Project boxes are often hard to find, especially for the frugal (read "cheap") ham. These Data Switch boxes are showing up in thrift stores and offer a sturdy solution to the quest for enclosures. (Did I mention cheap? Less than $3 for this one.) Removing 4 screws gets you a jumble of stuff like you see in the photo. (Clip the wires and save as hook-up wire for other projects.)
I cut new front and back panels for the enclosure from copper clad fiberglas I had in the junkbox. These panels can be cut from other metal flat stock found at hardware stores.
The encoder kit includes all the parts, including a unique knob. You can see a nut in the following photo which snugs up a tapered sleeve to grip the shaft. I've not seen this kind of knob before. Oh, those small parts in the container are surface mount, so no caffeine before soldering them in place!
Here are two pictures showing the completed install but no panel graphics. I plan to utilize my word processor to do a paper overlay with graphics then put a thin piece of clear plexiglas over that.
No comments:
Post a Comment