[bishopdonmiguel]

Speaker grille looks GREAT! To eliminate the burrs and give the grille a finished look, lightly use a countersink bit on each hole. Gives a nice chamfered edge.

[PssdffJay]

Thanks for the tip, I have countersink bits somewhere so I'll dig them out. I looked at the other side this morning and its a hot mess under there with all the burs.

[Matt Campbell]

Side note, are you going to the Edmonton expo? I can only get there on the Sunday but there will be a few ABGB there on Saturday.

Yep I'm going, I'll be in attendance both Saturday & Sunday this year as I no longer work weekends.

[PssdffJay]

I'm having a little trouble lining the xlr plate up based on the photos. Does this look right? I'm just wondering how much room the actual wiring will need.







Or does anyone have a measurement from the bottom edge of the mobo to the bottom of the xlr plate?

Thanks!!

[robpenfold]

Great build so far Jay. Seeing these last pictures, I really wish I'd used one of those xlr plates when I built my pack last year. Looks so nice.

[PssdffJay]

You can always upgrade or add it. Even if it was just for looks.

[PssdffJay]

Another late night drilling holes. Thanks again for the tip on the counter sink bits Bishop. It cleaned the holes up like a charm!



I still have my question out there about the xlr plate, but I did get my 6" speaker lined up and drilled. I forgot to take a photo of it installed before I started on the speaker holes.





Speaking of speaker holes, I used Alan's template again and added in a few extra. This one is 191 holes if I counted correctly.





I got them all punched and about half drilled before I called it a night. I'll be very happy when this part is done. Then I can get to the scary electronics.

[Hammer]

It's looking great....as usual! I may be asking for your templates soon....I hope.....

[bishopdonmiguel]

Or does anyone have a measurement from the bottom edge of the mobo to the bottom of the xlr plate?

Looks good to me. I'm not making any claims of screen accuracy, but I mounted mine 2-inches (5cm) from the bottom of the MB.

[PssdffJay]

Thanks for the metric conversion for us Canucks! I was thinking 2" was good too when I was eyeballing it.

Hammer, I'll see if I can scan my templates for you. I'll double check with Alan to make sure I'm not stepping on toes, he did make the original. I just went and added a crap tone more holes. The blister on my hand is making me wonder if that was the right way to go. Oh well, can't stop now!

[bishopdonmiguel]

A blister means you're on the right path. Once you hit blood, you'll know you did the right thing.

[PssdffJay]

I was worried I'd have my hand underneath supporting it and drill right through. Luckily that didn't happen.

But this did!



I think all I need to do is drill the xlr holes, the hole for those wires to go though and make the power cell bracket holes bigger for 3/16 rivets and all the drilling is done.

[Hammer]

Damn that's pretty. I'm impressed! I'm within a few weeks of where you are now. Propcicle has been great with assistance on my Arduino stupidity. I'm itching to wrap things up. I've got too much on deck to hold my attention much longer on the Pep pack. You just keep driving on so I can follow along!

[PssdffJay]

Thanks! That's the easy part. Now for the electronics, but first, how about a photo of the speakers attached. I really liked the look of the brass spacers Phil had put in, so like all my ideas, I stole his!







I still need to figure out a shelf to go over top of the large speaker for the cyclotron lights and I think I'll try and attach the batteries to it. I'm quickly running out of room.

[PssdffJay]

Speaking of idea stealing, I'm going to attempt the amazing internals that Bishop has done. I'm going to have the thrower board in the pack so the little board below it extends the bar graph. Now he had more room up top because of his speaker locations, but here is what I'm thinking.

The white paper will become a sintra shelf for the boards to attach to and the green tape on the Ethernet plate will be trimmed down to fit. I honestly don't know if I'll have enough space to fit them all on or if there is enough room under the shell.



I'm about to try my idea. I have lots of the sintra and a piece of scrap that is almost the perfect size. Please, if anyone sees something stupid in my plan that I don't, let me know. I'm flying by the seat of my pants right now.

[pyhasanon]

I really liked the look of the brass spacers Phil had put in, so like all my ideas, I stole his!

Considering your build inspired a lot of what I did, touche!

However, only my bottom speaker used brass spacers... I had white nylon spacers for my 4" speaker...

Looking fantastic, Jay! =D

[PssdffJay]

Thanks Phil. Your pack is phenomenal and I hope to have mine look even half as good as yours does with the weathering!

[PssdffJay]

Phew! I'm beat, another 9 hour build day. Granted 3 hours was hole drilling and bur cleanup.

My first attempt at the board shelf was the wrong shape. But first some photos.





The shelf went too low and the shell would not go down over it. That's when I realized I could try the shape by fitting it into the shell upside down rather than guessing. I figured out I needed to cut the bottom off and try a different arrangement.





And it looks like it'll fit.



It does! I can't take a photo of it inside the shell but everything cleared when I tried it.

[PssdffJay]

I then cut out a hole for the cables to fit through and drilled holes for the plastic standoffs.







And then I ran into an issue. The plastic standoffs are just slightly too small for the screws to go through tight on both sides. This is preventing it from tightening down all the way and I don't want anything rattling around and not secure. I'm going to check Home Depot tomorrow for some plastic washers to put on the underside of the shelf and hopefully it'll take up the space.



That's where I left it for tonight. Still so much more to do and less and less time.

Night all!

[bishopdonmiguel]

And then I ran into an issue. The plastic standoffs are just slightly too small for the screws to go through tight on both sides. This is preventing it from tightening down all the way

Take a razor blade and cut off a section from the end of the nylon screw. As long as you have enough thread for a secure "bite," you don't need to use the full length of the screw.

Layout is very CLEAN. Love this work.

Before you commit to mounting on the MB, think about where your cables will run. As I recall, there is only room to run the cables down the middle to the loom out port.

Also, the Ethernet ports require room both under the plate AND over the port once the cables are plugged in. Check for clearance.

Lastly, think about how you will secure the cable bundle. You'll want it nice & neat. I used Velcro straps with self adhesive mounts.

[bishopdonmiguel]

If you need to raise the Ethernet mount, connect two standoffs using a section of thread from a nylon screw.

[PssdffJay]

Thanks again for all the tips, I never even thought about trying to cut one of the screws. Duh, they're plastic! It worked perfectly.

I think I can run the cables down the right side of the 4" speaker, down the middle and then around the right side of the 6" speaker. I also already picked up some of the adhesive mounts, just need to find the Velcro. I saw that on your build and had kept that in the back of my mind.

I believe I have enough room for the Ethernet hub and cables. I'll attempt that once I do a test fit of the finished shelf. Which is...



I also made some 1"x 1" cubes out of some left over sintra for it to sit on. I'll screw the seal on to those and I was think of epoxying those to the mobo. I'm trying to avoid many holes in the mobo (says the guy with 250 speaker holes...). But that's right were the big red sticker on the back goes. Oh crap, which just made we wonder if my upper speaker holes will be in the way. I knew I forgot to check something...

[PssdffJay]

Phew! Just fits. I hadn't even thought about that.



I need to trim the neck foam to fit the lines of the motherboard still.

[PssdffJay]

Wow, another long day. I'm making slow progress but progress none the less. After cutting the screws and testing an Ethernet cable, I needed to cut the standoffs under the wall plate by 1/3 and I think now it fits. It'll be tight and I'll need to really secure the cables down but it should work.

Next I started working on a shelf for over the 6" speaker. I tried with some card board and made it 8" and it was too big and a failure. I didn't even bother to take a picture. But it did let me do some math and figure out what would work better. Turns out the speaker grill that comes with the 6" Pyle has a 7" diameter which is what I wanted this time. I made another quick test out of cardboard then I did some fancy math and some time later using some more sintra, I created a bracket? Shelf? What am I calling this thing? I don't know. Photos.











The reason I put sides on this and folds was so that I have somewhere to hopefully attach my 2 blue bricks I want to use. I haven't tested the fit with the sintra version but the second cardboard one worked. I still need to notch out a curve for the n filter to fit.

I also did trim the bottom to curve around the speaker holes. Not sure if it can be seen in the photos.





I am going to put some more screws connecting the speaker to the self for more strength. I don't know what I'm going to do with the cyclotron lights yet. Not sure if I should go with reflectors or just mount to the shelf. I do have some foil tape I could cover it with to make it look like it was metal. I'll try and test that.

I really need to paint the mother board again but I'm tied up tomorrow. Maybe Sunday. I also have some pieces coming in from RJ and hopefully they make it at the beginning of the week and I can get my thrower assembled.

Good night all, I'm too tired to think anymore.

[bishopdonmiguel]

For someone fearful of electronics, your efforts are looking very professional.

You are the "Michelangelo of sintra." Those brackets and speaker shelf look awesome. I like the look of the LEDs without reflectors. If you got ahold of some perfboard, you could attach it to the top of the shelf for the classic look. Or just mount to the sintra.

Check the spacing of the shelf with the Cyclotron. You'll need some space between the red lenses and the LEDs or it will look weird.

Not sure I'd trust epoxy on the aluminum. The epoxy I used to attach the bolt for the weld on the Booster Tube didn't hold very well under torque stress. If you get any flex on the MB, the bond may break. I'm no expert with adhesives but bolts are good insurance but I've never been about being 100% accurate to the props.

Fantastic work all around.

[pyhasanon]

What are you using to cut your Sintra? That's some really clean work you got there! Awesome stuff, man!

I have a crazy idea that's kinda stemming off of the Spengler pack and Legend's build - what if instead of putting reflectors, surround the cyclotron LEDs with mounted resistors? I personally love the way it looks when the cyclotron lights up and you see some resistors peeking through... just a thought... =P

[bishopdonmiguel]

I have a crazy idea that's kinda stemming off of the Spengler pack and Legend's build - what if instead of putting reflectors, surround the cyclotron LEDs with mounted resistors?

That's not crazy, that's awesome!

[GohstTarp]

You are the "Michelangelo of sintra." Those brackets and speaker shelf look awesome.

What are you using to cut your Sintra? That's some really clean work you got there!

Totally agreed. All of your sintra pieces are a pleasure to look at. Please do share your cutting technique... it's clean and flawless.

[PssdffJay]

You are the "Michelangelo of sintra." Those brackets and speaker shelf look awesome.

What are you using to cut your Sintra? That's some really clean work you got there!

Totally agreed. All of your sintra pieces are a pleasure to look at. Please do share your cutting technique... it's clean and flawless.

Ok, I'll let you in on my little secret. If you dip your knife in a bit of lemon juice the acid will melt the inside ever so slightly giving you a really nice cut.


No no, just kidding!! I'm just using a craft knife with a sharp point on the end and making lots of light continuous cuts until I am through the other side. No real technique but thanks for all the compliments!

I have been out all day and only just got home so no progress tonight. I still need to drill the hole about the xlr plate for the wires, the 2 holes beside the mounting bracket that I will feed a zip tie through to hold the loom, and figure out where to drill holes to hold in the electronics shelf. Bishop is right, I wouldn't want that ripping off. I need to figure out how to make them fit without jeopardizing the next foam or big red danger sticker. I think I can clear the sticker, just not sure not the foam.

I like the suggestions on the cyclotron shelf for the lights. I have 1 inch from the shelf to the outside edge of the shell so less 1/8" for the shell and 3/16" for the lens (I haven't measured that but I think thats how thick they are) which leaves me with 11/16" of space. I could see if I can find a blue perfboard, legend's build is really cool. I'm not sure. I'm still trying to figure out how to hold the led's in place without hot glue. I'm not sure if I should try and bend the wires to a 90 degree under the led and I could secure them under or what. Still lots to do before next weekend and only a handful of hours available.

Sleep now, more work tomorrow.

[PssdffJay]

Still haven't gone to sleep yet, going through build threads. Then I wen't back to Bishop's thread where he use wall anchors to hold the leds. Were they big enough that the led could fit through or did you split the wires and rewire it after they went through. Still not a fan of having to glue them in, but maybe I can't get away from it. Still thinking about if I have to take it apart and redo it I'd rather not have it glued.