[hpsdr] Pandora Update and Question

[Ben Hall]

Graham Haddock wrote:
> Were you planning to accommodate ALEX inside the Pandora box?

Hi Graham and gang!

Well, I've been so busy the past few months I totally forgot about ALEX! 
  I've not really planned either way - so while I've not planned to 
include it, I've done nothing that would rule it out!

> I am still a few weeks away from having an "alpha" build information
> package available, but as it has evolved, it is not an ATLAS bus-plugged 
> board,
> but inside its own metal box, which contains two 10 cm x 16 cm
> PC boards.  It will have nine (!) BNC connectors that will extend through
> the real panel, two vertical rows of four and five connectors each.

10 cm by 16 cm is about 4" by 6.25", which I think will fit depending on 
the enclosure holding the boards.

> The box will be controlled by an eight wire ribbon cable that connects
> through the front of the box, that connects to one of the other boards
> that is on the bus.

Wow, that's a lot of connections!

> Looking at your box, you seem to have a flat panel on one side that
> I assume is where the power supply will be located.

Well, I'm not certain of the area to which you refer.  If you look at 
the Sneak Peek file:

<http://bellsouthpwp.net/k/d/kd5byb/HPSDR/sneak%20peek.pdf>

Are you referring to the space immediately behind the two red close-out 
strips, on the ATX connector side of the Atlas board?

If so, so far this space is unallocated.  I say "unallocated," as an 
ATX-type power supply won't fit in the BK-959 box.  Plus, I was of the 
impression that most folks were looking at mini-box mini-ITX power 
supplies that were slightly larger than the ATX power connector on Atlas.

Certainly, the two slots behind the red close-out strips can be removed 
and replaced with blank panel or a specialized cut-out for Alex.

I could even leave an open cut-out and make a special, wider close-out 
strip for Alex, as well as a blank one to close out the cut-out if a 
particular HPSDR user wasn't going to use Alex.

The area in front of the Ozy/Janus cards in the Sneak Peak PDF is 
semi-allocated space.  Right now, the space in front of Ozy and Janus is 
open for occupation, as these cards are of known, fixed length.  But, 
the area in front of the four open slots is reserved for future cards of 
longer length, as I believe the form factor spec allows for 220mm length 
cards and I don't want Pandora to constrain future card design.

> My thoughts would be to have another flat panel on the other side of
> the box, big enough that it would cover (or actually replace) the end
> plate of the Hammond box (or Euro equivalent) that ALEX is mounted
> in.  

Looking at the Sneak Peak file, are you referring to the plate that is 
not shown on the side of the box opposite the slotted end plate?  I'd 
rather have all the connections on a common side - I'd rather revise the 
slotted panel and leave the other end panel completely open for "front 
panel" type of applications, even though there is not consensus from the 
community as to which end of Pandora is the front!  (Some folks want the 
cables in the front and will call that the front of their HPSDR.)

> I am using the same BNC connector that Lyle used on Pandora.

Okay - I think I can accommodate this connector.  I need to get a solid 
model of it and check.

> The physical mounting of ALEX could be the four corner screws
> that would go directly through the plate into the Hammond box, assuming
> that the mounting plate was strong enough to hold it. The nine
> BNC connectors would protrude through holes in the plate.

I think this is a very neat way to mount it!  The panels on the BK-959 
case will be 0.064" aluminum and are quite sturdy.  Nothing prevents 
another mounting point inside the box - such as a stand-off from the 
lower clam shell half - from being emplaced.

> The dimensions of the Hammond box are on the ALEX Wiki page
> at the bottom.

I'm downloading/converting solid models from Hammond now and will see 
how things fit.

I'll be interested in getting dimensions of the BNC connector layout on 
the alpha model for refinement of the model...

thanks much and 73,
ben, kd5byb


-- 
Thanks and 73,
Ben, KD5BYB


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