How would you mount the OSCAR USB Interface?

[MilitiaMan]

Need a little advice gents ....

Control Panel is completely wired with the I-Pac securely mounted to the underside of the CP.  

BUT .....

The 2 OSCAR USB Interfaces are hooked up to the trackball and spinner, but they are not permanently secured ... they are just flopping around in the control panel box. Obviously, this cannot be good.

They don't have any holes to which I could attach PCB feet and screw them permanently down, so here is my question:

Would it be safe to drill two small holes into the circuit board and mount it with PCB feet or would drilling damage the circuit board? (Obviously, I know very little about circuitry.)

Any help the experts here can provide will be greatly appreciated.

Here is a link to Oscar Controls to view the board I am referring to if you haven't seen it:

http://www.oscarcontrols.com/cgi-bin/cart.pl?DT=1

Thanks,
MM

P.S. I highly recommend this product if you:

A: Are planning to connect a trackball/spinner to your control panel

and

B: Have available USB ports

This thing worked perfectly the first time I connected it and Windows recognized the TB as a USB mouse immediately. Another great product from Oscar Controls ... 2 thumbs up!  

[HeadRusch]

My IPAC and OPTIPAC flop around inside my control panel......secured onlly by the the dozens upon dozens of wires connected to each one.

Since my CP doesn't do a whole lot of moving about, i'm no worried...

[rampy]

My IPAC and OPTIPAC flop around inside my control panel......secured onlly by the the dozens upon dozens of wires connected to each one.

Since my CP doesn't do a whole lot of moving about, i'm no worried...

Mines that way too... but I'm ashamed of it =P  (although my ps/2 hack is securlely mounted to the underside of the CP) my key wiz and usb oscar mouse hack are held in place by inertia and the mass of spaghetti wires pushing 'em down.

I'd like to mount them more securely though...

to the OP... I guess if you were really careful you could drill in a non conductive area... but I suggest using some sort of clip to hold it down from the each side...  like mirror clips or the like (know what I mean?) or ?

blah...

rampy

[Sasquatch!]

I tied mine down to a little piece of breadboard slightly bigger than the interface board.  I then drilled two holes in the breadboard (wide enough for screws) and mounted it to the back of the spinner using the same screws that attach the optical board to the spinner bracket.

[_Iz-]

Cut an anti-static bag into a large "band-aid", fold that around the pcb leaving extra on each side, tape it closed and then staple thru the extra on each side to secure.

[Tiger-Heli]

Cut an anti-static bag into a large "band-aid", fold that around the pcb leaving extra on each side, tape it closed and then staple thru the extra on each side to secure.

Double sided foam tape is always an option, but I like _Iz-'s idea better.

[tom61]

Cut an anti-static bag into a large "band-aid", fold that around the pcb leaving extra on each side, tape it closed and then staple thru the extra on each side to secure.

Anti-static bags are conductive, not a good thing to wrap around a live electronic device! Anti-static bags are for only storing electronics.

[jakejake28]

electric tape

[Mike]

Mounted mine by putting a plastic washer on a screw and putting one on each side.

[OSCAR]

Hmm, lots of creative ideas here!  

I put a screw on either side of it and looped a nylon zip tie around them.  This makes it easy to remove if you need to, just pull the zip off one of the screws and the board comes out.

[Lilwolf]

btw, what I've used on a few items is the white plastic things that you hammer in to hold down a cable.

The ones that look like a  ' n '   where you hammer a small nail on the left... and the cable goes under it.

Well, I would snip the edge away from the nail and it works GREAT for holding down little boards.  Just use 4 of them and it's in there tight without touching anything but plastic.

[MilitiaMan]

Thanks for all the great ideas guys ... I decided to bite the bullet and just drill a small hole into the circuit board and mount it with PCB feet.

I was worried that I might damage the board, so I was very careful and everything turned out OK.

Thanks Again for all of the ideas .... good stuff here.

MM

[_Iz-]

Cut an anti-static bag into a large "band-aid", fold that around the pcb leaving extra on each side, tape it closed and then staple thru the extra on each side to secure.

Anti-static bags are conductive, not a good thing to wrap around a live electronic device! Anti-static bags are for only storing electronics.

Hmmm, I had no idea. Wonder why mine hasn't fried yet...

[AlanS17]

I've worked at a couple of different LARGE electronics manufacturing corporations. The best way I can think of is...

HOT GLUE! (No joke. That's how they do it.)

Also, they take a portion of the the extending wire and wrap it around a screw which they tighten down.

[1UP]

I've worked at a couple of different LARGE electronics manufacturing corporations. The best way I can think of is...

HOT GLUE! (No joke. That's how they do it.)

Also, they take a portion of the the extending wire and wrap it around a screw which they tighten down.

Funny you should mention hot glue...I'm surprised no one else has thought of this yet:



Two washers hot-glued to the PCB.  You could also glue on PCB feet.  Much safer IMHO since you could crack your PCB drilling it (or applying the screws), even if you manage to miss the circuit traces...