Instrument Case For Transceiver
 

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 :)

Thanks,


Charlie.

--
M0WYM
www.radiowymsey.org

Instrument Case For Transceiver
 

"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 :)

Thanks,
Charlie.
--
M0WYM
www.radiowymsey.org

C -

I am going to use an old modem case (hopefully).
Hundreds of thousands of analog modems at retail office / stores across
world have hit the trash heap in past 20 years. Some are all plastic, but I
have retrieved one that may work for my future BIT20A kit.

w9gb

Instrument Case For Transceiver
 

"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 :)

Thanks,


Charlie.

--
M0WYM

Charlie, at the next boot sale coming near you, look for the A/B switch
boxes for switching between printers and serial ports and the like. Some are
roughly the size you're asking about and you just have to make a new front
and rear panel for them. (They ARE steel, and a bear to work with) As an
alternative, I have some extruded Aluminum boxes 1/8 th inch wall that are 6
wide by 8 deep by 1-3/4 high. Open front and back but internal ribs for
sliding in a couple PC boards and tapped on the ends for 4-40 bolts for
holding on front and rear panels. If you can live with the reduced height,
one is yours for the postage.

W4ZCB

Instrument Case For Transceiver
 

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 have seen (simple) aluminium enclosures of the approx size
you need at Maplin (Inverness). Including one with a black plasticised
cover. You can finish those yourself with Hammarite paint from a spray can.
Good luck with homebrewing the BITX20A

Frank GM0CSZ / KN6WH

Instrument Case For Transceiver
 

Highland Ham wrote:

===============================
Charlie , I have seen (simple) aluminium enclosures of the approx size
you need at Maplin (Inverness). Including one with a black plasticised
cover. You can finish those yourself with Hammarite paint from a spray can.
Good luck with homebrewing the BITX20A

Frank GM0CSZ / KN6WH

Frank,

I've looked at the aluminium boxes which look great for most
projects but I want something a bit stronger and professional
looking for the transceiver. Maplin also sell the Hammond range of
enclosures but their biggest is too small. Since posting I have
found a bigger range of the same style at Rapid Electronics and I
may go for one of these.

I'm pretty excited about building the BITX20A, my plan is to use an
LCD display using a 10 turn pot/varicap diode instead of a tuning
cap and I aim to bring the cost in at under £100.


Charlie.

--
M0WYM
www.radiowymsey.org

Instrument Case For Transceiver
 

Harold E. Johnson wrote:

SNIP

Charlie, at the next boot sale coming near you, look for the A/B switch
boxes for switching between printers and serial ports and the like. Some are
roughly the size you're asking about and you just have to make a new front
and rear panel for them. (They ARE steel, and a bear to work with) As an
alternative, I have some extruded Aluminum boxes 1/8 th inch wall that are 6
wide by 8 deep by 1-3/4 high. Open front and back but internal ribs for
sliding in a couple PC boards and tapped on the ends for 4-40 bolts for
holding on front and rear panels. If you can live with the reduced height,
one is yours for the postage.

W4ZCB



Harold,

I know the steel boxes you refer to, similar new ones are quite
cheap in the UK. Thank you very much for your kind offer! I think
that your box would be hard to work with as the height is much the
same as the LCD counter I want to use! In fact I have located some
enclosures very similar to the ones you have.


Thanks again!


Charlie.

--
M0WYM
www.radiowymsey.org

Instrument Case For Transceiver
 

I know the steel boxes you refer to, similar new ones are quite
cheap in the UK. Thank you very much for your kind offer! I think
that your box would be hard to work with as the height is much the
same as the LCD counter I want to use! In fact I have located some
enclosures very similar to the ones you have.


Thanks again!


Charlie.

No problem Charlie, and wish you well in your search. The length and width
of these were exactly your specs and I have, after seeing someone else do a
similar trick with a A/B box, slit the two sides and expanded the height
with nothing more than a pair of pieces of Aluminum to bolt top and bottom
together. The 1/8 inch wall allows countersinking the bolts and looks quite
professional.

W4ZCB

Instrument Case For Transceiver
 

gb wrote:
SNIP

I am going to use an old modem case (hopefully).
Hundreds of thousands of analog modems at retail office / stores across
world have hit the trash heap in past 20 years. Some are all plastic, but I
have retrieved one that may work for my future BIT20A kit.

w9gb


gb,

Thanks for responding, that's a good idea for homebrewing. I think
that I have found what I want at a reasonable price.
(see http://www.hammondmfg.com/1455.htm )


Charlie.

--
M0WYM
www.radiowymsey.org

Instrument Case For Transceiver
 

I've looked at the aluminium boxes which look great for most
projects but I want something a bit stronger and professional
looking for the transceiver. Maplin also sell the Hammond range of
enclosures but their biggest is too small. Since posting I have
found a bigger range of the same style at Rapid Electronics and I
may go for one of these.

I'm pretty excited about building the BITX20A, my plan is to use an
LCD display using a 10 turn pot/varicap diode instead of a tuning
cap and I aim to bring the cost in at under £100.
==========================
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

Instrument Case For Transceiver
 

"Highland Ham" wrote in message
...

I've looked at the aluminium boxes which look great for most
projects but I want something a bit stronger and professional
looking for the transceiver. Maplin also sell the Hammond range of
enclosures but their biggest is too small. Since posting I have
found a bigger range of the same style at Rapid Electronics and I
may go for one of these.

I'm pretty excited about building the BITX20A, my plan is to use an
LCD display using a 10 turn pot/varicap diode instead of a tuning
cap and I aim to bring the cost in at under £100.
==========================
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

Better yet, the counter already has 95 percent of what's required for a Huff
n Puff stabilizer. Add that and the rig will stay put for months.

Charlie, my boxes are the same external dimensions as that 1455T2201.

Regards
W4ZCB

Instrument Case For Transceiver
 

"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.

...

Instrument Case For Transceiver
 

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

Instrument Case For Transceiver
 

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

Instrument Case For Transceiver
 

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

Instrument Case For Transceiver
 

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