Topic: My Red controller enclosure

[dfroula]

Yesterday, I pulled my system offline for a few hours to package up my Red controller in the shiny new Bud NEMA box that arrived from Amazon. Thanks to hints here on the web, having accumulated the various bits, and building the switch harness beforehand, all went remarkably smoothly.

Here's the front view of the finished enclosure. One 7/8 inch hole was punched in the top for the Ethernet cable, the amp cable, and the power cable. The GPS antenna cable enters through an additional hole on the side.


Here's a side view showing the hole for the GPS antenna and the reset (upper) and LCD (lower) buttons:


Here's a back view showing the 4 screws for the standoffs and the transparent non-skid feet if the unit is place on its back:


Here's a top view showing the 7/8 inch hole for cable access:


Here's The Greenlee punch that was used to make the 7/8 inch hole. The punches were made for metal, but worked OK for the relatively soft plastic of the enclosure. A pilot hole is drilled, each half of the punch is placed on opposite sides of the panel, and the nut is slowly tightened until the halves meet, punching the hole:


Here's an inside view of the cable hole:


A corner view showing the external operating buttons. Note additional non-skid feet if the unit is paced on end:


An inside view showing the two pushbuttons and the wiring harness:


An inside close-up showing the switch harness connections to the STM32F4DISCOVERY board pins:


Here's the right-angle mini-USB connector for ease of access when updating firmware. Thanks to Greg for the idea! I had the right-angle connector in my junk box from an old Motorola Razr phone:

[miraculon]

Thanks for the pics. I was curious about the mode switch wiring.

Here's the right-angle mini-USB connector for ease of access when updating firmware. Thanks to Mike for the idea! I had the right-angle connector in my junk box from an old Motorola Razr phone:

I ordered this exact adapter.
How wide is the Moto right-angle adapter (on the female side)? I have 10mm clearance between the screw boss and the edge of the mini-USB connector on the ST board.

I ordered a 1 ft. mini-USB to "A" cable so I can have it emerging out of the box. That way I don't need to remove the 6 screws for a re-flash.

Greg H.

[dfroula]

Greg,

Oops, I gave credit to the wrong guy! Fixed now...

Looking at my picture of the adapter, from the right edge of the adapter to the right edge of the board USB socket, fully inserted, the measurement is 14 mm.

Taking all those screws out and putting them back in takes a while!

As I mentioned elsewhere, the Mode switch is connected to PA0 on the connector. To activate, it has to be connected to +5vdc rather than ground. That's why I brought the VDC line out to the remote mode switch.

Thanks for the ideas!

Best regards,

Don

[dfroula]

Connection details for the external buttons...

Following Greg's suggestion, I used an internal audio cable from an old PC to make the connection. This is the cable that goes from a DVD or CD ROM drive to the mother board and is used to carry audio. These cable might not be in use much these days, as audio is often carried digitally rather than through an amp on the drive.

The cable has four holes with wires in three of the four. I used a pin to gently lift the plastic retaining tab for each wire position and slide the wire free from the connector body. I then re-inserted the pins into the body in black-red-white order. The pins just click into place when they are inserted correctly. The connector is pressed onto the top pins of the processor board so that the three holes with wires connect to the GND-VDD-NRST pins as shown. The signal names are marked on the board. Press firmly to make a good connection, as the pins are not long enough to insert all the way into the connector.

The black and white wires are connected to one NO SPST button for reset (same as black reset button on the board).

An additional connection is required for the LCD "User" button. The button signal line is connected to the PA0 pin in the same row as the other three pins, down a few pins. I used a battery connector cut off an old dead rechargeable battery pack. I cut off the black wire near the connector as only the one wire connected to PA0 is needed. I pushed the connector onto the pins so that it bridged the pin in the row adjacent to PA0. The extra pin serves no electrical purpose, but helps the connector stay in place. The red wire from the three-pin connector and the PA0 red wire are then connected to a second NO SPST pushbutton. This button duplicates the function of the blue "User" button to control the LCD display.

Best regards,

Don

[Timay]

A 7/8" hole in electrical terms is a 1/2" fitting, and you could get some grommets and clean up the holes  as seen here. Home Depot or one of the big box hardware stores should have them cheaper.

Tim

[dfroula]

The enclosure for my amplifier arrived today, so I packaged that up in a fashion similar to the controller.

I added a stereo audio jack to the side of the enclosure for connection to headphones, an external monitor amp, or my Lightning Radar PC. I made the connections to the 3-pin headers on the board with Futaba model airplane servo extensions with one end cut off. The fit on the pins is perfect.

[miraculon]

Now you just need a 300W/channel stereo amplifier and super tweeters!

Greg H.

[dfroula]

I did have it plugged into the stereo amp for a while! I often hear whistlers and tweaks in the early morning. It's a kind of soothing background noise...at least I think so.

I'm not sure if my SO agrees!...

Don

[W3DRM]

The enclosure for my amplifier arrived today, so I packaged that up in a fashion similar to the controller.

I added a stereo audio jack to the side of the enclosure for connection to headphones, an external monitor amp, or my Lightning Radar PC. I made the connections to the 3-pin headers on the board with Futaba model airplane servo extensions with one end cut off. The fit on the pins is perfect.
...[snip]...

What model did you use? I see they have quite a few variations of the extenders. Any specific place to find them at the best price?

[dfroula]

These would do nicely. 1.00 a piece for 5 and free shipping. The extra extensions would work great for the remote buttons for the controller board.

http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewitem?sbk=1&nav=SEARCH&itemId=231016883011

Don

The enclosure for my amplifier arrived today, so I packaged that up in a fashion similar to the controller.

I added a stereo audio jack to the side of the enclosure for connection to headphones, an external monitor amp, or my Lightning Radar PC. I made the connections to the 3-pin headers on the board with Futaba model airplane servo extensions with one end cut off. The fit on the pins is perfect.
...[snip]...

What model did you use? I see they have quite a few variations of the extenders. Any specific place to find them at the best price?

[miraculon]

Thanks for the pics. I was curious about the mode switch wiring.

Here's the right-angle mini-USB connector for ease of access when updating firmware. Thanks to Mike for the idea! I had the right-angle connector in my junk box from an old Motorola Razr phone:

I ordered this exact adapter.
How wide is the Moto right-angle adapter (on the female side)? I have 10mm clearance between the screw boss and the edge of the mini-USB connector on the ST board.

I ordered a 1 ft. mini-USB to "A" cable so I can have it emerging out of the box. That way I don't need to remove the 6 screws for a re-flash.

Greg H.

The Moto right-angle adapter and 1' Mini USB cable came and installed them. I decided to re-drill the PCB mounting holes and move the board away from the screw boss causing the interference. It turned out well.

Greg H.