I, like most people, have lurked the forums for about a month. I am simply amazed...A-mazed by some of your projectors out there. Last week I finally dove in and bought some material to do this. I am really excited about the project and I think it will be fun......did I say fun? Well it's written now...better make it fun.

I hope to finish it in the next week or so, but we'll see how that goes....

Parts list:
Monitor: Magnavox 15FM605T 15" (400:1 contrast ratio and 16ms response time) [$195.00]
Bulb: Ushio S400DD [$37.95]
Ballast: 400W ballast [$80.00]
Bulb base: Mogul base [$8.99]
Lenses: LL Standard Lense Kit [$64.98]
Wiring: LL Wiring Kit [$24.99]
Miscellaneous parts: (Let's not count these yet...I have stuff I am going to try to take back)

Shipping: For all items [$38.51]

Total: $420.42

Oh, and you have to have sound too...so I bought a small surround sound system for $155 shipped. That will be here tomorrow. I can put that to use now. [Ignore the fact that the monitor comes with speakers...I get a little impulsive when I do a project like this]

I think I am off to an okay start price wise. My one concern is that I have no tools really to work with. I may give up and buy a cheap jigsaw. But other than that...I guess no tools means I get to be creative.

Stripping the monitor

The day I got it (yesterday), I couldn't wait to get started. I think the rest of my parts are going to come in soon, so this shouldn't be too bad of an idea.

The monitor strip went pretty well and I will possibly post some pictures soon of the tear down. I took a little longer than most people because I've never done this before and wanted to be extra (extra) careful.

My concern now is that I was supporting the controller board with a rubber band and I packed it away in a different room to keep it safe. I checked on it this morning and the rubber band had broke so the board fell the 1/4" or so and I think I saw a minor scuff or two. Anyone know what this will do? I am hoping that it won't cause any problems with the LCD or the image being projected. I will try to take some pictures of this. I borrowed a camera from some friends and so I am not really good with it yet. Also there is horrible lighting in my apartment...perhaps I can get that backlight powered up

One other concern I had with the monitor came about when I was testing it prior to stripping. I was testing a couple of different inputs (because my monitor comes with just about every input you will ever need). I tried the coax cable input and it wasn't the greatest quality, but not too bad. We have been playing my Nintendo 64 lately and that looked not so great. At least it wasn't as great as on the CRT (understandable I assume because of the scaling?) Then the one thing I wonder about (I don't know much about scaling or the how all the resolution settings work) is when I connected my laptop with a S-video cable (through adapter) to the RCA video input. My laptop is a widescreen 17" and so I have the resolution cranked up. The picture on the 15" LCD was a little "jumpy" and blurry. So the question is, did that happen because the monitor was doing widescreen to 4/3 scaling? Or was it because the adapter drops the quality severely? I hope to be able to use my computer to the projector also and so this was slightly disappointing.

welcome, mikado!

your products list pretty much matches my own, although I'm considering a folded PJ.

Regarding the Magnavox - I haven't stripped mine yet, but testing it out, I've been a bit distressed as to the qualtiy of it. It hasn't been what I would call 'jumpy', but I would call it blurry in using the RCA and S-Video inputs. Using the Coax to a cable source hasn't been any different from a standard CRT.

Not having an HD source to test it out with has left me withholding all judgement for the time being. I did get an upscaling dvd player (the Philips $79 one with Divx capabilities), but so far haven't been able to test out that upscaling for lack of a direct HDMI input on the LCD. The point that I'm at now is wondering whether or not to try to do an HDMI to DVI to VGA bit of conversion ridiculousness, or alternatively, do an HDMI to component conversion. I'll likely try the latter.

The promise of a 15" HDTV LCD with the Standard Lens is what finally pushed me over the edge to do this, but so far I haven't been impressed with the Magnavox. I think DarkMeat used this LCD for his first build, and is in the process of using it again for a second build.

The fact that it is a frequently-used LCD panel in the LL community gives me hope.

Same here

Here are some pictures of the horrible quality I am talking about with the AV cable. The picture quality is just horrible.

From my 17" laptop:


The entire 15" LCD:


Close up of ugly area:


Another ugly picture:


Possibly part of the problem?


I think the pictures accurately describe what I was seeing even if they aren't perfect. I didn't think to try a DVD as a co-worker pointed out.

Hello Mikado.

I too am just getting started. It looks like you got the same ballast, lamp, and mogul setup that I did. I am happy with the purchase but I had a little bit of a mix up with the labeling of the wires which cased some issues.

http://www.lumenlab.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=11826&hl=

I am building a standard style box.

http://www.lumenlab.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=11942&hl=

Trying to keep it pretty basic until I feel confortable with all of the concepts. Good Luck to you. Look forward to seeing your progress.

You should be okay with this monitor as far as regular cabel goes for a 15" its good. I've tried the seperate tv box thing and it wasn't as good so the fact that you have every input you need all in a neat package saves you a bunch of trouble.

The panel is pretty sturdy to but once again I advise not to oversoak this panel soak it for about 5 hours the most and check it every other hour afterwards. Do not let the water drip to far over the edges of your ag or you risk moving the polarizer film as well.

480p and 480i looks great on this but I haven't had a chance to test it on its higher settings. The frame it comes in is great for securing it as well so don't throw anything away.

And I have used this in a regular throw vertical build and now in a Longthrow vertical. You might find yourself using the 16:9 ration not only because it looks good but because it gives you a smaller image. The regular build from 10' away was too large clear but large so switching to a longthrow from the same distance gave me a 84"x48" image. There are a few people who used it in a horizontal build I'm sure.

Thanks for all the information DarkMeat. Couple of questions though. How did you secure the LCD into the frame? Did you just use silicone and what should I watch out for when I do secure it? Also, as far as the AG removal, did it peel easily? Did you notice a huge difference in brightness? Also, I am little weary of that connector board on the bottom. When i remove the AG I know I will have to put that at 180°. Have you ever had worries about those connections or are they stronger than they look? I know it would be a little foolish to bend them more than needed though.

Don't bend the connectors too much they are much stronger than say the cmv 522a but don't test it. I mounted mines to the metal frame using silicone try to use the black one if you can. Just make sure that sets evenly in the frame. The lcd also has a black plastic frame I broke mines which is why I uesed the metal one. My ag came off in less than 5 hours. The image did appear brighter but the clarity was the most noticeable perk. The back layer also is a breeze to take off. Just don't oversoak or you might end up with water under the polarizer film. Feel free to ask any questions you want though.

Do you have pics of the LCD mounted? That would be awesome. I don't remember a black plastic frame... I haven't even thought of taking off "the back layer". Haha...define "oversoak". How long did you soak the back layer, and does it come off just like the AG layer?

Sorry the back layer cmae off in under 4 hours if I remember alot easier than the polarizer layer. I'm sure I have a pic of it in its metal frame so I'll look around.
My frame is very temporary though it's basicaly the lcd in the metal frame I also cut down the sides to that they didn't interfer with the three extension coming of the side of the lcd you don't want to tear those.
Cut down the sides of the metal frame but usethe black silicone around it so that the edges won't be sharp. If you don that right the it should be a breeze to place the metal frame onto your permanent wooden frame. I made the mistake of using clear silicone which held it in place but allows a little bit of light around the edges f the lcd.

Lighting setup
I received my bulb yesterday along with the mogul base. They came from Atlanta Light Bulbs. I really wanted to get an electronic ballast but alas no. I did not really look around but I am sure I could have found one eventually. I wish LL stocked them still. Anyone have any ideas where I could get one cheap?

Zohader, I'm glad that you figured out your problem with the ballast. It has encouraged me to be extra careful about wiring this guy.

I will pick up the ballast after work today, and make a trip to Home Depot to pick up some wiring accessories. Hopefully I will get some pictures up of the light test tonight.

I think the recommended burn-in time is about 8 to 12 hours? I will probably do some more reading on that.

Lighting setup continued...

I wired up the ballast tonight. I don't have my LL wiring kit yet, so I hacked up an old power cord. I was not 100% sure which wires were which. So I used an old saw that one of my roommates left behind to "open" up the female end of the connector. I am assuming it is just red=line, black=neutral, and black with white stripe = ground (the ground could be dark green, I am in horrible lighting conditions). So not 100% sure about it. I didn't hook it up to the ballast because I don't know what swizzling the wires would do. Anyone want to verify the colors for me? I searched for awhile online tonight and could not find it. That in itself was disappointing...Google let me down.

I am surprised at how heavy the coil ballast is. I wanted an electric ballast, but I really don't want to pay the premium. I have a few emails out to see if I can find one fairly cheap. So if anyone knows of anyone selling a good one that will work with the S400DD, let me know.

Also I am interested in a good pro/con list concerning the e-ballasts and the coil ones. I will try to search the forums some for it. Tomorrow...pictures!

This picture here is ok quality. It is the same setup from Atlanta Light Bulbs.
http://www.lumenlab.com/forums/index.php?s...ndpost&p=143464

Are you trying to figure out the colors of the power cord or the ballast?
Can you post a picture?

I am pretty sure I have everything wired correctly. I just don't have the power going to it. I need to figure out what color is what on my power cord. I have red, black and black with a white stripe. I need to know which is the line, neutral and ground. This will all be simpler when my LL wiring kit comes in, but I don't want to wait.

I also wonder if the starter and capacitor need to be vertical or if their orientation matters.

Here are pictures of the cord and the light test setup. (Note...I won't be firing it on the floor )

The power cord wires


The setup....notice the mighty all purpose piece of extra lumber (APPEL). I think it will be popping up quite often.

I am not sure what to tell you on the colors of the cord that you are connecting and I don't want to give bad advice. Could you not see what was connected to the ground when you took apart the female end? I just tore apart a standard computer cable (which I have a hundred of). Do you have one of these you could part with? Mine had black, white, and green. I do not believe the orientation of the starter or capacitor matters but I have mine upright. GL

Lighting setup continued...

I got my Lumenlab package today. It contained my fresnels, triplet, and wiring kit. Then I made yet another trip to Home Depot (I knew this project would require quite a few) to get some connectors and such. Everything is wired together. I am waiting until I can be home (or my roommate can be home) uninterrupted so that I make sure the apartment doesn't catch fire. The surround sound system should be coming today but I may have to go pick it up. I figure that will give me something to do while the burn-in happens. I am going to burn it for at least 6 hours, hopefully more, depending on how tired I get. Maybe I should burn the bulb in in my room so that I can't go to sleep. As it is, I think I will be testing it on the dining room table (where all the work has taken place so far). Six hours is a long time. Luckily that will give me time to get a lot of other things accomplished that have been bumped back by the projector build.

I will post pictures of the light test later (assuming it works)....

Lighting setup continued...

Well it's burning....It is pretty bright and it was only after a couple of minutes. I was surprised that the bulb started right up. I am going to go check on it, then hook up my surround sound system (which is acting as a tripod to record video of the bulb).

Oh, and don't look at the arc

Burn - Baby - Burn

Keep a eye on the temp. Maybe put a fan on it.

Lighting setup continued...

Well I finished the bulb burn in. I burned it only for 6 hours though. I did not use any form of cooling. I was surprised at how cool it ran. I had expectations of it being much higher. The one thing that did surprise me was how hot the ballast got. I definitely want some air moving over that thing. I took a reading after it had been on awhile and it was at 170°F.

Sorry I didn't take any pictures of the bulb burning. I did however take a nice video of the first 10 minutes of my bulb's life. I will put it on DVD and enjoy it for years to come. You can hear some nice little side comments by me, and part of the Matrix Reloaded which was playing on the TV. The light seemed to be consistant after the first minute or so, however the video shows a green tint at the beginning (which I'm ok with since it went away), but later it seemed that the video caught the bulb kind of changing in color for a second or less. I didn't notice any visible fluctuations and so I am thinking it is nothing to worry about.


Tomorrow I am going to try to do some measuring and figuring out dimensions for my box (standard box). Since I don't have any tools really to speak of, it will be a challenge in itself. I have a couple ideas for framing the lenses and the LCD, both of which need to be hashed out a little more. I'm hopeful that either would work, but one is cheaper than the other and so I would like that one to work first I also need to look into AG removal. My LCD is just sitting around in a safe undisclosed location. I would like to move it straight from drying off from the AG to the frame and have it secure. That means tomorrow could be a busy day. But after all it is Sunday, and I will probably try to rest, as that is what it is meant for.

Here is a picture of the latest mount I did for lcd and rear fresnel and heat shield.
The lcd slides into the frontmost slot with all light blocked by the wood. The rear part has four slots, allows the rear fres to be moved to adjust and try different set ups. Then the heat shield can slide into the last slot closest to the bulb. I was as exact as possible so only the picture part of the lcd had light hitting it. All other light was blocked by wood. This was probably the fourth way I set this up! See my plog for my original if you want. Any questions, fire them off to me in a pm and I will help you out.
Keep up the good work!
Bluto

I would have to say my biggest concern right now is how I am going to support the LCD....because I am basically not. Most people just use the metal frame to place it in, however I was hoping to just use some "grooves" on the side to put it in (same with the two fresnels, and lexan). I think I am babying my LCD too much right now. Right now it is sitting in it's "crib" and I am almost afraid to mess with it. I think it is more sturdy than I give it credit, but I don't want to get too arrogant with handling it.

As of right now, I am planning on just putting the actual LCD into grooves on the side of the box. Hopefully someone stops me if this is an incredibly stupid idea. I can imagine it having a little less support this way.

Remember I have no tools really to speak of. My idea is to use screen frame material (with a groove about 1.5 times the thickness of the fresnels and the LCD) to hold the items in place in the box. I want to line the grooves with a soft fabric to both let them glide easier, absorb a little (very little) shock, and tighten the hold the groove has. I did a small fit with parts of a shirt yesterday and a fresnel. If this doesn't work I'll have to man-handle some wood into a frame shape.

So if this is an absolutely bad idea, save me! I'll give you a day or so because I will try it with the fresnels first (they are cheaper to replace).

hey mikado - congrats on the progress...

one idea occurred to me (and keep in mind I'm not sure if it's a bad idea myself, but felt it warranted mentioning):

In terms of trying to bridge the gap between the width of the screen channel, and the thickness of the fresnel, you may want to experiment with using rubber tubing to create a gasket effect within the channel - either cutting a slit down the length of the tubing, and fitting the fresnel into that, or (assuming you can find a diameter of tubing thick enough to snugly fit into the screen) just fitting the tubing into the channel whole, and wedging the fresnel between it and the metal channel wall.

I'm not sure if that makes any sense, and it is possible that there may be a heat issue with rubber tubing. Also, if you try to use the 'cut-a-slit' approach that I first mentioned, a wavering cut along the length may make for unpleasant and inconsistent height/distance issues, potentially holding the fresnel at a diagonal or slightly warped frame.

I'm sorry to see that no other Magnavox veteran has replied to your desktop pics, as they match the alarming results I've had in running my laptop to the LCD with an S-Video cable. This past weekend I got an unfortunate lesson in HDMI/DVI-D vs. Component, DVI-A, and VGA incompatibility, so I guess there'll be no dvd-upscaling for me with this LCD. I have yet to run my laptop to the LCD via a DVI-A/VGA converter to the VGA input - I have higher hopes for that, and will let you know of my results if I can manage it as soon as I'd like to.

Any chance you could post some measurements of the stripped LCD (height, width, thickness, etc.)? You're the only other Plogger with this Magnavox that I've seen who's still early in their build - it'd help my impending layout stage a bunch. Regardless, thanks for your posts, they've already proven to be very helpful to me & my visualizing.

How did you make the slots for your LCD/lens/glass mount?

I think that is a great idea but I don't believe the screen channel is wide enough with the fresnel in there to allow for any tubing. I will try to post some pictures later today of this, but I am hopefully going to assemble the box tonight. I am still not 100% sure how I am going to get the fresnels and LCD mounted, but I am making a little sled for the stuff (hopefully)...which reminds me that I forgot to get the guy at Lowe's to cut a couple of pieces I need. Doh...


You know...I really wish I would have tested the LCD out with more combinations to see how the quality actually was. I was really surprised by the lack of quality with the RCA cable. But I was too anxious to strip the monitor....a mistake I won't make in the future. I think I may need to try to get ahold of a VGA cable.


I sure will try to post some measurements for you today when I get home. I'm glad that my mindless dribble is of some benefit to you

The Box
Ughhhh....this is probably the most frustrating part. This is where tools really come in handy. I had a fellow at the Blue Place cut some plywood for me. I wanted MDF because I know it is easier to work with, but they didn't have 1/2" MDF...and 3/4" would have been far too heavy and I would have had to change my measurements. The Orange Place's panel saw wasn't working, but I am pretty sure they have 1/2" MDF. Anyway...I got some 1/2" "Honeywood" plywood. It is pretty smooth and looks ok. I am still not sure if I am going to paint or stain it. Probably just paint...or maybe nothing But anyway, back to the issue at hand.

So these places that cut wood for you don't have the best blades for cutting wood to make it pretty. I think that saw blade has like 6 teeth....Slight exaggeration, but with the amount of tear-out I see, it can't be too far from accurate. Also those saws aren't perfect and so I just hope my box will fit decently together. So I need to clean up the tear-out. Most of it will be on the inside. I also need to borrow a drill bit set so that I can predrill the holes for the screws. I was trying to do a little fitting together last night and I kept stripping the screws. I have a very underpowered cordless drill. It was actually the free gift with a screwdriver (yeah...it's that bad, but it was a nice screwdriver). I think that was part of the problem. But I am pretty confident just predrilling holes will make it work fine. I will post horrible pictures of a horrible box when I get it put together

I think I will wait for some images before I go any farther into elaborating about the box.

That's a GREAT question! I am not 100% sure how this is going to work out yet. Right now I have some screen frame that has a groove in it. I will post some pictures of this later. If I can't get this to work out then I will probably just use some small 1/4" x 1/4" strips to form some grooves. I hope to have this figured out soon. I would love this projector to be done in the next few days. Lots of great things to get projected....NBA Finals and World Cup action.

It is funny how things come up. Before I got off of work one of my roommates needed me to take them to the hospital. That is delaying things a bit. On the bright side, I can access the wi-fi in the hospital. My roommate was just called in. I really wanted to work on the box today, but this is clearly more important. If I didn't have such a small car, and we weren't in a hurry, I guess I could have brought the box materials with me...

those kinds of unforseen delays are always unfortunate - hopefully it's nothing serious

I have some good news for us both, though, as I ending up finding out that my digital cable box is actually supplying me with HD cable right now despite me not paying for it. It's on some ridiculously high-numbered stations that I never bother with, typically.

I'll be posting the comparison pics on my plog - 480i vs. 1080i, and add a link to this post after I have the images up.

the difference is very reassuring as to the possible quality of the Magnavox LCD - hopefully the pics will to the image quality justice...

EDIT: the comparatiive shots are here on my Plog

And to thank you for those shots (which I haven't looked at yet), here is a picture with the dimensions....in mspaint.




For some reason the dimension picture won't post. Here is the link:

http://www.dorkball.net/projector/images/s.../dimensions.JPG

(I was having problems accessing this image last night. If you run into any problems, just post or PM me).

Here was my initial idea. I am not sure if I will be using them or not. I merely thought they were convenient at first. If I don't use these then I will probably just make grooves by putting 1/4" x 1/4" pieces of wood into my "sled".

The Box continued...
I got some work done on the box last night. It was cut short because I had to attend a watching party. One of my friend's relatives recently married Dog the Bounty Hunter. If you have never seen his show....it's interesting.....Anyway, my friend was used as the "bait". It was pretty awesome to see your friend sitting 2 feet from you on TV...even if it was A&E.

But...back to the box... Here is the wood I had cut. I should have tried to contact a cabinet shop to see how much they would charge to cut some good square pieces. Probably too late now. So I had to deal with the excessive tear out.


I bought a sanding block from Home Depot. It is a medium grit on one side and fine on the other. It was more like a tough sponge though. I think it worked pretty well.


Here is most of it ready to be put together.


My wood screws stripped pretty easily. This one deserved what he got though.

The Box continued...
Here are a couple of images of the actual box. It is a pretty large box. I made sure I made it longer than I would probably need it. I can get it trimmed down later if necessary. For some reason it looks a little odd still to me though.






The rails needed to be cut down a bit. That $4 "Junior hacksaw" has turned out to be pretty useful. Installed the rails a little later. I hope they work out ok.

The Box continued...

Here is the sled. And the time I thought I was going to stop working last night. Real time I stopped: 3:30 AM. I really think I should have been more productive last night though.

Thanks for the dimensions, mikado - I assume that the 9/16" dimension refers to the panel thickness?

Also, I wish I could've given you this tip about preventing the tear-out you experienced after your cut prior to last night, but perhaps it'll still come in handy if you need to trim down the length of the enclosure:

After laying out your cut on both sides of the plywood, take a utility knife and score both lines, cutting through both surface veneers. This is especially helpful on the underside of the cut, but does require accurate layout in relation to your cut - if you score a line and then find that your score ended up in the saw kerf, you might as well have skipped the scoring step.

It's also possible to take a page from the old 'tearout-prevention-while-drilling-holes' method of having your desired finished board firmly affixed or clamped to a solid board beneath it, assuming you're using a circular saw - jigsaws have a tendency to wander a bit when you try to cut through too much material thickness.

Sorry, 9/16" was actually the dimension between the edge of the LCD and the FFC. (In case you needed to make a stand off). I forgot to measure the thickness of the panel. I could guess that it is at most the thickness of the fresnel (2 mm?).

Also I couldn't do much about the tear-out because I had them cut it at Lowe's. I would have been a little more careful. But it worked out just fine. I can't complain too much. It looks fine to me.

I used window screen in my 1st PJ. It comes in two widths for the slot 1/8 and 3/16. I used the smaller. To keep the LCD from rattling inside the slot, I cut a length of soft twine (cotton or nylon) a little longer than the side and "flossed" it into the slot, then snipped the ends carefully. The twine is soft and holds the panel very gently. I didn't bother to do the same with the fresnels.

To secure the screen to the side of the PJ, I used 1/2" #6 screws, drilling one hole through the inside of the frame all the way through and about 3/8" into the wood. Then I drilled a larger hole, slightly larger than the head of the screw, but only though the inside of the screen frame. This allows recessing the screw inside of the frame.

So bevo77, I am assuming that you just put the LCD straight into the slot (along with the twine). If you read this, tell me how it went. Do you have any regrets about that? Any problems associated with it?

The optics sled is not going well. I need to get the pieces cut a little in order to make things work. On the bright side, I did get the Lexan yesterday, and went ahead and cut it with a utility knife. I wish I had more to update.

No regrets and no problems after months of use. It's a straight-shooter design using a CMV-522a. The LCD mount using the window screen frame worked fine. In my view, build the LCD sled and support first and then the rest of the PJ around it. Be sure to support the panel vertically to keep from compressing the connectors and causing a short.

I'd share pics, but my digital camera was stolen. Where in Texas are you? If you're nearby, you're welcome to stop by and look.

Actually I live in College Station And I am a college student. Does the offer still stand? Just kidding. I do thank you but I think I have it figured out alright. I was going to support it vertically. In fact I even tried it in my sled tonight and it fit pretty well. The 9/16" between the edge of the panel and the FFC works pretty well to support it. My only thought now is if I should use some plastic standoffs and mount the controller board a little bit off the bottom of the sled. I don't know which situation would put more stress on the ribbon cables. Any input you have on that would be welcome.

The Sled
After much frustration last night with wrong sized pieces, I got some work done on the sled tonight. I basically started over with the rails. I decided to not use the screen frame and just opted for my 1/4" x 1/4" square dowels. I purchased them from Hobby Lobby for $0.78 a 2 foot piece. I used four already and I am going to have my roommate pick up three more tomorrow for the 320 mm fresnel. I am going to try to rig up some sort of autokeystone adjustment. I needed just a little bit more room in my sled (apparently I had the guy at Home Depot take off just a little too much). So between the bottom and the sides I put some washers (I believe they were about 1/16" each) which added an overall 1/8" to my width...the perfect amount I believe.

While I am mentioning that, I must say kudos to them (and Lowe's too I guess) for helping me so much with the cutting. I guess it kinda helps that I know the guy who works at the Home Depot. But even the some of the other people were very helpful. But I can't just ignore Lowe's even though I am partial to Home Depot (since I used to work there a long time ago). The fellows at Lowe's were very nice to cut all the pieces for my box.

Ok, so I got the LCD out and tested it tonight. It still works. I was worried at first, but then realized you need a really bright light to see it. The dinky flashlight I was using barely cut it. Below are some pictures.

The rail system with a fresnel in it.


A close up. I just tacked them in with very small nails. I actually put them flush with the bottom of the box, then I cut 1/2" off for the airflow.


This is just a beautiful picture...


....only to be overshadowed by this A-mazing picture


And this one...

The Sled continued...
I thought the LCD (and to some degree the fresnels) in the above pictures looked dirtier in real life. Even though I have kept the fresnels in their original packaging unless I needed to test fit them in the rails, and then they promptly returned. The LCD is on a towel on a box inside a box with a sheet over the top. It still got a little dusty but it looks superb in these pictures. What is the best way to clean the dust off the LCD? Just wipe it down with a lens cleaning cloth? I want to strip that AG off pretty bad because I know what it will yield. But I am holding off on that. I would like to get some comparison shots if I do that.

And the grand finale....my LCD actually working (it's so dark because we used a pretty weak flashlight...I wanted to wire my bulb up but that feeling went away pretty quick). Of course it is the Haas picture from the Lumenlab homepage.

Sadly I won't get to work on the projector for the next few days...and it is coming together now. I have a friend who gave me a VGA cable, and another friend who is going to let me borrow his jigsaw and hole saw and also give me a 12V adapter. I tested each one of my fans I received today. I got the Evercool PCAC fans (black). One makes much more noise than the other....at least to me. My roommate said he couldn't hear either one of them. Tomorrow I am going to Houston for work, and later that night I am going home to visit the parents. I will be back on Sunday for church, but will probably be resting that day and not working on the projector much at all. But Monday it is most definitely on....(not the projector but the progress).

Great plog. Great comments, pictures, and explainations! Can't wait to see the results.
Bluto

Your use of square dowels is a proven method for mounting the LCD and fresnels. I recommend mounting the controller board on plastic standoffs. Sometimes electronic components (resistors, diodes, etc) are mounted on the bottom of the circuit board and can be damaged. Best to play it safe and it also provides an amount of cooling for the processor chips. You can also mount some plexiglass above the controller board as a shield against anything dropping on it. Build looks good.

Test Fire

Well after I got back at 11:30 tonight, I spent a few hours working on the projector. I realized I didn't have enough room in my box to mount the bulb the way I wanted to. That was incredibly disheartening. As of now I have the bulb mounted directly to the side of the box. I have an idea for later but we'll see how that works out. I believe I figured that would put the bulb arc in the center of the box. I found the center by attaching four small nails to the corners of where my LCD would be. Then I tied string....aka dental floss....around them and just did the diagonals. I took a Sharpee and marked where the center was.



Then I just visually lined the bulb up. I had already marked a line. I believe my distances are correct from the bulb to the first fresnel, and between the LCD and the two fresnels, and then I had to obviously approximate the distance to the triplet. Below you can see my triplet mounting and adjustment mechanism.



When I fired the bulb up, the image wasn't really visible at all. I'm ok with that. So I tried to adjust the triplet. It didn't seem to help. I could get a little bit of text in focus if I tilted it right. I figured I'd see a blurry image at least but it was really washed out. Sorry I don't have a picture of the actual image I saw. I doubt I could have coerced the camera to take anything fairly representative of what I was seeing.

I didn't get to mess around with as much stuff as I wanted. I haven't installed the fans yet (but they are wired up and ready to go pretty much). I am waiting to borrow a jigsaw from a friend (hopefully). That might happen tomorrow, or it may wait until Monday. Since the fans weren't there, air wasn't really moving. I didn't want to even get close to doing anything stupid to my LCD and so I shut the lamp off around 92°F.

Assessment of Test Fire

Obviously I have a poor results to present to you. Here are some things I am thinking may have contributed to the problem that I was seeing (actually I guess it would be not seeing).

Triplet placement: Obviously holding it in my hand isn't the best way to do things. I will hopefully get it mounted in the front side soon. I know I am going to have a huge light leakage problem around that piece of wood. Also, I might not have been anywhere close to the center position with the triplet now that I think about it.

Fresnel problems: I tested the fresnels and I believe I have the right one in the right place. I should probably double check that though, and make sure the grooves on both are facing the LCD. One quick question though...how important is it to have the fresnels lined up with each other? What will happen to the image if they are off a bit? Once the triplet is mounted I can mess with those a little.

Distances: Probably the first thing I want to do before I try running it again would be to check the distances to make sure they are pretty much what the guide says (as far as the bulb/fresnel, fresnels/LCD, and fresnel/triplet distances are.

Next on the list...

Apparently I have some work to do.

These would be my triage level 1 items:
- Install fans
- Mount triplet and focusing mechanism
- Cut out the inputs
- Fix wiring
- Add flashing
- Stop light from leaking under the LCD

Level 2 would probably be:
- Cut extra 1/4" off back face
- Make a real lid
- Find an automatic fan shutoff
- Fix light leaks
- Change bulb mounting scheme
- Paint inside of box (and flashing) black

Level 3 would be the absolutely least important things to me right now:
- Paint box

Hopefully level 1 things will be fixed soon. To stop the light leaking from under the LCD, I believe I might put some black felt cloth there. Any suggestions on if this is a bad idea or not? I would put a piece of 1/2 plywood under there but I think the cables are in the way. But I really enjoy the wiring and so that will probably get done first. I can't do the flashing until I do that. In the picture below you can see the flashing I am using. It is a 4x4 piece of galvanized flashing. I am going to paint it with the Rustoleum High Temp black spray paint. These pieces are $0.38 a piece. I haven't seen other people using them, but surely they are. They are in the building materials department of Home Depot (and Lowe's). They are with the other roofing items and the roll flashing. So far they bend well and they're cheap, so as long as they work, I'm happy.



The black line on the input board is where I plan on cutting it. I want to invert it and mount it under the box. This would probably be easier than me making a patch console and putting it on the side. Maybe not. I will think about that. I can always keep the cutout, and just leave the board in right now.



Level 2 items will be handled as they become more important. Obviously, if the arc is not in the center then I will be fixing the bulb mounting scheme.

Also in that last image, you see that in the sled assembly, the LCD< and fresnels are about 2 to 3 inches below the top. Any comments on whether I should move those up, or accept it the way it is?

It's not a bad idea to use as much from the lcd as you can to mount things in place wish I had the space to do it. Looks pretty neat and laid out you might want to invest into a component adapter especcial if it includes s-video. If you have more than one video source such as gave and so on you will want to have at least a 3-4 component adapter this will solve the problem of having to open your box to disconnect anything.

Just look for a universal component/svideo switch. The only wires you will want to have coming out of your box should be for your component, sivideo, vga and sound. If you are planing on watch the regular cable thy y audio splitter is great you can patch out the sound from the lcd directly into your home stero.

Looking good keep it up.

Test Fire continued...

I tried firing again today after installing the fans. It ran for a little longer, but then it got hotter than I wanted. There are several problems I need to fix right now.

- Light leaks
- Triplet mounting
- Fan holes
- Lid

As for the light leaks, I think I am going to try to mask off some things with some felt.

A hole saw is really expensive. I think I might try to cut a hole out with a jigsaw. (See below)

As for the heat problem, I am guessing it isn't very helpful to have fans with large holes around them...let me know how bad this is.





I am assuming it is quite bad. But without the larger holes then the fans wouldn't run, they would bind. I suppose I should try a little harder to cut a more precise hole the first time? Any other suggestions for mounting these Evercool PCAC fans? Notice I wasn't very careful when cutting these with the jigsaw...that might have to change. But like I said they were binding and not running if they weren't just right. I don't know if I can cut a perfect hole...

A lid would help the light escaping and making the image seem brighter I think. Also I think I need to move the bulb just a little to get it more in the center.

I am going to try to run it again later and see what kind of picture I can get...at least I want to see what it will look like in a darker setting.