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Party-Box...Countertop cab w/ laptop & flat screen
theCoder:
I forgot to mention that it took me four tries to get the circuit right. The first time one of the solder joints was bad. In trying to debug the problem, I re-examined the schematic and determined that I had the leads on the LM317 reversed. From there, each time I'd power it up, it would get hot, then cold. The output voltage of the LM317 was always the same as the input. A friend of mine said it sounds like I'm frying the regulator. Taking another look at the schematic I noticed a note saying the pinouts are from the "top view". I had the pinouts right the first time! A couple of new regulators put in the correct way fixed the problem. When at first you don't succeed....
theCoder:
Major score today at a garage sale, I've just got to tell someone. I picked up a relatively new (6 year old) 27" Sharp TV for $10. Works great. The guy recently upgraded and didn't have room for the old one. He also reduced the price because he "couldn't find the remote".
I've been checking the price of 24" TVs every time I hit the big box stores. Nothing there anywhere near 10 bucks! This will work out perfect for my next project. My wife is starting to get suspicious.
theCoder:
It has been a very fruitful couple of days.
Modified Power Board
I was done with the power board and ready to test the components. Man, you want to talk about second guessing yourself. My concern was that if something were to blow, it would let too much current through and fry something. My primary concern is was the monitor. Everything else would be easy to replace. A friend of mine recommended putting in fuses for extra piece of mind. I wired in a couple of fuse holders and put in 1.5 amp fuses. Here is the finished power board.
Speaker and Fan Covers
Next step...drill the hundreds (at least it felt like it) of holes in the speaker covers and fan cover. Jim offered to do it on his CNC machine, but it was going to be a major hassle getting him a cad file in the format he needed to drive the machine. I just printed the patterns on paper, stuck them to the wood, then started drilling. It took about 15 minutes per piece to drill all the holes.
Blue cover plates will be a nice accent to the blue t-molding. I'll glue them on just before I clear coat the box and bezel.
Ports
A back shot of the cab with the I/O in place. I managed to find an 8 foot light gray power cable. The standard is 6 feet. That seemed a bit too short. I want the freedom to strategically place the PartyBox between the drinks and appetizers. I still need to track down a knob for the volume control. The fan hole will eventually be covered by the blue fan plate.
Smoke Test
After several hours of shortening wires, various soldering, hot gluing, etc. all the major components are in place to test my handywork. My primary concerns were whether or not I somehow killed the sound amp, and whether or not the monitor would drive from the LM317 circuit. No problem with the first. Sound works great. The monitor though, that's another story.
When I first hit the power switch, I was very pleased to see all components come to life, including the monitor. I put my finger on the voltage regulator and is was just a little warm. Not bad I thought. After about 30 seconds however, the monitor started to flicker. I went back to check the regulator and just about lost the finger print off my finger. The thing was blazing hot. Lets see, flickering monitor and extremely hot components (not to mention the smell of burnt flesh and melting hot glue)....I quickly hit the switch. What a bummer. Rather than screw around with the power regulator any more, I made a command decision to just use the transformer that came with the monitor. Ouch, there's another 1/2 pound or so. Oh well. After installing the additional transformer, it was time to try again. This time I was concerned that I fried the 12v regulator. After all, it still needs to drive the fan. I was very pleased when everything came up the second time.
Notice the clutter in this shot. I'm doing this phase of the project on the dining room table. My wife put up with a lot.
Attached Components
I used a lot of hot glue to hold everything down and to secure the wires. In this shot, the loose wires on the right connect to the other removable parts including the CPU, monitor, and speakers.
It's just about time to get serious about the control panel.
Crafty:
Coming together nicely...
Amazing job so far... :cheers:
vrf:
Awesome work so far! You're quite the electronics expert.
By the way, I'm insanely jealous of you having a friend who has a CNC machine. Oh the fun I'd have with that.
Keep up the great work!
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