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From the start I decided
my
transceiver should look nice. I realized that undertaking a
large project such as the CDG2000 transceiver, has a tendency to
drain all your energy. When you are done getting all the functionality right, you tend to end up with a less attractive
construction. It works well but ...
Therefore
I decided to do
the design and mechanical construction first - then
assemble
the
modules afterwards.
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The front
plate has its own story. The 19" housing available had relatively low
height, for
which reason the graphical display would not be the first choice. The
CDG2000 project had other alternatives like the 4x40 character
display.
In the
early design stages I thought this would do the job. However I rather
liked the idea of soft programmed switches with labeling on the
display. But how could i fit the big display where there was no space
for it? |
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In the
software space is reserved for 4 buttons below the display. I had no
space for that, but the most right label would also work well for a
button to the right of the display. Then the idea of 9 buttons to the
right of the display was created.
Using the
ninth button to step through the 4 menus provided by the software, I
was left with 32 button functions - more than adequate for my purposes.
The software was changed to suit my idea - thank you very much Dave! |
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The front
plate did not leave much space for the display PCB. The outline of the
PCB extends the actual display window and I had to find a good way to
hide it all.
Using
cardboard I tried several possibilities ending up with this solution.
It is very much cheaper to fail in cardboard than to have to do it all
over again in metal. |
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Having
solved the display part, the remaining layout was relatively easy.
The
handles serves two purposes, firstly the functions as nuts for 4 big
screws which fits the front plate to the chassis. secondly the handles
are used to place the transceiver on during dissassemble - one
is still experimenting!
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As the front plate had to
be machined from a single piece of 16mm aluminium, I could as well
adapt the rounded corners from the housing to the display frame.
A friend had access to the
right tools, but no drawing - no machining. So I had to come up wit a
detailed drawing. Being a photographer in my professional life, I had
to learn something about mechanical drawings. |
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After some time I received
a 3D drawing. My drawing had been programmed into the CAD computer and
this would be the result if we pushed the start button.
I can't tell how much I
appeciate to see things visualized in this way. Even the tuning knob
was shown as I wanted - now I could just wait until the machining
centre could rest from its daily duties to allow for my non profit
project.
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