"Harold E. Johnson" wrote in message
news:MGeJi.98494$Xa3.4844@attbi_s22...

"charlie" wrote in message
...
I'm looking for an instrument case for the BITX20A 20m transceiver,
the choices in the regular UK outlets don't look too special. What
I'm looking for is something around 6 inches wide, 8 deep and around
3 inches high (150 x 200 x 70 approx). Something with extruded sides
would fit the bill but it has to be all metal.

I'd appreciate any URLs of suppliers in the UK or US, meanwhile back
to googling

Charlie

I don't know how things are in merrie auld England, but here in the
colonies, a brake and shear is surprisingly affordable. With a little up
front investment, you can have exactly the right case for every project.

Low priced U.S. suppliers are folks like Northern Tool, Harbor Freight, etc.
I don't think I would try shipping one from here, though. They tend to be
kinda heavy, but there must be some U.K. equivalent supplier.

...

Highland Ham wrote:

SNIP
Charlie , When replacing a variable aircap by a 10turn potmeter +
varicap , I would suggest you pay much attention to the stabilised
voltage feeding the potmeter/varicap ,to ensure acceptable frequency
stability

Yes! My plan is to use a dedicated low power regulator.

By the way, I have found a company in West Sussex called Lincoln
Binns who do a range of extruded cases which are very competitively
priced, delivery cost is reasonable. I spoke to them today and they
are happy to deal with private customers and will supply one offs.
See http://www.lincolnbinns.com/products.htm



Charlie.


--
M0WYM
www.radiowymsey.org

Yes! My plan is to use a dedicated low power regulator.

By the way, I have found a company in West Sussex called Lincoln
Binns who do a range of extruded cases which are very competitively
priced, delivery cost is reasonable. I spoke to them today and they
are happy to deal with private customers and will supply one offs.
See http://www.lincolnbinns.com/products.htm



Charlie.


--
M0WYM

Charley, for that regulator, take a look at Charley Wenzels home page
http://www.techlib.com/electronics/finesse.html. You'll find the circuit
most useful in cleaning up that tuning Voltage by lots of dB. I don't build
an oscillator without it.

Would you let me know the price of that "ECS220" cabinet? And how are you
going to shrink the LCD display to fit it?

Regards
W4ZCB

Harold E. Johnson wrote:
Yes! My plan is to use a dedicated low power regulator.

By the way, I have found a company in West Sussex called Lincoln
Binns who do a range of extruded cases which are very competitively
priced, delivery cost is reasonable. I spoke to them today and they
are happy to deal with private customers and will supply one offs.
See http://www.lincolnbinns.com/products.htm



Charlie.


--
M0WYM

Charley, for that regulator, take a look at Charley Wenzels home page
http://www.techlib.com/electronics/finesse.html. You'll find the circuit
most useful in cleaning up that tuning Voltage by lots of dB. I don't build
an oscillator without it.

Would you let me know the price of that "ECS220" cabinet? And how are you
going to shrink the LCD display to fit it?

Regards
W4ZCB



Harold,

Thanks for that link to Charley Wenzil's site, it looks very useful.

The case I am going to use is the EDS220 not the ECS220. The ECS box
is approx $20 and EDS is approx $36. Panels around $2.60 and bezels
are approx $2.50 each. All prices(UK £) he
http://www.lincolnbinns.com/e_case_prices.htm . By the way , I
ordered the case and was told that they would dispatch it today so I
will let you know what the quality is like. I suspect that you can
similar cases cheaper in the US.

The counter is a kit with an 8 digit display and programmable
offsets so it can measure the VFO frequency. The kit costs almost as
much as the BITX20A at approx $80! I had aimed to get this beastie
in at under £100 ($200) but it's going to be around $250 in the end.
You can see the counter at
http://www.cumbriadesigns.co.uk/Minicounter.htm The display
piggybacks on the counter board which is 43mm deep and will attach
to the panel. Looking at the case drawing I have a couple of mm to
play with!

I am planning to use a led bargraph to indicate signal strength, SWR
& power, not accurate but useful indicators.


Charlie.

--
M0WYM
www.radiowymsey.org

Jimmie D wrote:


Whenever I build something like this I often put it in a fairly oversized
case to leave room for future mods and add-ons. Old instrument cases are a
favorite.


Jimmie



Jimmie,

It's a good point as I bet I'll coming up with mods. This little
beast is on a 5.5 x 3.5 inch PCB and I'll have more than twice that
area to play with in the case I've decided on.


Charlie.

--
M0WYM
www.radiowymsey.org