[sdiy] Panel design

[Laurie Biddulph]

Hi,

I have had the privilege of taking over the supply of the ASM-1 pcbs from Gene Stopp and am currently in the process of designing a front panel for pre-patched ASM-1 synth (code named the ASM-Genie, www.ozemail.com.au/~boobies/asm-genie/overall.htm) to offer to the general public and would like some reader feedback on what is a desirable design for both the panel and the case.

The ASM-Genie, like the ASM-1 will be offered as a complete kit for those wishing to build their own analog synth. As a consequence I would like to offer a case and front-panel design (of course readers will be able to buy the various sub-components separately and so can use their own panel or case design if they wish).

As it is not cost practical for me to offer a variety of case/panel options, I need to come up with a solution that will satisfy the widest scope possible without compromising the appearance of the finished result.

Having initially looked for a cabinet and being frightened off by the cost of suitably sized 19" enclosures, and having no suitable skills in woodcraft or metalwork to be able to build a case, I finally settled upon a fairly standard aluminium flight case. This gave me a unit of around the right size for the ASM-Genie and is fairly low-cost and reasonably presentable. The case footprint results in a panel some 440mm wide and 330mm high.

As it happens, this is pretty close to 10U wide and 7U high so an option would to create a panel layout that could be fitted on to two panel sizes; one for the case and one for a 19" rack.

The 19" approach would probably be to fit the panel to the top of a 3U case instead of the front thus using the case as protection and a screen rather than as an enclosure. This unit could then be fitted in to a 19" rack system or, alternatively, a wooden/metal case/box could be made to receive the complete unit.

I would like readers feedback on what they would like to see as a `complete kit' solution to the case and front-panel bearing in mind that this to be made available to everyone and is not a one-off solution for myself.

Best Regards
Laurie Biddulph

http://www.ozemail.com.au/~boobies
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://synth-diy.org/pipermail/synth-diy/attachments/20030409/ee1198f4/attachment.htm>