RE-Reworking My Small System... AGAIN

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Well that was disappointing. Brought the audio cable bin in from the garage. The friggin' thing weighs a TON! Dug around in there for 15 minutes, and what did I find???... NOTHIN'![emoji1]... Nothin' useful anyway. Found a bunch of S-VIDEO cables... some from Radio Shack in their original boxes, and at least 10 more of various lengths. S-VIDEO???... Who even uses S-VIDEO anymore???... Why do I even keep 'em?[emoji1] Found a bunch of other cables, but nothing I can use for this project. Found plenty of RCA cables, but none of the RCA to 1/4"... I know I HAD several, but I have NO idea where they went. So now it's either sit around and wait until my cables come on Friday, or go to GC and get what I need. [emoji37]
 
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OK... Now I know I have a serious disorder.[emoji1] I was driving home from breakfast, and I saw a black metal frame of some sort sitting by the curb of a neighbor's house (for big trash pickup tomorrow). As I passed by, I started thinking I could recycle that thing into a frame on which to attach my Floating Facade to my table. OMG!!!... Now I'm not just thinking about recycling my own junk, now I'm actually considering picking up junk by the side of the road!!![emoji1].... H E L P M E ![emoji1] I think if it hadn't been pouring down rain, I MIGHT have actually stopped and picked it up. Still haven't made it to the hardware store to buy the aluminum posts to build my bracket, but I think building from a piece of junk would take a little more work anyway.[emoji1]


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Sometimes you're able to find exactly what you need at the time you need it... That's not the case for me today.[emoji23] Went to the hardware store to buy paint, aluminum tubing, brackets, and screws (to build the bracket for mounting the Floating Facade to my table)... Could only get two lengths of square tubing, and I needed three. Couldn't get the size U-channel I needed, and no U-brackets either. Couldn't find the kind of paint I wanted either... Pretty disappointing trip, but HEY, you either improvise or you don't make anything. So I improvised. The paint I bought may actually be better than what I wanted. And after trying to bend some L-brackets into U-brackets, I scrapped that idea and just made my own U-btackets out of a strip of aluminum I already had. And though I couldn't get the amount of square tubing I needed, I was fortunate to find another piece in my garage that is just the right length. So now its just a matter of measuring this thing out, cutting the tubing to size, and putting it together. AND... I think I can make the U channel I need from a length of aluminum L-bar. I could go shopping and maybe find the exact items I need, or I could certainly find it online, but I don't wanna waste my time shopping and waiting for more supplies.:djsmug:

The 2U hinged vented access rack panel (for the back of the rack) came today. One more thing to check off the task list.
 
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So.... Here we go again.[emoji1] Why isn't ANYTHING easy??? The 2U hinged vented rack panel... doesn't fit. Somehow it's slightly too wide and the holes to screw it to the rails don't line up if the door is attached on the side opposite the hinges. I tried enlarging the holes a little and grinding the edge shorter, but even that wouldn't work. So I put old vented panel back on for now, along with the newly repainted mounting post for the laptop stand/robotic arm. It looks good and will work fine until I can make the new hinged panel fit.


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Back to the backup option. I was starting to favor the laptop option, but now I'm not so sure. I have two laptops (one i7, the other an i3); either one would run lights (DMX) and Traktor (as a backup). The issue I have with laptops is the power cord; or more specifically, the power block. Like pretty much all laptop power supplies, there's a thin power cord that connects to the laptop, then the power block, then the power cord that plugs into the outlet. I can run the thin power cord through the channel in the robotic arm for the laptop stand, but what happens to that power block? Where do I put it? Since it's external, there's no way to hide it inside the rack (like I do with the similar power block for the controller) I guess I could just let it dangle at the base of the robotic arm, but that would offend my sensibilities.[emoji1] Perhaps I could figure out a way to mount it underneath the pad in which the laptop is mounted???[emoji848]

On the other hand, I can buy a power supply for the Surface Pro where the power supply is at the end of the cord and plugs into the outlet. The current power supply looks like a typical laptop power supply, only the power block is slightly smaller.

So unless I come up with a better idea for hiding the power block, it's beginning to look like the Surface Pro is gonna be the choice.
 
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Been working on the bracket for hanging my floating facade on my 30'x30" table. The design, though similar to my original concept, had to be changed slightly...
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I had to make the receptor and the U-brackets, as well as the horizontal support that holds the latch. It's REALLY hot outside right now, so I'll take a break until the sun goes down, then I'll see if I can at least get everything assembled.
 
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Today I hope to finish up the bracket to attach the Floating Facade to my DJ table. I got all the pieces made yesterday, but I realized last night that the U-brackets I made are not gonna work, so I need to make new ones. They need to be longer on the side that get's screwed to the hanging bracket. I just hope I have enough metal strip left to make two more U-brackets. It's not much fun working with metal... I much prefer wood... more forgiving. Maybe if I had better metal working tools it would be easier. Maybe some expert training would help too. But I think this bracket will work OK. Needs to be painted before I can put it all together. I could leave it the raw aluminum, but even though it will be hidden behind the facade, the OCD says it needs to be painted. More work; more time.:laugh:

Tracking says my cables will be delivered today; a day earlier than projected. YAY!!!... Never made it to GC, so this will work out great... as long as they all work and there's enough to do the job.:)

And of course I have to ADD something to the scope of the project. It's really annoying, when working with my DJ table, that it's difficult to move around. It needs to be more mobile. So I'm gonna make a 28"x28" platform with casters to set it on. Won't necessarily be something I'd take to a gig, but will sure help when I want to move the Small System (on the table) around in my office.:) It'll look something like this...

1532018639487.png

.... I was gonna make the little square cups to set the legs of the table in, but for $8.29 I could get 8 of them, so I ordered those. Should have them in a few days.
 
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Cables came this afternoon... Too bad I'm feelin' like a slug today. It's about 104 degrees outside today, so working out in the garage on my hanging bracket ain't happenin'. Been doing other stuff today... grocery shopping, hair cut, other chores. Decided to get all the real life stuff out of the way today, so tomorrow I can give this project my full attention. I might get a chance to hook up all my cables tonight.
 
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I got everything wired up last night except for two external 1/4" jacks (inputs) that I'm going to mount on the rear patch panel. One will be an input for the Surface Pro, the other for... I dunno.[emoji1] I need to attach RCA cables to the backs of those two jacks, which will plug into the Rolls mixer. Turns out I didn't even use half of the cables I ordered. I ended up using several cables I already had. Oh well... I'll throw what I didn't use in the cable bin and perhaps some will get used on my next reworking project???[emoji1]

Sometimes I don't even understand my own thought process![emoji1] Went to screw the pieces to the hanging bracket together and suddenly realized... some of the screws are TOO SHORT! If you're screwing two 3/4" pieces together, the screws have to be more than 1 1/2" long... DUH!!![emoji1] All I have are 1" and 1 1/4". Those work for a few of the attachments, but I need some 2" screws for the ones going through two 3/4" wide pieces. Back to the hardware store unless I can scrounge up 6 long screws and nuts outta my screw trays. No wonder it takes me SO long to get anything done.
 
Got my long screws (from the hardware store) today. Went out in the garage to screw the hanging Facade bracket together, but it was just WAY TOO HOT out there to do anything but sweat![emoji1]only got two screws in before deciding it wasn't worth it. Maybe I can make some space in the office to work, but still have both of my systems set up in there. I was gonna move my Large System out to the minivan, but I really don't want it out there while it's as hot as it is. It would probably be fine, but while it's my only working system, why take the chance? It's supposed to cool down a little by Monday... We'll see.[emoji4]
 
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Today was a better day to work outside, but I didn't have time to do very much. The wife had the day off, and I never get much done on my projects when the wife is at home.[emoji1] However, I was able to get the hanging bracket put together, and guess what???... IT WORKS!!! I might have even been able to paint it if not for one slight miscalculation... I was installing the crossmember that holds the latch, and I used a level to mark where it needed to be attached, but after I had it all put together, the crossmember was obviously mounted higher on one side than on the other. Then it occurred to me... garage floors are NOT LEVEL... They're intentionally slanted toward the garage door so water will not run in. GEEZ!!!... If I had turned the facade 90 degrees so the front faced the door, the vertical supports of the bracket would have been level, and my holes would have been drilled in the right places.[emoji1]... Oh well... it took a little time to elongate the holes on one side, and using some larger washers to cover the elongated holes, I reattached the crossmember and got it pretty close to straight. I would have simply recut the vertical support, but I don't have any more of the aluminum tubing, and I bought the last two pieces they had at the hardware store. I tested it out, and it's working, so tomorrow I'll get it painted up, and finished.[emoji4] Hopefully... Unless plans get changed.[emoji1]


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So I ended up buying one of these to provide Bluertooth capability for my Small System...

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... It wasn't expensive, and I liked the RCA connectors and the fact that it has a power cord you keep plugged in when it's in use. I need to test it a little more, but I think it's gonna work just fine.:djsmug: Now... Where to put it??? It needs to be accessible, but the computer does not fold flat with the Bluetooth receiver standing higher than the lip around the top of the rack when it's mounted on top of the rack. It already has mounting tape on the bottom, so I thought about mounting it on the hinged rack panel beside the base of the goose-neck microphone, kinda like this...

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... Also the RCA and power cables kinda get in the way. So now I'm thinking about mounting on the under-side of the hinged rack panel and drilling a hole in the hinged rack panel large enough to expose the Connect Button on the top of the Bluetooth receiver... Only problem... If it doesn't work out, I have to buy a NEW hinged rack panel, and cut the holes again for the LED Lamp/Power Outlet and XLR jack for the goose-neck microphone. If it works, it will look more like this...

1532385966913.png
 
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Decided to post a couple of pics of the hanging bracket to attach the Floating Facade to my DJ table (for my small system)...

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In the above pictures, the hanging bracket is hanging from my table frame as it would at a gig (before the table top is placed on the frame). Haven't painted it yet, but that will be easy to do.:)
 
I'm pleased with how this little system is coming together. Do people use the term "pleased" anymore???... You don't hear it used often, but I think it applies here.[emoji4] There's not a lot left to do... a little paint; a few additions to the patch panel. The power cord for my Surface Pro comes tomorrow, so that will be the last item I need to finish this project up.

Having decided to use the Surface Pro as my backup, there are a couple of things I need to do. The surface Pro only has 128GB of storage; not nearly enough for a copy of my music library. I have plenty of external drives around, so no problem adding an external hard drive, but where would it sit???... Won't fit on the laptop stand, and sitting on the table with a cable running to it would offend my sensibilities (I think we've been through this before). The best way to do it, I think, is to run a USB cable (inside the robotic arm) to the patch panel, and mount a USB hub and the external hard drive inside the rack. However, they MUST be mounted securely in there, because the case I currently use to transport this system gets turned every-which-way, and the rack is often sitting on its side inside the case (that's the way the case has to sit to fit in the space provided in my minivan). In my Large System, I have a rack Shelf mounted backward (facing inside the rack), on which my My DMX and IMP Line Combiner are mounted. I could do something similar, but it would add some weight. I kinda like how much lighter this system is since I removed the steel drawer. I have to give this one some thought.[emoji848]

I haven't done a thing to address goal #5... Building a convertible Table/Case on wheels is still a good idea, but maybe this isn't the right time to build it. The Floating Facade bracket was made very specifically for my current DJ table, so to build a new table might require a new bracket (or significant modifications). I'm having some second thoughts about this goal.[emoji1]
 
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