Mike Manzara Posted March 12, 2011 Posted March 12, 2011 My latest project is to consolidate my controllers (7 for now) into one master station. I will post more pictures as the project progresses. Attached files
Guest Don Gillespie Posted March 12, 2011 Posted March 12, 2011 Mike Manzara wrote: My latest project is to consolidate my controllers (7 for now) into one master station. I will post more pictures as the project progresses.I sure wish I had a work station with hardwood floors mine is in an unheated garage with cracked concrete and two burnt out light bulbs LOL
Mike Manzara Posted March 13, 2011 Author Posted March 13, 2011 Well I only briught it upstairs so I could get enough light to do the layout and test some drill bits. It is now back in the dungeon where work is progressing nicely. If the snow ever leaves (we got another 12 inches of really wet snow on Friday night) I should be able to take down last years display. As far as the snow goes my fun meter has peaked.
Guest Don Gillespie Posted March 13, 2011 Posted March 13, 2011 Mike Manzara wrote: Well I only briught it upstairs so I could get enough light to do the layout and test some drill bits. It is now back in the dungeon where work is progressing nicely. If the snow ever leaves (we got another 12 inches of really wet snow on Friday night) I should be able to take down last years display. As far as the snow goes my fun meter has peaked.Say no more say no more I am with you on that LOL
lightzilla Posted March 13, 2011 Posted March 13, 2011 Mike Manzara wrote: If the snow ever leaves (we got another 12 inches of really wet snow on Friday night) I should be able to take down last years display. As far as the snow goes my fun meter has peaked.That word "If" is frozen up this way.If it ever stops snowing, if it ever warms up.........if,if,if.Rumor has it that our snow up here will not be gone until the end of May. I figure if it is still around in June it might as well just stay because cooler air begins in late August.It is a miracle because today we will hit 2c.............wow a summer day at last. 35 Fahrenheit will feel great after 3 weeks of - 30cTaking down the rest of the display is a 2.5 months away for me.Consolidating your controllers in one cubical is certainly a safe way to keep them protected from theft, weather , and what not. A number of folks seem to do this very thing that you are doing.
cenote Posted March 13, 2011 Posted March 13, 2011 I am guessing you are wiring a light to each channel to visually see them on/off. What kind of lights are you planning on using if so?
Terry Hurrle Posted March 13, 2011 Posted March 13, 2011 Mike Manzara wrote: Well I only briught it upstairs so I could get enough light to do the layout and test some drill bits. It is now back in the dungeon where work is progressing nicely. If the snow ever leaves (we got another 12 inches of really wet snow on Friday night) I should be able to take down last years display. As far as the snow goes my fun meter has peaked.I feel for you people. Tomorrow ( if it does not rain) I am going to mow the lawn to get rid of the fall growth. I am usually the first in our neighborhood to mow every year.Terry
redsea300 Posted March 13, 2011 Posted March 13, 2011 It must suck having those extreme weather conditions. I took down my display first week in January. The following weekend I started wakeboarding pretty muck every weekend. We rode yesterday 65 degrees out and water was 59. It was awesome.
OregonLights Posted March 13, 2011 Posted March 13, 2011 Mike, I saw you were testing drill bits and had a step drill. I'm a machinist so I felt compelled to offer a suggestion-A split-point drill bit will give you the easiest penetration, even a full size one so you don't have to use multiple drill bits. A quick center punch will help keep you in your layout lines.Looks like a cool project! Attached files
Mike Manzara Posted March 13, 2011 Author Posted March 13, 2011 Thanks for the encouragement and suggestions guys. I don't plan on being too fancy by adding additional lights to each receptacle to denote when they are on. If I have to trouble shoot it will be the hardware manager and my grid list. I didn't like all the dongles hanging out of the single boxes so based on my yard I can consolidate all the controllers in one unit and place it mid pont in my yard. Future plans include multi pin connectors once I have found a supplier with reasonable prices, that way if I ever have to replace a controller I only have to undo one connector and remove the board from the enclosure.
Guest Don Gillespie Posted March 14, 2011 Posted March 14, 2011 Mike Manzara wrote: Thanks for the encouragement and suggestions guys. I don't plan on being too fancy by adding additional lights to each receptacle to denote when they are on. If I have to trouble shoot it will be the hardware manager and my grid list. I didn't like all the dongles hanging out of the single boxes so based on my yard I can consolidate all the controllers in one unit and place it mid pont in my yard. Future plans include multi pin connectors once I have found a supplier with reasonable prices, that way if I ever have to replace a controller I only have to undo one connector and remove the board from the enclosure.Mike I like the idea, the question I have is how many controllers are you using? and how big is the housing box to keep them in going to be?Duh just reread your post and see that you have 7 controllers so skip question #1 and go right to question #2 for me thanks
Mike Manzara Posted March 14, 2011 Author Posted March 14, 2011 The box I found is 22 1/2" wide, 23" high and 22" deep. It is an old metal fax machine cabinet that I will repurpose into my control station. There will be 7 controllers in it this year but it has the potential to hold an additional 7 controllers. But I'll never need those (LOL). My biggest problem was finding all the receptacles. It is so difficult to persuade the electronics stores in my area to order anything they don't stock in quantity.
bwhitehead Posted March 14, 2011 Posted March 14, 2011 Check ebay for GFCI outlets. Usually get a pretty good deal. Better then the big box stores.
Mike Manzara Posted March 14, 2011 Author Posted March 14, 2011 I do not need GFCI's for the channels only the input voltage for the controllers. I have 112 panel mount receptacles for the channels. The whhole cabinet will be double grounded (GFCI and an earth from the cabinet to a grounding rod). But thanks for the info.
Guest Don Gillespie Posted March 14, 2011 Posted March 14, 2011 Mike Manzara wrote: Thanks for the encouragement and suggestions guys. I don't plan on being too fancy by adding additional lights to each receptacle to denote when they are on. If I have to trouble shoot it will be the hardware manager and my grid list. I didn't like all the dongles hanging out of the single boxes so based on my yard I can consolidate all the controllers in one unit and place it mid pont in my yard. Future plans include multi pin connectors once I have found a supplier with reasonable prices, that way if I ever have to replace a controller I only have to undo one connector and remove the board from the enclosure.I like the idea but by putting the box in the centre of your yard instead of placing controllers strategicaly are you setting yourself up for a whole bunch of long extension cords? I have not seen your yard layoout so I am assuming this which I know is wrong it might work really well for you Mike but in my yard after thinking about it I would need a lot of 100 foot extension cords which doesn't make sense for me but like I said at the start I like your idea. harder to steal 7 controllers in a big box easy to steal one by itself hmmmmmmmmm.
Jason Burge Posted March 14, 2011 Posted March 14, 2011 Don Gillespie wroteI like the idea but by putting the box in the centre of your yard instead of placing controllers strategicaly are you setting yourself up for a whole bunch of long extension cords? I have not seen your yard layoout so I am assuming this which I know is wrong it might work really well for you Mike but in my yard after thinking about it I would need a lot of 100 foot extension cords which doesn't make sense for me but like I said at the start I like your idea. harder to steal 7 controllers in a big box easy to steal one by itself hmmmmmmmmm.I agree as I add controllers each year the extension cords get shorter and shorter because the controllers get spread out. My first year almost all of my ext. cords were 100' and this year most of the cords I bought were 20' or shorter.
Mike Manzara Posted March 14, 2011 Author Posted March 14, 2011 I am lucky my display area is quite square. I will only need 9 extension cords over 25 feet. The rest vary from 3 feet to around 10 feet and in my first year I read the forums religiously and heeded all warnings to extension cords. This year I have been stocking up on SPT-2 wire and I will order 100 male and 100 female ends.
Jason Burge Posted March 14, 2011 Posted March 14, 2011 Mike Manzara wrote: I am lucky my display area is quite square. I will only need 9 extension cords over 25 feet. The rest vary from 3 feet to around 10 feet and in my first year I read the forums religiously and heeded all warnings to extension cords. This year I have been stocking up on SPT-2 wire and I will order 100 male and 100 female ends. You are lucky I wish all my cords could be that short. I always use store bought cords overkill probably but, all my lights are incans and I would just rather over do it than risk something happening and having to troubleshoot.
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