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A case for W1?

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n2htt-2

A case for W1?

This looks like a super accessory, but I am a little concerned about carrying the bare board around for field use. Is a case for the W1 in the works, or are there any 3rd party cases you know of that might fit?73,Mike N2HTT
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johnny-52

RE: A case for W1?

Agreed. Very different from other mini module kits from Elecraft, W1 is
more often used and mostly likely for portable use in the field.
Therefore, a customise carrying case or enclosure will be very handy and
has market demand.

If any group member has any good suggestions, please enlighten me.

Cheers,

Johnny Siu VR2XMC

From: [hidden email]
Reply-To: [hidden email]
To: [hidden email]
Subject: [Elecraft] A case for W1?
Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2006 11:56:18 +0000 (GMT)

This looks like a super accessory, but I am a little concerned about
carrying the bare board around for field use. Is a case for the W1 in the
works, or are there any 3rd party cases you know of that might fit?73,Mike
N2HTT

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Craig Smith

RE: A case for W1?

In reply to this post by n2htt-2

I've been pondering this also. I love Elecraft kits and will no doubt be
purchasing a W1 because it seems that it should have good performance, is
reasonably priced, and I will enjoy building it. That said, I have a BIG
question mark about why they did the packaging design the way they did. It
seems far from optimal from a usability point-of-view.

I understand why they wanted to keep it PC board based rather than including
an enclosure that would require a much higher selling price. But the design
is tall and narrow with the display on the top. If a person were to enclose
it in a box with the LEDs visible, the box would be tall and tippy with
heavy coax at the top. NOT at all practical!

My wish would be for a two board design with the "display board" just
containing the LEDs. This would be connected to the sensing and computation
board by a multi-conductor cable. That way, we could use any number of
practical enclosure designs and make a very nice looking totally enclosed
power/swr meter. Also the possibility would exist to build it as two units
with a remote display. I guess the good news is that the computer display
should be handy and useable via a serial to USB adapter.

73
... Craig AC0DS

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Brian Broggie-2

Re: A case for W1?

Actually, folks, you have a couple of options when building the W1 for
packaging.

The on/off switch and LEDs could all be mounted on the back side of the
board, which then becomes a very flat front panel. Or, mount the
battery holder, BNC connectors and binocular toroid on the back, leave
off the 12 V connector (batteries, remember?) and solder a pigtail cable
in the "data" jack pc holes and the normal pc board front can now be
mounted very close to the surface of a case.

Remember, we love to feature on our website clever hams who have found
creative packaging solutions to our products. Why not be the first to
package a W1?

Brian Broggie
W6FVI

Craig D. Smith wrote:

>...
>
>I understand why they wanted to keep it PC board based rather than including
>an enclosure that would require a much higher selling price. But the design
>is tall and narrow with the display on the top. If a person were to enclose
>it in a box with the LEDs visible, the box would be tall and tippy with
>heavy coax at the top. NOT at all practical!
>
>...
>
>

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johnny-52

Re: A case for W1?

Hi Brian,

You do have your grounds in your argument. However, W1 could be a piece of
often used tool in our radio hobbies and highly likely to be used in the
field.

There is still a sector of builders like myself - would like to have a
customised enclosure. I would like to spend more time in my soldering work
or study of the circuity rather than drilling holes and looking for
enclosure for W1.

For other mini modules from elecraft, there are mostly occasionally used or
simply used in stack. The need of a customised enclosure is not that big.
I seldom read messages in this reflector asking for an enclosure of other
mini modules except W1 this time.

I built nearly all the mini modules from Elecraft and have used them for
the radio hobby. I still believe that there is a market for a customised
enclosure for W1.

Even there is a customised enclosure for W1, those clever hams' ideas about
other alternatives will not be discouraged. Instead, as a 'stupid' ham
like myself, I shall have a piece of cake ready to bite.

Even I have already had a LP100 from Larry which is excellent, I still
feel W1 is a very handy tool. I regret that it does not have a customised
enclosure which will make W1 even more perfect.

73

Johnny Siu VR2XMC

From: w6fvi <[hidden email]>
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] A case for W1?
Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2006 10:22:50 -0800

Actually, folks, you have a couple of options when building the W1 for
packaging.

The on/off switch and LEDs could all be mounted on the back side of the
board, which then becomes a very flat front panel. Or, mount the battery
holder, BNC connectors and binocular toroid on the back, leave off the 12 V
connector (batteries, remember?) and solder a pigtail cable in the "data"
jack pc holes and the normal pc board front can now be mounted very close
to the surface of a case.

Remember, we love to feature on our website clever hams who have found
creative packaging solutions to our products. Why not be the first to
package a W1?

Brian Broggie
W6FVI

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Doug Person

Re: A case for W1?

I really have to agree with this. I would really love to have the W1
configured to fit in a K1 enclosure. I had contemplated buying one but
the lack of an available enclosure stopped me. Also, the board layout
just doesn't lend itself to an easy custom enclosure. I think
configuring the led bank on a portion of the board that could easily be
separated from the main board would be an easy way to accomplish this.
Then two headers and a cable would connect them. The board could be
mounted flat and the led bank at a 90 degree angle for perfect viewing.
Size-wise, the K1 case would be just perfect. All that would remain then
would be a W2 that could handle 1500 watts and have SO-239's....

73, Doug -- KØDXV

Siu Johnny wrote:

> Hi Brian,
>
> You do have your grounds in your argument. However, W1 could be a
> piece of often used tool in our radio hobbies and highly likely to be
> used in the field.
>
> There is still a sector of builders like myself - would like to have a
> customised enclosure. I would like to spend more time in my soldering
> work or study of the circuity rather than drilling holes and looking
> for enclosure for W1.
>
> For other mini modules from elecraft, there are mostly occasionally
> used or simply used in stack. The need of a customised enclosure is
> not that big. I seldom read messages in this reflector asking for an
> enclosure of other mini modules except W1 this time.
>
> I built nearly all the mini modules from Elecraft and have used them
> for the radio hobby. I still believe that there is a market for a
> customised enclosure for W1.
>
> Even there is a customised enclosure for W1, those clever hams' ideas
> about other alternatives will not be discouraged. Instead, as a
> 'stupid' ham like myself, I shall have a piece of cake ready to bite.
>
> Even I have already had a LP100 from Larry which is excellent, I still
> feel W1 is a very handy tool. I regret that it does not have a
> customised enclosure which will make W1 even more perfect.
>
> 73
>
> Johnny Siu VR2XMC
>
>
>
> From: w6fvi <[hidden email]>
> To: [hidden email]
> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] A case for W1?
> Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2006 10:22:50 -0800
>
> Actually, folks, you have a couple of options when building the W1 for
> packaging.
>
> The on/off switch and LEDs could all be mounted on the back side of
> the board, which then becomes a very flat front panel. Or, mount the
> battery holder, BNC connectors and binocular toroid on the back, leave
> off the 12 V connector (batteries, remember?) and solder a pigtail
> cable in the "data" jack pc holes and the normal pc board front can
> now be mounted very close to the surface of a case.
>
> Remember, we love to feature on our website clever hams who have found
> creative packaging solutions to our products. Why not be the first to
> package a W1?
>
> Brian Broggie
> W6FVI
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> 与联机的朋友进行交流，请使用 Live Messenger;
> http://get.live.com/messenger/overview
> _______________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Post to: [hidden email]
> You must be a subscriber to post to the list.
> Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.):
> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm
> Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
>
>

Ron D'Eau Claire-2

RE: A case for W1?

I, too, have been thinking of an enclosure so it is easy to pack and haul
around in the "field". As others pointed out, this is one 'minimodule' that
won't spend all of its time on the workbench.

The next time I'm out and about where small plastic boxes are sold, I'm
going to look for a shallow rectangular box with a flip-open lid, clear
plastic on the top at least, in which the W1 can lie and be held in place
with a couple of screws through the supplied holes.

I see no reason at all to move things about on the W1 board. One can open
the top of the box to flip on the power switch and then leave it closed for
protection if needed. One only needs to see the LEDs. There are no
adjustments to make. If external power is used, leave the battery out and I
don't need to reach the power switch.

Ideally the box would be just the right width to allow the BNC's to stick
out through holes on either side as well as provide side holes to access the
serial jack and power connector for when 12V is available.

Ron AC7AC

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Mike Short

RE: A case for W1?

In reply to this post by Doug Person

There is such a thing, it is called the LP-100.
http://www.telepostinc.com/

It is a kit as well. Fine piece of gear.

Mike
AI4NS

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johnny-52

RE: A case for W1?

Hi Mike,

If you read my previous email, you would know that I am actually a user of
LP100. No doubt, LP is a nice gear with exceptional value for money.
However, LP100 is more convenient to be used in the bench or shack. W1 is
a handy tool for casual measurement and may be likely used in the field.

I would like to have a customised enclosure for W1. Unlike other mini
module from elecraft, W1 will be used more often and in the field.

I would treat LP100 as a bench equipment for more serious measurements. In
terms of operational convenience, LP100 is better than my Bird 43.

73

Johnny Siu VR2XMC

From: "Mike Short" <[hidden email]>
To: <[hidden email]>
Subject: RE: [Elecraft] A case for W1?
Date: Fri, 1 Dec 2006 06:04:46 -0600

There is such a thing, it is called the LP-100.
http://www.telepostinc.com/

It is a kit as well. Fine piece of gear.

Mike
AI4NS

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N8LP

Re: A case for W1?

In reply to this post by Mike Short

Thanks for the mention, Mike. The LP-100 is a high end instrument aimed
at both shack and bench work, with a wide array of features and NIST
traceable accuracy. It is a fun kit to build, covers 50 mW to 2500W with
autoranging, and would look really good sitting on top that new KPA800
or 1500 ;-)

The LP-300 is a digital handheld wattmeter I showed at Dayton, and plan
to release after the holidays. I am also working on a repackaged version
in a normal form factor case with an optional serial port, which would
work with the existing LP-100 windows software . It would become kind of
an LP-100 "light", with lower power consumption, smaller size and
lighter weight. It would not have the vector impedance (phase)
measurement capability of the LP-100, but would retain the NIST
traceable calibration. The power range would be 5mW to 150W.

Check them out at my website. I am interested in any feedback off-list.

73,
Larry N8LP
www.telepostinc.com

Mike Short wrote:

> There is such a thing, it is called the LP-100.
> http://www.telepostinc.com/
>
> It is a kit as well. Fine piece of gear.
>
> Mike
> AI4NS
>
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>
>
>