John_Smith
B. Jenet's Firstmate
- Joined
- Jun 9, 2003
- Posts
- 400
It's easy to put up with nasty looking techy supergun apparatus when one starts out building this sort of stuff. Hell it may even have a certain rustic charm to it, but after a while one begins to pine for some basic aesthetic value. Thus, my idea to cover up the multitude of (visual) sins bulky PC or arcade PSU's spew forth as part of a Supergun rig!! Yep the Jameco PSU's have unobtrusive aesthetics in spades, but if ya need more punch on the current side than a Jameco can provide; perhaps you even require that rarely utilized -5v supply then an arcade or AT PSU may be your only realistic option. Time to chop that perfectly good (though bulky) PSU open, break out the soldering iron and go to town damnit!!
The tidy extruded aluminium housing was sourced from Hammond Manufacturing in Canada for around US$15-$20 and the rest of the bits were either recycled from other projects, dead ATX PSUs or bought from a trusty electronics outlet. Not a real big deal cost wise which is good.
Considering the trouble I was going to, I thought I'd add some extra functionality like daisy chainable AC in/outputs, the two DC outputs in order to run a pair of Superguns simultaneously and for the hell of it the misc DC outputs on the front of the unit to run assorted electronic equipment that require Vcc, +12v,-5v and GND such as video encoders etc during testing.
By the way, I haven't tried giving this treatment to a PC PSU but with a bit of hackery I'm sure it could work.
Right side and rear of unit. Small square rubber feet allow it to stand on its end PS2 style which can save on some space. main AC power switch, 2x 3 pin mini microphone jacks for compact DC output ports, Standard AC input and above that, the Vcc adjustment pot cover.
Other end showing 2x 40mm cooling fans and AC output. I just can't seem to source another fan grille which is really pissing me off. Very uncommon it would seem. If anyone can help me out with a used one they have kicking around (matching the one already attached) shoot me a PM, I'll pay ya for it of course!!
Unit standing on end with arty lookin vent holes on underside and PCB fixing screws.
Showing the Vcc adjustment pot access. Had to make this from a grommet and a chopped up PCB mounting clip. Not ideal but it does the job nicely!
Close Up of business end in full flight
Overall shot with unit powered. The red LED is only lit when the front DC outputs are active. Switch is used purely to isolate these output terminals.
Shows size differential with my current Supergun. Make a nice couple
Last shot shows the inner workings. Note: I had to add some 3rd party heat sinks to the main voltage regulators so it didn't go into melt down after being stripped of its original housing. The dual 40mm fans keep those heat sinks ice cold (well maybe not ice cold )
I've really put this thing through its paces too, I've gone ahead and run a fully laden MV-4F and a CPS-2 board off this thing on 2 guns simultaneously for the best part of a day straight and kept checking the thermal issue and its like "meh!" no matter what I throw at it so I'm happy!!!
I've made up a pair of 2m cables to use on this unit so I can have it well away from the supergun which is also nice. Oh, and strangely enough, I really do use it as part of a regular test rig to power other electronic devices.........seriously I do God damn I'm a geek on this shit!
The tidy extruded aluminium housing was sourced from Hammond Manufacturing in Canada for around US$15-$20 and the rest of the bits were either recycled from other projects, dead ATX PSUs or bought from a trusty electronics outlet. Not a real big deal cost wise which is good.
Considering the trouble I was going to, I thought I'd add some extra functionality like daisy chainable AC in/outputs, the two DC outputs in order to run a pair of Superguns simultaneously and for the hell of it the misc DC outputs on the front of the unit to run assorted electronic equipment that require Vcc, +12v,-5v and GND such as video encoders etc during testing.
By the way, I haven't tried giving this treatment to a PC PSU but with a bit of hackery I'm sure it could work.
Right side and rear of unit. Small square rubber feet allow it to stand on its end PS2 style which can save on some space. main AC power switch, 2x 3 pin mini microphone jacks for compact DC output ports, Standard AC input and above that, the Vcc adjustment pot cover.
Other end showing 2x 40mm cooling fans and AC output. I just can't seem to source another fan grille which is really pissing me off. Very uncommon it would seem. If anyone can help me out with a used one they have kicking around (matching the one already attached) shoot me a PM, I'll pay ya for it of course!!
Unit standing on end with arty lookin vent holes on underside and PCB fixing screws.
Showing the Vcc adjustment pot access. Had to make this from a grommet and a chopped up PCB mounting clip. Not ideal but it does the job nicely!
Close Up of business end in full flight
Overall shot with unit powered. The red LED is only lit when the front DC outputs are active. Switch is used purely to isolate these output terminals.
Shows size differential with my current Supergun. Make a nice couple
Last shot shows the inner workings. Note: I had to add some 3rd party heat sinks to the main voltage regulators so it didn't go into melt down after being stripped of its original housing. The dual 40mm fans keep those heat sinks ice cold (well maybe not ice cold
)I've really put this thing through its paces too, I've gone ahead and run a fully laden MV-4F and a CPS-2 board off this thing on 2 guns simultaneously for the best part of a day straight and kept checking the thermal issue and its like "meh!" no matter what I throw at it so I'm happy!!!
I've made up a pair of 2m cables to use on this unit so I can have it well away from the supergun which is also nice. Oh, and strangely enough, I really do use it as part of a regular test rig to power other electronic devices.........seriously I do God damn I'm a geek on this shit!
