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Hi, I travel a great deal, and always take the radio. I¡¯m away from the ubitx at the moment, and can¡¯t measure it.? I¡¯ve had an idea for a ¡°tablet-like¡± rig using the Nextion display to make this suitcase friendly.? Anyone have any ideas about enclosure size, shape, manufacturer? 
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Bill Watkins wrote:
>I¡¯ve had an idea for a ¡°tablet-like¡± rig using the Nextion display to make this suitcase friendly.?
>
>Anyone have any ideas about enclosure size, shape, manufacturer?
A flush-fitting display would be tough to home-engineer.? A display that folded down against the top of a case would be much simpler, especially if it folded forward to protect the LCD display.
As it happens, I have an old surplus external hard disk drive case from the Mac Plus era that would easily hold a BITX of any flavor as well as its power supply ... and maybe even support another stage of PA amplification, too.
I don't see these as often as I used to, but they frequently surface at the radio flea market.? And at computer flea markets as well, sometimes for free.
Back in those bad old days, you could usually buy a new enclosure for about $30 or $40.?
HTH 73 Jim N6OTQ
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Bill;
The Ubtix takes a 8x8x3 box the fold down DRO is very interesting I have a Engineer/designer son in law I will fwd this to him and see what he comes up with, I want to take mine camping and this would work great.
Bob KA9CMH
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Hi Bob,
The box I put mine in is 6.5 X 7 X 2.75. If I put my heart into it I might make it slightly smaller. Is 8X8X3 a standard, off-the-shelf size?
73,
Bill KU8H
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On 06/20/2018 08:42 PM, bdevries52@... wrote: Bill;
The Ubtix takes a 8x8x3 box the fold down DRO is very interesting I have
a Engineer/designer son in law I will fwd this to him and see what he
comes up with, I want to take mine camping and this would work great.
Bob KA9CMH
--
bark less - wag more
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I look forward to what he comes up with!!!
Bill K0WHW
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On Jun 20, 2018, at 19:42, bdevries52@... wrote: Bill;
The Ubtix takes a 8x8x3 box the fold down DRO is very interesting I have a Engineer/designer son in law I will fwd this to him and see what he comes up with, I want to take mine camping and this would work great.
Bob KA9CMH
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Bill;
the plan he came up with is to cut a 3x4in hole in the top of the case fit a piece of plexiglass to it and hinge it in front with a small piano hinge u can mount the readout to it .Then u can cut a piece of whatever to prop up the back to the right hight for u.I am going to do this in a few weeks so good luck with yours.
Bob?
KA9CMH
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So far . . . 
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Here's my attempt at a 'transportable' uBitX. The box is a 'toy' briefcase and the display is mounted with a ribbon cable on the top surface. The gaps and perforations are for air flow ?as there is a manually switched fan blowing across the heatsinks which is used for continuous digital modes.
73, Aarne?
WY7ATH
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Here is my uBitx. The display is too bright and came out white. I
use the RF gain, AF gain, tuning, band selector, Function and ANL
controls at the moment. I reprogrammed the Raduino so that A7 reads
the position of the band selector switch and changes the band. It is
quicker and easier then using the push on the knob. Right now,
Function is just on/off. I might have it change the sidebands, but
there are no more easily usable inputs on the Raduino. The MIC plus
in the REC SEND jack, the phone jack works, speaker output is on the
back. I am using ANL to enable the 50 linear amp. The S meter works.
I have no plans yet for the preselector, cal and car reset
functions.
The inside is still a work in progress. I should get my accessories
PCB in about a week and hopefully will be able to report on it later
in the summer. Right now, the linear is only usable on 20 meters.
The select able LPFs for the amp are on the new PCB. The protoboard
has the prototype S meter, AGC, mic AGC and audio amp circuits on it
and will be replaced by the new PCB.
Howard WB2VXW
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Very nice build.? I plan on doing the same thing.? I wanted something that fit in a backpack.? I even have room for a 12v 7AH battery in the case.
Thank you for the inspiration.
Marco - KG5PRT?
Here's my attempt at a 'transportable' uBitX. The box is a 'toy' briefcase and the display is mounted with a ribbon cable on the top surface. The gaps and perforations are for air flow ?as there is a manually switched fan blowing across the heatsinks which is used for continuous digital modes.
73, Aarne?
WY7ATH
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Both looking great and worthy ideas no less.
On Tue, Jun 26, 2018 at 10:38 PM, M Garza <mgarza896@...> wrote: Very nice build.? I plan on doing the same thing.? I wanted something that fit in a backpack.? I even have room for a 12v 7AH battery in the case.
Thank you for the inspiration.
Marco - KG5PRT?
Here's my attempt at a 'transportable' uBitX. The box is a 'toy' briefcase and the display is mounted with a ribbon cable on the top surface. The gaps and perforations are for air flow ?as there is a manually switched fan blowing across the heatsinks which is used for continuous digital modes.
73, Aarne?
WY7ATH
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I really like that look.? Where did you get that briefcase and how did you create the front face metal panel???
I am toying with the idea of a setup like that or maybe an ammo box setup where I build a metal panel to hold the radio either facing the long side like yours or possibly facing the edge like a typical radio so I can maybe throw a mobile dual band rig in there with it. I'm not sure where I will end up yet.
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I'm thinking about using an Apache case from Harbor Freight. However, I need a way to cool the PA's with some kind of fan, but without destroying the watertight nature of the case. I'm going to use a clear acrylic top for all external connectors/controls. I'm pretty sure there will be enough room for a battery pack, too.
Jack, W8TEE
On Wednesday, June 27, 2018, 10:08:02 AM EDT, Jamie Anderson <jamiea@...> wrote:
I really like that look.? Where did you get that briefcase and how did you create the front face metal panel???
I am toying with the idea of a setup like that or maybe an ammo box setup where I build a metal panel to hold the radio either facing the long side like yours or possibly facing the edge like a typical radio so I can maybe throw a mobile dual band rig in there with it. I'm not sure where I will end up yet.
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This is the little briefcase I have.? It came from Harbor Freight:
The board fits with plenty of space.? There is also pleny of space for a battery.? At only $14,?I thought it was a good buy.
Marco - KG5PRT?
On Wed, Jun 27, 2018, 9:08 AM Jamie Anderson < jamiea@...> wrote: I really like that look.? Where did you get that briefcase and how did you create the front face metal panel???
I am toying with the idea of a setup like that or maybe an ammo box setup where I build a metal panel to hold the radio either facing the long side like yours or possibly facing the edge like a typical radio so I can maybe throw a mobile dual band rig in there with it. I'm not sure where I will end up yet.
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On Wed, Jun 27, 2018 at 07:27 am, Jack Purdum wrote:
need a way to cool the PA's with some kind of fan, but without destroying the watertight nature of the case
I'm assuming you will be operating with the case open.? I haven't done the math but I would think unless you fall asleep on the ptt or your key I doubt you would need anything more than some vent holes in your acrylic plate.? You could upgrade the heat sinks for insurance.? If you really want a fan why couldn't you just put in the acrylic? ? --
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I will probably upgrade the heat sinks and the fan will be mounted either on the top or the interior side of the case. I'm not a big fan of top vents for cooling. I may mount a small speaker on the top with holes for that, but the speaker will be "sealed" to the top. (The larger Apache case will likely have a vertical separator, with the paddle, headphones, and battery pack in the other half. I will probably mount the fan on that vertical partition. That way, if I spill something or it's starts raining, liquid won't get into the xcvr section of the case.) I will need some kind of cooling as the JackAl board draws enough current to heat the regulators up a bit.
Jack, W8TEE
On Wednesday, June 27, 2018, 10:39:39 AM EDT, Doug W <dougwilner@...> wrote:
On Wed, Jun 27, 2018 at 07:27 am, Jack Purdum wrote:
need a way to cool the PA's with some kind of fan, but without destroying the watertight nature of the case
I'm assuming you will be operating with the case open.? I haven't done the math but I would think unless you fall asleep on the ptt or your key I doubt you would need anything more than some vent holes in your acrylic plate.? You could upgrade the heat sinks for insurance.? If you really want a fan why couldn't you just put in the acrylic? ? --
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Jack,? You could use a single sheet of aluminum metal stock, and mount the PA transistors to that.? It could have a lip that the acrylic could bolt onto. You could use aluminum angle stock to make the lip and just bolt the acrylic and aluminum sheet to it.? If you have a way to bend? the aluminum sheet metal, you could just fold in the lip on it and make it out of 1 piece of aluminum.? You could put it on the side that will be exposed to allow the air to circulate.??
Here is a very bad ASCII drawing:
=========================? ? ?<- Acrylic sheet
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ---|? ? ?<- Aluminum lip (aluminum angle stock or folded metal) ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? |? ? ? <- Aluminum sheet stock ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? | ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? |
Just an idea.
Marco - KG5PRT
On Wed, Jun 27, 2018 at 9:52 AM Jack Purdum via Groups.Io <jjpurdum= [email protected]> wrote:
I will probably upgrade the heat sinks and the fan will be mounted either on the top or the interior side of the case. I'm not a big fan of top vents for cooling. I may mount a small speaker on the top with holes for that, but the speaker will be "sealed" to the top. (The larger Apache case will likely have a vertical separator, with the paddle, headphones, and battery pack in the other half. I will probably mount the fan on that vertical partition. That way, if I spill something or it's starts raining, liquid won't get into the xcvr section of the case.) I will need some kind of cooling as the JackAl board draws enough current to heat the regulators up a bit.
Jack, W8TEE
On Wednesday, June 27, 2018, 10:39:39 AM EDT, Doug W < dougwilner@...> wrote:
On Wed, Jun 27, 2018 at 07:27 am, Jack Purdum wrote:
need a way to cool the PA's with some kind of fan, but without destroying the watertight nature of the case
I'm assuming you will be operating with the case open.? I haven't done the math but I would think unless you fall asleep on the ptt or your key I doubt you would need anything more than some vent holes in your acrylic plate.? You could upgrade the heat sinks for insurance.? If you really want a fan why couldn't you just put in the acrylic? ? --
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Jack, I used the large cake from Harbor Freight and it has worked well.? It's not exactly watertight anymore after several revisions to my grand plan, but it works.? I used a Lexan sheet from the Home Depot and my Dremel drill press to machine the Lexan.? The fan is an old PC CPU fan with an on/off switch, ferrite beads, and a 10k ceramic resistor to slow it and handle rfi. 73s  John W5JXN
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On Wednesday, June 27, 2018, 12:01:17 PM EDT, cfd244@... <cfd244@...> wrote:
Jack, I used the large cake from Harbor Freight and it has worked well.? It's not exactly watertight anymore after several revisions to my grand plan, but it works.? I used a Lexan sheet from the Home Depot and my Dremel drill press to machine the Lexan.? The fan is an old PC CPU fan with an on/off switch, ferrite beads, and a 10k ceramic resistor to slow it and handle rfi. 73s  John W5JXN
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"Just an idea."
But a good one!
Jack, W8TEE
On Wednesday, June 27, 2018, 11:11:49 AM EDT, M Garza <mgarza896@...> wrote:
Jack,? You could use a single sheet of aluminum metal stock, and mount the PA transistors to that.? It could have a lip that the acrylic could bolt onto. You could use aluminum angle stock to make the lip and just bolt the acrylic and aluminum sheet to it.? If you have a way to bend? the aluminum sheet metal, you could just fold in the lip on it and make it out of 1 piece of aluminum.? You could put it on the side that will be exposed to allow the air to circulate.??
Here is a very bad ASCII drawing:
=========================? ? ?<- Acrylic sheet
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ---|? ? ?<- Aluminum lip (aluminum angle stock or folded metal) ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? |? ? ? <- Aluminum sheet stock ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? | ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? |
Just an idea.
Marco - KG5PRT
On Wed, Jun 27, 2018 at 9:52 AM Jack Purdum via Groups.Io <jjpurdum= [email protected]> wrote:
I will probably upgrade the heat sinks and the fan will be mounted either on the top or the interior side of the case. I'm not a big fan of top vents for cooling. I may mount a small speaker on the top with holes for that, but the speaker will be "sealed" to the top. (The larger Apache case will likely have a vertical separator, with the paddle, headphones, and battery pack in the other half. I will probably mount the fan on that vertical partition. That way, if I spill something or it's starts raining, liquid won't get into the xcvr section of the case.) I will need some kind of cooling as the JackAl board draws enough current to heat the regulators up a bit.
Jack, W8TEE
On Wednesday, June 27, 2018, 10:39:39 AM EDT, Doug W < dougwilner@...> wrote:
On Wed, Jun 27, 2018 at 07:27 am, Jack Purdum wrote:
need a way to cool the PA's with some kind of fan, but without destroying the watertight nature of the case
I'm assuming you will be operating with the case open.? I haven't done the math but I would think unless you fall asleep on the ptt or your key I doubt you would need anything more than some vent holes in your acrylic plate.? You could upgrade the heat sinks for insurance.? If you really want a fan why couldn't you just put in the acrylic? ? --
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