Archive of the former Yahoo!Groups mailing list: Modular Synth Panels

Hi Synth Panelists,
By request I've uploaded a photo of my SEM 1A mounted in a Schaeffer
produced 19" X 5U panel in the Photos/Pontius SEM folder. Hopefully this
is a good enough photo to get a good idea of what the panel contains. All
front panel mounting bolts are 'Allen types' (black with short protruding
ribbed knob with Allen wrench insert). Why? I wanted an 'industrial'
look, and the 'knob' portion of the bolt makes it easier to insert when
mounting. I got the Allen bolts at my local Tru-Value.

Some descriptions of what you should see:
LEFT SIDE: Power switch (an 'old Fender amp' like switch that Mike Metz
used for the dedicated power supply) with red led above it. The 2 Allen
bolts above the led secure the power supply AC cord to the back of the
panel.

LEFT SIDE of SEM: The 4 Allen bolts (2 top, 2 bottom) secure the power
supply to the front panel. Of course, I had the power switch, led, and
power supply prior to finishing the panel design.

MIDDLE: SEM secured with 4 small Allen bolts.

RIGHT SIDE: Two rows of Switchcraft sockets (112A). See the
Schaeffer SEMfullpanel.fpd file for this front panel in the Files folder
for labels above the sockets.

TOP & BOTTOM: There are 3 holes near the top and bottom edges of the
panel. These are for a rear mounted enclosure that I have not yet
installed. The bottom 3 holes do have Allen bolts with a U beam attached
to stiffen up the panel. The SEM and power supply put a fair amount of
weight on the 3mm thick panel, but the U beam (and eventually enclosure)
firms up the panel nicely. There are also 2 holes on the left and
right sides for the future enclosure.

There are 3 mounting standard 19" rack mount holes on each side of the
panel. Use all six of them. Using only 2 per side will not provide
adequate support for the panel in the rack.

A note on wiring the sockets to the SEM. Mike suggested that I solder the
wires directly to contacts, where possible, instead of using the SEM wire
connecting 'plugs', as he thought a direct connection would provide much
more secure connections as compared to the 'plugs'.

Any questions? I'll try to answer. . Jeff