[time-nuts] TTimelab question

[Bob Bownes]

We have a local metalworking place that will laser cut steel and Al to 3/8". For small runs (like 1), they are very competitive to simply buying the materials alone. I had them make me 3 1U panels from 3/16" steel with 12 D holes to build N patch panels. $15 ea. Powder coated in my color of choice. Blanks were about 6 iirc. Well worth not punching all those holes!

Take a look in your search engine of choice. If you can't find one, our guy will ship. ;)

> On Feb 22, 2017, at 16:44, Bob Stewart <bob at evoria.net> wrote:
> 
> Hi John,
> 
> I have to agree with you about enclosures.  They make the difference between a DIY unit and a nice commercial unit, but they are very expensive.  The enclosures I use are about $20 each from Mouser.  But the end panels are another $20 each: milled front and back.  So, that's $60 per unit.  One suggestion I might make is to check into what it would cost to make the end panels from circuit board.  At volume, it might be significantly cheaper that $20 per panel.  Learning KICAD well enough to make an end panel isn't that difficult.
> 
> OSHPark has better prices on larger volume orders.  Off the cuff without looking, I think I pay about $19 per mainboard for an order of 10, so that would probably work out to $15 for a pair of PCB end panels.  That's still $35 per enclosure, though.  You'd probably need to order 15 of each to meet their minimums.  There are other suppliers that have better prices, but I have no experience with them or their costs.  It wouldn't be as nice as milled aluminum, but it should work just as well.
> Bob 
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>      From: John Ackermann N8UR <jra at febo.com>
> To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement <time-nuts at febo.com> 
> Sent: Wednesday, February 22, 2017 8:13 AM
> Subject: Re: [time-nuts] TTimelab question
> 
> I really like the setup that Mark is describing.  As to TAPR's plans, 
> we've found that enclosures are a challenge -- metalwork is pretty 
> expensive unless you get significant volume, and in our niche market, 
> that's hard to do.
> 
> But I am hoping to find an inexpensive clamshell-type enclosure with 
> flat front and rear panels, and then do up designs (perhaps with Front 
> Panel Express) for those panels.  That can be done at a reasonable cost, 
> and at a minimum we can make design files available so people can order 
> their own panels.
> 
> For my own use, I'm also going to do a couple of 2U rack enclosures -- 
> one to hold two TICCs operating independently, and another for the 
> "megaTICC" -- four units slaved together to make an 8 channel counter, 
> with a Raspberry Pi controller along the line of what Mark described. 
> (In multi-board mode, each TICC outputs on its own USB line, so the 
> RPi's main purpose is to deal with the 8 channels of data from 4 USB 
> connections.)
> 
> I'll make the design files for those enclosures available as well, but 
> it may be a while as my entire lab is now packed up as we are in the 
> final stages of moving from Atlanta back to Dayton.
> 
> Also, in a day or three I'll be announcing a simple project that sprung 
> out of the TICC assembly and testing process that some of you might find 
> useful.  We're still finalizing details on that.
> 
> John
> 
> 
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