a single "alignment divot" on the side would allow them to drill their own anyway (one small hole is all you need for both wires). No holes needed on top for the screw terminals - anybody with a screwdriver can just remove lid of the case to secure the wires, one-time as needed.
Sorry, but I'm gonna strongly disagree on this.
Sigh. Oh well
Long post here. Better go get your popcorn
If you only have one hole for the wire, it has to be large enough to cover both screw terminals.
- The only argument I can make for one large hole is if there is a large enough gap between the case and the screw terminals that the wires might veer off course between entering the case and entering the screw terminal. How big is that gap, Ond?
There is quite a gap - 4 or 5mm at least. Though I'm not sure how thick the case plastic is there. Ond made the case large enough to enclose the VGA port next door, which sticks out a bit.
- Two smaller (3-4mm) wire holes will look cleaner than one large (9-10mm) wire hole and the smaller holes should better serve as a guide when inserting a wire into the terminal. If so, smaller holes ==> better fit, form, and function.
Nobody wants a 9-10mm hole, that would be ugly. Who suggested that? Not me.
- Worst case if two small holes don't work, drill them with a 5mm or 6mm bit then use an exacto knife to turn the two holes into an oval. You'd be cutting parallel to the print layers so it should be easy.
The screw terminal centres are 5.08mm apart - so centred 3mm holes would leave approximately 2mm separation. 5mm would leave none.
If someone wants to mount the case on a shelf or wall by adding some simple brackets or Z-shaped mounting legs, it would be much more difficult to remove the lid than to have holes for jeweler's screwdrivers.
- If they aren't using heat-set threaded inserts, every time they take the lid off there is a greater chance that the lid screws are going to strip out.
- Having the option to drill screwdriver holes makes the case much more maintenance-friendly.
- Divots are easy and drilling them is optional. I can make no argument for not including these two divots.
You win.
Make two divots for top screw holes. Make divots for the wires too. There is no obligation to drill them, guess it can't hurt much, so long as it isn't too ugly.
I believe the use-case is very small. Few people fussy and knowledgeable enough to wall-mount GreenAntz in-case and provide power via alternate input would want to do this, and as designer I would
discourage screwing wires into the alt power inputs willy-nilly because of the unnecessary risks (see below).
You really only have to connect the wires once, so ease-of-access to top screws is really not that important.
Here's something deliberately not mentioned before: access to the adjustment pots for luma and Pr. Because mostly you don't *need* to twiddle them, it doesn't really matter that you may have to take the case lid off to do so. That, and I see no reason to make holes (or even divots) that will encourage people to play with them (they will likely only ruin the calibration I painstakingly did on my oscilloscope before sending it out). I consider this an advantage to having a case. I feel the same way, even more so, about the alt power screw terminals.
With that in mind, please consider these things you may have never thought of before:
- IMHO one hole for two wires looks better, is sturdier, safer and more practical than two unsecured twig-thin wires that can be easily pulled out.
- There is no need for the wires to come in right where that screw terminal block is - that hole can be wherever, and wires just run down to the inputs.
- The blue 5.08mm screw terminal connector pictured fits perfectly, but
doesn't come as default standard, you have to buy or supply it separately (if you discuss your need and ask when ordering, I'll throw one in for free if I have any spares). Because the spacing is common if unofficial "standard", many PCB connectors would fit. I have two types here, but the blue looks nicer.
- You could also choose to just solder the wires directly into the input holes provided on the PCB, or use some other standard connector. I left this for the tinkerer.
- I'm happy to
discourage people from casually connecting wires to the alt power input. Because getting the polarity swapped would likely fry the GreenAntz, or at least the voltage regulator. If you hook up your own non-reversible connector, you both avoid risk and make life easier for yourself.
All of this sours me to the hole idea (pun intended).
I also have to ask (rhetorically),.... Why would anybody go to the effort of wall-mounting GreenAntz in a case, given that by naked default it comes with free PCB offset legs for mounting inside a cabinet? Where you can't see it, and it is already protected from dust? Sure, there must be an edge case, but the numbers would be very small.
Assuming someone wants to do all this anyway, why wouldn't they just put a two-way non-reversible molex connector (or similar) on the wires to make it easy to disconnect? That's exactly what I did myself when wall-mounting a GreenAntz in my own cabinet. Its easier than finding a small screwdriver to unscrew the terminals, having to put your whole head inside the cab and bang it on the CRT neck coming back out (this happened to me twice! Owww!), or accidentally swapping the wires. It even makes cabling less messy. I'm getting older and finding it harder and harder to crawl into tight spaces, so will do anything I can to make life easier.
If I was to do it again, on a GreenAntz with a case, I'd cut a single hole (wherever I please) for both wires and run them through to the inputs, using as much length as needed. I might use a rubber grommet for the hole, maybe a cable tie or something to prevent the wires from being pulled out. Then use an external non-reversible two-way connector. Exact arrangements might vary, but point is that top holes for screw terminals would be unnecessary.
This is safest IMO, as it discourages fiddling with the power inputs and minimises opportunity for someone to get the polarity mixed up. This is a real concern for me, and I've investigated ways to mitigate the risk, but the most obvious solution (putting a schottky diode in series on the 5v input) causes a voltage drop of ~.4v, which is too much for reliable quality operation. There are more complicated solutions, but they will have to wait for future versions.
Here are some well considered thoughts: GreenAntz was designed with arcade tinkerers in mind, so case was never the priority. People that like to tinker are less interested in a case. People that don't tinker are more interested in a case. Strong correlation. I know this because I've sold many units, and while everyone has their own story, it is mostly true. Sure, there are occasional exceptions (like Ond, for example) who want it all, and good on them, but that is what I mostly see. On top of this, only 1/10 people have interest in alt power, more than half of those choose to use USB anyway after I talk it through with them, and NONE of these people have ever expressed special interest in a case. None.
Crunching those numbers leaves me somewhere vanishingly close to zero.
One other thing that would be nice to add on the outside of the case next to where the wire holes would be drilled is small inset "+" and "-" polarity markings.
Totally agree - also mark as 5v max input
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