sign" or something.

First job of the day today was to install the hinges. After using a smaller headed screw so that the screws actually sank into the countersink, and attaching them to the rear of the panel (HUGE thanks for that tip Mike ) I managed to get them installed and everything is now square. I did also countersink the hinges in order to stop them hitting each other and allow the sides to fold flat for storage/transportation. The only problem now is that some of the screws holding in the back panels now hit each other. I will countersink these as well - I didn't want to initially as the 3mm hardboard is pretty weak and I didn't want to weaken the fixing any further. Any force applied on the back panel (through carrying and movement) will be inward, yet countersinking into the board would only weaken it if outward pressure is applied, so it'll be cool to countersink the screws that hit each other - another problem sorted!

As I mentioned before, I received the 3 colour 3528 LED strips today. Nothing much to report when fitting them. As before I used a tiny 1/4" triangle to smooth out the corner a little. But you're not interested in that right now... and I can't make you wait any longer, so here's what you came for:

Firstly a pic of the 'bodgy' wiring behind the facade to get this all working:


The hinges now fitted at the rear:


And this is how it folds up:


And here, at last is the final result :


The panel never looks like the following shots, but I thought it interesting nonetheless. They were taken on 'burst' mode, hence the 2 colour side panels, which are caused by the camera scanning the pic whilst the colour was flash changing:


And finally a closeup of a side panel, you may just be able to make out the individual colours of the separate LEDs:


The 3528 strips are actually less bright than the 5050 strips in the centre panel. This works well and ensures that the brightness in the centre of the panel is a similar level. I think that the 5050s in the side panels would have been too much. You may be able to see the individual red, green or blue LEDs in some of the pics. It's a nice effect as a contrast to the solid colour of the main panel.

Finally, I also made a video just for miked. No peeking the rest of you!!

miked wrote:You're turning a clear piece of plastic into an opaque piece of plastic. I'm sure there's YT vids on it. Just a thought.

The plastic is already opaque (PlexiglasXT Opal). I'll check out the YT vids though. Maybe they'll change my mind.

miked wrote:Press on, good Sir. Looking forward to seeing the final result! And I really do dig that fancy LED controller. I'll do something with this 5M strip of 5050 LEDs I bought...probably a "company sign" or something.

Do it! I think they are so useful those strips - got to think what else I could use them for. I have an internal rack light using a strip of white ones just stuck to the roof - it beats a purchased light anyday and is so handy for re-wiring 'in the field' (literally!). I just need some sort of overhang for the front of my rack so I can install some there also. Using the leftover bits of strips will save me £50 and a U of rack space in both the front and the rear when compared to 'proper' rack lights. That PSU in the case opens up so many options!

Oh, and I think the gods were looking down on me today. On some programs on the side panels, you get a 'chase' effect... somehow I managed to stick down the LEDs in the opposite directions, so that when one goes clockwise, the otherwise goes anticlockwise - if they had both gone around the same way, it would have annoyed me enough to rip off the back and reverse the LEDs. This would probably have meant having to glue them down, as that doubled sided sticky isn't very sticky. I don't think that it is 3M, despite saying so on the tear-off. You know what those Chinese are like with counterfeiting!!

That is totally badass! The new video tops the first one by a long shot....it looks fan-freaking-tastic! And you lucked out with the side panel light rotation! Isn't it nice when you get a bonus on your investment?

I was noticing that the plexi wasn't see-thru...I just figured it was the white paint on the rear panel doing that; but now I get it. I didn't know they sold "opaque" plexi. Ya'learn something new everyday. I'm happy to see that you got your hinge-issue sorted. It's always "the little things" that wind up being "not so little" right?

You were smart to make your side panels much narrower than half the width of the center panel. I was not so smart. My center panel is 48" and each side is 24". Guess what I didn't think out in advance? Once you add in the additional width the the HINGES give to each side, now you have about 48-1/4" of width to fold on top of a 48" panel. Luckily, I caught this before putting in the 48 screws for the second piano hinge. I compensated by just moving the hinge in about 1/8" on that second side panel and that fixed it. My facade folds on itself with about 1/32" to spare. The case I made for it is wide enough so that it doesn't matter, but still...you know?

You've really done a great job, both in pre-build analyzing and execution. Being that you have the rack space, I'd just build or buy a shelf to hold the ATX PS and the controllers and all those fiddly bits. A 1U shelf should be cheap enough to find on EBay. Heat-shrink whatever wires should be shrinked, etc and zip tie it all to the shelf.

I'm looking forward to hearing your report of party-goers' impressions of your setup! Congrats!

miked wrote:I'm happy to see that you got your hinge-issue sorted.

No.. YOU got my hinge issue sorted, so many thanks for that. I couldn't see the wood for the trees on that one!

miked wrote: You were smart to make your side panels much narrower than half the width of the center panel

Smart?? Poor morelike! There was some cheap used (although it still had it's protective film on) plexi on eBay that was 1200x800 - I wanted a squareish centre panel, so the side ones ended up being the size that they are (200mm + wood). I'd rather have something that folds a lot closer to the centre like yours. I haven't worked out a decent carrying solution yet. A bonus of the short sides is that I won't have to do any recessing in the side panels to accommodate the triple hole in the centre of the main panel - I am expecting to have to route a small amount of the main panel frame to allow the side panel connectors to not get in the way when the thing folds flat though. Hopefully find out tomorrow if the connectors turn up

miked wrote:You've really done a great job, both in pre-build analyzing and execution. Being that you have the rack space, I'd just build or buy a shelf to hold the ATX PS and the controllers and all those fiddly bits. A 1U shelf should be cheap enough to find on EBay. Heat-shrink whatever wires should be shrinked, etc and zip tie it all to the shelf.

At the moment, the power supply is mounted to a 2U vented panel. This is the PSU whose voltage goes south - and FAST - as soon as you load more than a single LED on it! The other supply's voltage actually goes UP as I add loading to it This PSU has different mounting holes from the other one, so I still have to look at the rack and work that one out. Will stick pics here when I do, of course.

miked wrote:I'm looking forward to hearing your report of party-goers' impressions of your setup! Congrats!

Me too! I haven't been out to do a party for a while (last one was when the paint was still drying on the first 2 Tubas and Otops! A LOT has changed since then!

I'm uploading another vid for you as well It's a bit longer and I mess around with the settings a bit more. 10 mins to go.

Another....

I love the independent control over the colors in the center and L/R panels. That's a touch that not many will consciously pick up on, but it should impress anyone with both sides of their brain functioning. It's something that I WOULD SEE right off the bat, but not everyone has the OCD Disease.

The fact that your facade and it's lights are self-contained is really great. That was my original idea, months ago, when I started looking at what was out there. I really don't understand why I didn't think the lighting aspect through more thorougly...that's not like me. I guess I'm just burnt on building stuff, TBH.

What I have made "will do for now." It's a nice-looking facade to be sure, but it doesn't have the "visual oomph" that an edge-lit plexi facade does. I look at it from the perspective of "At least I HAVE a facade and some lights in back of it." Better than nothing, for sure.

As to the wiring that comes in/out of the center panel; be sure to tack it out of harm's way. Rule #1: If a wire can get stepped or pulled on, it will.

ps
That ATX PSU that dies as soon as you add a second LED strip; junk it. It's already dead and on it's way to dying completely. The only reason it probably powers up and can "run something" is b/c you are not loading all it's rails. I.E. the 3.3v and 5V lines aren't being taxed at all, so it can power the 12V line "good enough." It is an accident waiting to happen. Get rid of it.

Looking real good, Aiden! I like the looks, and the separate coloured panels.

Update:

It's now all wired up and ready to go!

Inside of main panel:

I was worried about the wires showing through to the other side of the perspex, but I needn't have (worried)... it's all good!

Rear of the facade with leads installed:

Those 8 pin connectors were a sod to solder for an amateur like me... I couldn't seem to get the heat into them unless I had a blob of solder on the end of the iron which would then transfer the heat to the metal pin so that the solder would flow. Is this the result of an iron that is not hot enough??? I am planning to get a new iron as soon as I can afford one!

Organised chaos in the amp rack:

SO glad that I bought a 12U case now!! The only issue with this setup is that the fan sucks air OUT of the case, whilst the iNukes also suck air from the space in the rear of the case out to the front. I may well get a small amount of hot air re-circulating (from PSU into iNukes), but I don't feel that it will be anything to really worry about. Those PSUs don't get very hot at all.

On off switch for the PSU (which powers the facade, along with the LED lighting in the case):

Note the black CD writer pen marks used to colour in the scratches made when making the hole! The PSU will soon be powering a Gemini DRP-1 (for recording sets) on it's 5V line, so it will probably be left on the whole while when I get that.

8 pin connector in the rack patch panel. Luckily, it was the last spare hole that I had in the panel due to me putting both sub amp channels on one (non-neutrik ) NL4 connector:


So, I thought I was done, but I have just discovered that the perspex does not quite fit into the slot on the main panel


Now I am going to have to dismantle the frame by removing the top panel, which also means I am going to have to unstick the LEDs along said panel. I am hoping that a rotation of the perspex will fix this, but it may require a little sanding of the mitred corners to get it to fit more snug. Typical, but I'll get it sorted. TBH it doesn't actually show when the panel is on, but it's annoying me - I think mike has infected me with his OCD

I really like the cabling for the facade. Secure and removable. Best of both worlds. Great job w/that.

Not sure what I'm looking at with that piece of plexi not in the channel. Is it just one section, on one edge, that's not in the groove, or is that entire SIDE of plexi not in the groove? If its' the former, and it doesn't show from the front, I'd just leave it. The fact that you have remove the LED strip and disassemble the frame to fix it overrides the OCD in this case. Really.

A patch panel is the next thing on the list to build. I don't have a whole lot of free space in my 12U amp rack on the back, however. Though if I removed one of the spare amps I have in the amp rack (I sort of "store" them all in there) I would have space on the front. Maybe I'll open up the rack today and just stare at it for awhile.

Oh, don't worry about the heat the PSU puts out affecting your power amps. It's what, a 200-watt PSU? And you're pulling maybe 50W out of it for all your lights...the heat output is negligible. Besides, power amps are made to deal with running in high-heat environments. That's why their internal fans can be loud as heck.

miked wrote:I really like the cabling for the facade. Secure and removable. Best of both worlds. Great job w/that.

I decided on that after seeing your post about the wires getting worn out with the constant folding/unfolding of the facade. Removable leads seemed the best idea and avoided having to route a channel for the leads to hide in. It seemed the elegant solution! (Isn't it a great moment when you have been trying to work out a solution to a particular problem for ages, and then you get that EUREKA! moment where the answer that solves all the questions springs to mind )

miked wrote:Not sure what I'm looking at with that piece of plexi not in the channel. Is it just one section, on one edge, that's not in the groove, or is that entire SIDE of plexi not in the groove? If its' the former, and it doesn't show from the front, I'd just leave it. The fact that you have remove the LED strip and disassemble the frame to fix it overrides the OCD in this case. Really.

It is just a 15cm (6") section that is not sitting in the groove. The rest of that side is fine. It is on one of the sides of the main panel, right at the top, which means a relatively easy fix... just shorten the top piece of wood by 1/32", and the side will then pull in and grip the plexi. Don't care what you say... it's getting fixed! You have infected me with your bloody OCD!

miked wrote:Oh, don't worry about the heat the PSU puts out affecting your power amps. It's what, a 200-watt PSU? And you're pulling maybe 50W out of it for all your lights...the heat output is negligible. Besides, power amps are made to deal with running in high-heat environments. That's why their internal fans can be loud as heck.

Yeah, I know, but guess what... OCD again... I know it'll be fine, but it isn't quite a perfect arrangement, so it bugs me... not much, but the irritation is there!! Hmmm... maybe I had OCD all along and just didn't realise it!

Right, it's time to resurrect this thread. Got a few points to add:

Firstly, I managed to fix the loose plexi problem. I removed the top bit of wood from the centre panel. The 45° block of wood (to help the LED's stick as they go round the corner) that is PLd in just fell away, as did the LED strip... if that's 3M tape on the back of those strips, I'm a chinaman! I think the tape must have been made by Glu Do Suk. The top bit of wood was then free and I got it onto the mitre saw and took off 1/32" (maybe less). Checked the fit and it was all good.
Reassembly was easy, although the LEDs didn't want to stick - they were never that happy sticking anyway! I used a few bits of masking tape torn into small strips, and used that to secure the strip inbetween the actual LEDs. Seems to work and whilst I had the back off, I secured it down in a few other places where it was coming loose.
The only issue is now the hardboard rear is a little too large and the screwholes are slightly in the wrong place, as one of the sides has now been pulled inward. When I screw the hardboard rear in, the screws go in a slight angle, nothing too much to worry about, but I have had to countersink them a touch more than the others.
So after all that the total time taken to fix the loose plexi was <5mins!!

The other update is that I have got this:

through from China today. I can't believe I am writing this rather than wiring & firing the thing up! This is the one with a separate music input (rather than mic, although it's got that too) and 15 different music activated programs (15... unsure how different they are going to be!). I think this demands a video... backed by BFM sound of course.... (ANY excuse) I'll post it up later

Anticipating!

Oooooh. Fancy jog-wheel-light controller....mmm, goooooood!

Glad to hear your plexi fix was quick and easy. My light strips are in exactly the same place they were 3 weeks ago; sitting on top of my PC rack, not doing anything.