I'm making this baby for the kids in my Art Club. The little darlings have been spoiled by my pj playing games on it after school. I hooked up a vga box to a regular crt the other day and they looked at me like hmmm Mr. Tucker where's the big screen ungrateful you might say but I can understand.

Using my leftover parts dimensions re 15" wide, 13" long and 20" tall. It will have an adjustable arm that will stay down until needed. This of course means that I won't be placing a striped lcd on top and instead will be using a lcd projector panel. I'm tried of writing on the blackboard and whats art without color pics so this should solve the problem of needing an overhead projector as well as being able to show videos in my class whenever I have to.

It's so sad when I have students that I don't teach trying to sneak into my room during school time to watch movies.
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Parts List:

(1) 250 Watt globe metal halide and ballast
(2) NVIEW Spectra C LCD Projection panel 640x480 resolution. 800X600 LCDTV Panel:component, svideo, rca and cable inputs
(3) Avermedia 5 VGA Box
(4) 220/330 Fresnels or 317/317 fresnels from my OHP.
(5) 3 80MM Fans
(6) 80mm Triplet, FS mirror 5"x7"
(7) 9"x9" tempered glass
(8) Post 65 and down constructing based on new panel.

The top of the build will still be large enough to place a 15" lcd on top but I'm not investing anymore more on lcd monitors. Rizzo_Bah has a 10.5" Boxlight panel so I'll more than likely let him use the box until I get my NVIEW panel from my bro whose coming down this summer. This shouldn't take more than a day two to put together since it doesn't include a stripped lcd.

My two addictions Lumenlad and E-Bay. Have parts must build.

Okay the box is built dimensions. 12" width x13" length x height 14" she is small one. I found a way to use the focus arm from an ohp so it makes it easy to turn the knob to focus. The 220,330 fresnels rest on top and I'll be placing a 12.25"x10" piece of glass over it this will allow me to place the lcd panel on top without scratching the fresnels which are already in a poor state.


It's just scary how small this thing is makes my longthrow look like a beast but its just big enough for me to put a regular 15" lcd on it if I wanted to.

Options for the outside is to go with a sleak white glossy or black glossy exterior. The focus are is metal and plastic so I'll sand it down and paint it the same color.
Things to do:

Paint the inside black.
Place the 9"x9" tempered glass inside.
Instal the 120mm 12volt fan or two 80mm fans.
Permanently put the focus arm on.
Sand and paint the outside.

I no longer have to carry my main pj out the house anymore and this solves my issues with not havig an ohp in my classroom.

Resutls from today:

Focus arm is in place works like a charm.
Inside of the box is painted black.
Bulb and Ballast instaled and wired up
Tempered glass from ohp in.

Things left to do.

Instal the fan.
Sand and paint the exterior.
Instal a sheet of glass on top of the box to rest the lcd panel or lcd projection panel on.

Because of the smaller size it is really bright even without a reflector. I'll test my 15 inch lcd on it just to see how bright it can get but from 11 feet away I was able to get a pretty bright screen with perfect corner to corner focus.

And the fact that I can lift this thing with one arm is great. The fresnels do need to be replaced though but they will work for now. The total height is only about 23" with the arm extened at a distance of 11' from the wall.

Sounds really neat,DM.
Any chance of getting some pics of her? Maybe next to your longthrow for a comparison??
Good work!
Cheers P

I forgot to bring the cam to school today since Exams are going on I really don't have that many classes to teach. I've turned the art room into my personal work room in my eagerness I also forgot to bring the wood bits for my drill so I can cut out the space for the fan. And my mother dearest borrowed my car which had the cam in the trunk

The difference between my pro and this is like night and day make me wonder if I could build my pro down to a sleaker size. The tiles in my apt are 17"x17" the base of the pro fills it almost perfectly. The new one fits into a 14"x14" space.

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I'm just not sure whether to go with a white box or a black box.
Since its so small my friends at the car body shop won't have a problem making a fibre glass shell for it if I want. This is calling for some custom Lumenlab Graphics after all this is the toy so I get to ignore the WAF.
The empty space on top of the pj is to slide in either a lcd projector panel or regular 15" lcd.

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This screen should also fit nicely into my apt and will give the image more of a finished commercial look.
Of course the screen is now 85"x48" for my longthrow.

Okay pic of the pj
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Longthrow and PJ comparrison
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Projection the starburst effect is being cause by the warped 220 frensel.
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Folded down
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And the gutts minus the fan. The ballast fits in nicely so I didn't need to place it on a seperate level. I'll probaly go with two 80mm fans one to push air in and one to pull it out.
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Man,that is neat!
That is a great little fold away solution.Cool
I found this post earlier in the focus mech thread,it links to some diy bellows.I remember you were looking at bellows at one time.
Thought it might interest you.
DIY Bellows Link
Cheers P

Is that a part of an Overhead Projector very nice

and u did it fast ....

Pun you are the man I can finaly get that antique looks I've alwasys wanted it's going to take a few but it should be worth it.
Hopefuly it will come out something like this. OF course the triplet will be facing forward not up.
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The arm came off my overhead pj it's a great focusing mechanism I wasn't able to put together a good way to use it before.
I reversed the placement of the triplet in the Overhead Mount so that the triplet faces out instead.
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Tempered Glass mount.
Using the glass from the top of the overhead as well.
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Fresnel mount.
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Internals
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Heat Shield
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I just like the idea now that I can build the bellows for it so that it really looks like an old pj. This mean it might end up with a maple or oak stain with the black bellows on top and I'll do the same thing to Longthrow. The lcd panel will be inside of it so you won't even see it.
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Just need to put the fans in and place the switches on the outside.

Can you explain the choice of bulb please? Why 250 and more important why globe (I assume that means it's big and round).

I just got a globe 400 by mistake because I was eager to get parts and I misunderstood what bulb I should get. I just received this large 400w bulb and I'm not sure I should use it.

Thx

I got the globe because its the only type of metal Halide available in my area (Bahamas) it's a little shorter than the Ushiio bulbs. As far as the 250 it was from my first pj that I made I wanted to see how bright a 250 setup could be when used with a 15" it was actualy pretty good but I upgraded to the 400 watt gobe for my longthrow. Now hopefully you didn't get the really big 400 watt bulb becuase they do come in about 2 sizes mines is only 9" long.

The setup for it is the same as the Ushio bulbs it's just that you are working with a wider width it's bright enough belive me. If you have any specific questions though just let me know I just hope you have smaller 400 globe is all

I'm using a small panel with the new 250 setup so it will be perfect for projecting the small screen.

It was "BigCommieNat" who posted the original link in the focus mech thread.
Cant wait to see how she turns out,should be great.
P

I'm going to try and pick up the paper and tape to make the bellows today. There is going to be alot of free time since classes officialy end tomorrow and I'll only have to proctor exams.

Ahh, cool, thanks for the reply. Yeah, thankfully I got the ~9" too. As for the width, when you say wider you're talking about the glass and not the arc, right? And as for the brightness, I should hope it is bright enough because the specs on my bulb are right up there with the Ushio - it's just that my bulb is big and ugly... it makes me feel so 1970's... and that's bad because I was born in '87.

Here's a link to the bulb I got.. pay no attention the thumbnail image.. that's not what mine looks like. http://www.1000bulbs.com/product.php?product=8686

You will be good to go with that bulb in fact it's just about the same as mine although you did say it's different from the pic. The glass envelope of the bulb is the section that makes this model larger its about 2.5" in diameter at its widest point. but the brightness it will give you will make you happy.

This is my regular build plog.
Regular Build

And my Longthrow using the same bulb.
longhrow
I didnd't notice a drop in brightness when switching to the longthrow actualy the smaller image made it look better overall.

My new baby is looking a bit ugly on the outside dirt and stuff but she works I had to use a piece of glass to resting on top of the fresnels to straighten out the warped 220 it's dirty but the starburst effect is almost gone. It's alot brighter than the first time I built it using the 220,317 combo and 250 bulb makes me wonder what I did wrong the first time. I'm going to borrow Rizzo_Bah LCD panel to test it out this weekend and post some pics.

Okay the box is done and I have an image. It might only be from a transparency but I'm just happy to know that it's bright even from 11 feet away. This just convinces me that I wired it up incorrectly the last time which caused a decrease in brightness.

I mannaged to squeeze the fresnels between a wood frame and the glass support from my overhead projector so there is hardly any sign of the radial effect. If I do replace them I will more than likely use the 330/220 combo from 3d lense its already cut down to size and glued together becuase it was made for overhead pj's that way I won't screw up another pair of fresnels.

From 6 feet away.
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From 11 feet away.
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My grade 11 kids are actualy painting the walls for a grade replacing one style of graphiti with another.

IT looks pretty good to me

now kill the lights and bring the kids....

They will love that.

Unfourtantely I have spoiled my kids too much as it is. I go the exam dates mixed up sho I showed movies for a whole week thinking it was the last week for them so it would have been a treat. Wouldn't you know it they pushed back the exam dates so in the walk the following week with no books or supplies and a look thats say so where is the #$@% PJ ungrateful. They practicaly laughed when I hooked up the ps2 to a 19" to finish watching one of the movies.

As for the lights most of it is leaking from the top of the pj so I was still shocked to get such a bright image.

Okay here's the deal she works, she's bright, pretty clear and came from recycled parts. It's so bright that it proves I messed up the wiring in my 250 watt the last time I put it together. This would be more than enough to project a 15" screen as I did earlier but at least my doubts forced me into the 400 watt group.
]
I'm convinced I could use a 15" with the 250 but only in a regular build so switching to the 400 watt fr my longthrow was a smart move. Thanks to the new design though I will deffinately switch out my 330 rear fresnel in my longthrow and purchase another 220. This should push my brightness up a few percentage points and make me a very happy camper.

Okay enough of the rambling as you can tell I'm happy so here are my nighttime results. The fan is now installed as well.

The images are 10'x10' square.

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Lights on.
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Lights off
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Now for the pj itself.
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The 10.5" Panel from my dead Boxlight panel it had a 1024x768 resolution until I killed it.
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And lastly size comparrissons.
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Now thanks to Pun I should be able to start working on my bellows for the smaller pj and something more classic for the longthow. I borrowed a 10.5" panel from Rizzo_Bah it has the same build as my old boxlight same company as well but only a 480x640 resolution I'll try and post some pics of an actual lcd image later tonight but the game is on

Ok I got the Boxlight panel hooked up and working. I have discovered sadly though that the lcd is placed almost 1.5" away from the front fresnel which works out to the lcd not recieving most of the light. I haven't instaled a reflector as yet which should improve the brigthness but for a panel like this it would have to be stripped down so that the lcd is close to the panel otherwise most of the light will be lost. This is with a 250 watt that is with a 400 watt it shouldn't be a problem.

Right now though I'm just contemplating how to finish the box.
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Results from Narnia.
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I'm not happy with the fact that the lcd projection panel rest so high above the fresnels so the image is nowhere as birght or clear as it should be. I'll have to strip mines down and place it in a custom frame when I get it in a few weeks. I also haven't placed my reflector in as yet hope it helps but based on the transparency shots I know this can work.

I'm going to carefuly place my 15" lcd on it to see how well it really works with a lcd at a closer distance.

Sorry about the shaky pictures no tripod.

Panel Boxlight 1800 480x640 I forgot to put the colors at 1.4 million so they were set at the default 256
Images patched in through from my JVC DVD RCA ioutput to my Avermedia 5 TV box and lastly to the Boxlight Panel. I realy should have used my s-video connection.

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Sorry,off topic I know!
I liove Graffiti,my favourate at the moment is a chap called "Peeta",
I think he is french (they have an amazing scene over there).



Sorry again!

On topic! Did you pick up the material for the bellows yet?
Do you think that it will be doable?

Cheers P

LOL off topic is usaly on topic in these forums that stuff does look great it's a shame there aren't more actual graffiti artist versus hoodlums messing up the walls down here nothing creative hell the guys can't even spell.
I should take a few pics of the kids work though some of them are very talented.

Ok on topic I just finished proctoring an exam which means I was doodling the whole time and I've come I've decided on the bellow design to use in my regular and longthrow build. It's deffinately doable it's just going to take some time and patience I just hope I have enough of both left after these exams. Off to the paper factory to see what they have.

Okay thanks to Pun I now have HomeWork building the bellows for my compact build and longthrow pj. Not sure how long its going to take but if I do it right it will finaly give me the look I always wanted as well as take away the need for using alot of extra wood.

I've attached a s-video cable to the Boxlight Panel as well as moving it just a bit to the left it was off center. I now have a bright image which equals out to two working pj's. I'll start sanding down tomorrow but I'll need some input on color choice. The small pj is going to be my portable gaming/educational aid so I'm thinking a slightly more commercial look for it.

I will either go with a dark wood stain or a total black stain and varnish.

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Okay I broke my first lcd projection panel a Boxlight 1701, 1.4 million colors, 1024x768 res this was a few months back the board was fried but I kept the screen and cords. The projected pics are from a Boxlight 1801 which only has 480x640 res.

I've been searching ebay ever since and I came across the same panel it was listed for $9 with only a few hours left no bids either. The only thing missing was the power cord which I still have. I managed to win it for only $10.98 in the last 4 seconds cutting it close.

This might not seem like a big deal but this panel I've played halo2 on it with no problems and it was made in 1994 sold for $6000. I'm just praying that all it needs is the power cord. This of course mean I have two lcd projector panels the N-View Spectra Plus 480x640 res.

I will fight the urge to strip this panel down and simply build an enclosed stand for the panel to sit on top of this new pj. I just hope I don't get the itch to build again just becuase I'll have an extra panel hanging around.

DM

Thats some tight 3D there!
Do you write DM? I have been known to have a fat-cap or two in my younger days
I must have spent the better part of my teenage years in the train-yard.
Good times!

Nope unfortunately my artistic skills lie with the paintbrush not the can I must say though that the quality of some of the work makes you wonder why those guys aren't making some serious cash.

I actualy have 2 paintings to do for a client $500 per piece which isn't alot but then again it won't take me more than a few days for the two of them maybe a week.

DM

This particular artist sells small canvases,and has produced some stuff on a 3D modelling doohickey??
Awesome stuff...
Worldwide graffiti
,sorry DM
P

No worries Pun anything related to art isn't off topic to me I would have glady done 3d animation but I insted did Graphic Design not much of a market for 3d animators in the Bahamas.

Okay good news bad news. I got my 10.5" panel pluged it in and tested it with the plugs from my old one. It works great I even had Narnia up and running on it in 1024x768. I also recieved my Nview lcd panel.

Bad news, The 10.5" boxlight panel had a cracked top panle right above the lcd. This is just glass the lcd wasn't broken but it does have a small scratch . The other bad news my bro brought the Nview lcd panel and it comes with a remote but and I say but again he didn't bring the power cables. The nview was to be the one I kept at school and the boxlight my portable gaming and movie panel so it will be another two weeks before he goes back and can mail it to me.

I'm just happy to have the stuff in though so I can finish off both of my projectors. The svideo cable for my second boxlight panel works alot better than my old one and as far as the lcd goes I know where I can buy new ones for $80 so a replacement in the future wouldn't be a problem.

DM

so hows the bellows coming along? that is a great find pun15her!!! that is just what I am looking for to complete a few build ideas!
you know what would look cool on your pj here would be to make the sides of the bellows from trapazoids, this way you could taper the bellows so it would be smaller on the top where it meets your triplet and wide at the bottom to cover your panel.
Nice job on this small pj!

Thanks Tes I've been enjoying your designs since I joined this forum. The bellows was a great idea but it was kicking my butt. I wasn't able to work on it properly though because I didn't have the projection panel to see how big it needed to be. Well I just got the panel in yesterday so who knowS it might still be possible and you are right the trapezoid effect would have been idea it all depends on how lazy I am after this weekend.

It's still a sad day though because the boxlight panel has a a broken glass on the top which scratched the lcd just a small one but still enough to piss me off a bit. And my bro who I do love brought the Nview lcd panel with remote but forgot the power cable and video cable such is life but the nview was to be my backup anyway.

This is to give an idea of what Im now working with.
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I'm going to have to come up with a nice way to enclose the panel in a boxto block off extra light but still allow some air to flow in. The bellows would have been right above the box holding the projection panle in place. I guess using stacked boxes that are gradualy decreased in size would still work out I deffinately don't want to go with just a solid coffin shape.

There is no way that I am stripping this panel down thats how I killed the last one. Whats great about it also is that it has a built in function for rear projection so if I wanted to go horizontal I still wouldn't have to strip it down just turn it upside down instead. I think the boxlight is rated at 30ms but it handles Halo2 with ease.

DM

Heres an off the wall thought, since this is for the kids at school, why not have a contest to design the outside of the enclosure, then have a vote for the best design and then have them help you build it!

LOL all depends but I can't wait until September for this besides I'm afraid to leave anything valuable in the hands of my kids. I usualy setup the gameroom and some fast hands went with my Mario Kart such is life maybe I'll just leave it a solid color and let them come up with a logo for the Art Club to go on it keep it simple.

DM

Oh and this was really just another way to squeeze out an extra PJ that I can take on the road for gaming.

DM

Vertical and Horizontal idea to enclose the entire lcd panel panel. The panel has an invert mode so turning it vertical would only require me to turn it upside down for a horizontal build.
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You'll have to let me know how your build is going Professa Oak.

DM

How small can you go.....

I decided to strip down my Nview Panel just to see how the gutts looked. I must say that I was pleasantly surprised. Unlike my Boxlight panel the Nview has wires instead of ffc cables and the controler board is pretty small even the fans that cool the whole thing are on a nice long cable.

The outside dimensions of the panel measure 13"x 15"
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Inside the panel
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Lcd, Control Board.
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The control board is 12"x 5"
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The lcd rest on a frame that is 11"x9"
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With these measurement I should be able to trim down my original design even more it's great hoiw the lcd is actualy attached to a frame already. I would still be able to use the fans to cools the lcd and the control board is so small that I can easily place it to the side. I'm not sure if I trust myself to cut out the box for this one though so I'll work on the design and probaly give it to my cousin.

It's crazy how small I might actualy be able to get this thing hell I might even decide to make it into a horizontal build instead that way it can go lower on the ground. The lcd frame is so neat that I should be able to place the fresnels pretty close to it for a split fresnel design.

It's only 640x480 and there are small vertical lines on the right side but it's not enough to bother me besides the lcd itseld only cost about $60 to replace and the one for my Boxlight is only $70.

DM
LCD measures at 9.5"x7"
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Well it looks like the only way to truly get this smaller in size is to trim down the fresnels to about 7"x7" which would allow me to make the enclosure 28" long by 11" at its highest point. Adding curves instead of boxes would also help to trip the overall size down... not that I would be doing it though I could just make it a 11"x28" rectanglar design though at least that I'm capable of.

The reality is though I'd rather not cut down the fresnel thoughso might end up being 28"x13"x14" coffin using 1/2" pine
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Any suggestions would be good dog coffin or angles. The left design is using the full fresnel size which means a 13"x28" box and the right is 11"X28" with the angles it also has a smaller size. Making this horizontal would give me the option for keystoning and placing it lower on the ground but the vertical would have a smaller footprint.
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DM

Well some bad news it looks like my Nview Panel is tripping out I had a chance to fully test it out and the right hand corner of it seems tobe on the blink the entire image shows but there seems to be a vertical bar that blinks in and out on the right. I'm not sure if its the board or the panel. The colors on it are great even though its only a 640x480 panel so I'm going to pick another one up that way if it is the panel I'll just switch out the lcd.

Good news I did test my Boxlight panel on the 250 setup and it was suprisingly bright and more focused than my longthrow. This just confirms that somehow my mirror is causing a double image again so i'll need to adjust it.

Here are some pics even with the tons of light leaks the 250 should work out great on such a small panel.
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I'll be forced to wait on the new Nview panel or the NEC 1550V that I'm trying to win on ebay. Either way I'll make the enclosure large enough on the top so that my Nview or Boxlight can rest in it.

DM

Well I managed to work on the 250 some more it's just a matter of cosmetics mainly I got rid of the focusing mechanism from the overhead pj and went with threaded rods instead.
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Unfortunately the threaded rods are just about an inch too short so either I replace them with two 14" ones or I rebuild the wooden piece that they screw into. The left side of the pic is slightly out of focus due to the rods being too short but overall I'm happy with the 250. This will be the one that I keeo at the school for my classes.

The back of the pj is the only part that hasn't been covered and I'll just paint the other areas with black paint to finish it off. I also need to fix the flashing on the inside as well as put the swithc for the fans on the outside of the pj.

The images were taken from about 9' away from the wall.
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DM

I see the carpet came in handy! Is that the cars DVD, or just a preview?

Dark, if you are still using the football size bulb, check out the mod I have working now on my build.


I ran it all day yesterday, with no observable challenges, and the brightness leap was pretty good.

Thanks for the input my bulb is actualy the smaller 250 watt bulb but I like the idea of using the foil hell it can't hurt right. I'm testing out the pj right now but the foil is such a simple thing that I'll try it out when it cools down.

Right now the pj is running fine to tell you the truth it looks more like a regular overhead than anything else but hey it works. The damn threaded rods were being a pain so I still had to switch back to the adjustable arm from the overhead I'll have to paint it black though. All thats left is to put the switch on the fan and it's done. Oh and handles on the side.

DM

It's the dvd rizzo it was actualy a pretty good movie. And thanks again for the carpet tons of it left over of course.

DM

Okay todays results slight brightness improvement I'll add the foil backing in a few so these pics will act as a comparrison for later. I'm using the boxlight panel for now but I'll be replacing it with the NVIEW Panel since it's easier to strip down.

Obviously the disadvantages of this settup is the extra ambient light coming from the panel. The black fabric works well though so I'll just make a carboard top and cover it as best as I can, I'll also be spraying the focusing arm black.

Arm down
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Arm up
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X3
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I'm pretty hapy with the brightness since it's a 250 without a reflector or precondenser instaled. The colors are ok but I do need to turn up the brightness settings on the avermedia box.

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Looking good. Why did you go back to the focus arm instead?

I went back to the focusing arm becuase it was easier the threaded rods were just too short and I didn't want to be cutting down a 24" just to make it shorter. This should make it easier for me to pack it away when I'm not using it. I'm going to spary it black though.

DM

Hey, I tried the foil reflector that "weldonjb" mentioned, and it did increase the brightness. I'm still looking for a nice stainless steel bowl I can modify though.
I'm adding more fans on the weekend to improve the cooling, and I found some nice reflective tape to use in conjunction with the flashing in the bulb area.

I still need to add a few strips of carpet to the door of the PJ, once I get what's left of what you used. Once that's done, and I securely mount my lenses, I won't need to touch this baby anymore. Except to turn it on.