My first concept, which I hope to get back to eventually is from pages 1 through 12.
While my 2nd concept (Mobile Ugly box) starts mid way down page 12.


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I joined Lumen Lab back in February this year (2006), and I have been reading and reading and reading and so on. Over the last six months I have been slowly accumulating parts, and this process has been exhilarating. The hardest component to buy was the first, which was a 17-inch LCD, as this put a stake in the ground as to what direction I would go.

I have been following several plogs and forum topics, which have provided me with insight and knowledge very quickly. I appreciate all of the members who have went out of their way to provide detailed information, or have tried something new just see if it could be done. I especially appreciate the work done by ArizonVideo, Simul8r, DarkMeat, Dazzzla, Elken2004, Gagetsmith, Arrik... oh and of course Brainchild.

This is my first real projector. Although I've built one other before (see post #145) LoL , but which eventually led me to Lumen Lab.

Below is my parts list and cost:

Viewsonic 17” LCD:.................. $57.........(ebay purchase; broken backlight)
LL Fresnel Lenses:......................$60.........(220mm and 650mm FL and shipping)
5 inch Reflector:..........................$10.........(Hamilton Beach - Soup Ladle; Local Purchase)
Osram HQI 400W-TS...................$28.........(ebay purchase, but local pick-up; P&M Lighting)
FC2 Connectors...........................$20.........(for the pair; local pick-up; P&M Lighting)
Venture V90E1912K Ballast........$54.........(www.HiDirect.com; Beat the price increase. This is now $70)
OPC 18 inch Triplet....................$110........(ebay purchase; and shipping)
Wood..........................................$20..........(Home Depot)
Fans..........................................Free.........Friend at Work Gave them to me (Thanks Joe!)
Grand Total:...............................$360

There are of course some items I would like to purchase, but I've decided to wait until I've seen results before I invest more cash. These items include:
a) Precondensor: To provide a better spread of light across the LCD. When I do, it will be made of pyrex ($60). This follows in line with Simul8r's work.
(b A 330 rear fresnel to couple with the precondensor, but a 220 fresnel as used by DarkMeat is next best choice ($30).
c) Addition 7 or 8 au Capacitors: I plan to overdrive the lamp (as ArizonaVideo has), to help bring the color rating of 6500 down (a little blue at the current value) ($10)
d) A Front Surface (FS) mirror: ($15) Yes, I would like to have a folded verticle design. But right now I'd like to prove out this project with a less complicated box. Of course when I do go verticle, I shoud be able to avoid ghosting, as Arrik figured the fix out in his plog.
e) 2 Ball Bearing Sythe Fans: Yes peace and quiet will be nice to have, but the 17" pj box is so big, I believe the noise from the fans will be attenuated. ($20)

With that said, here are some pictures of the items I currently have:

The Viewsonci 17 inch LCD -VA721; 8 ms 400:1 Contrast
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Lumen Lab Fresnels ~ 220 mm and 650 mm. Wow is this box BIG!
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lmao!

5 inch - Soup Ladel - Hamilton Beach (Same as Simul8r's)
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Osram HQI 400W TS
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Venture Ballast V90D1912K ("K" stands for "Kit"... complete with Mounting Brackets)
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Venture Ballast - Lable:
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Venture Ignitor Lable:
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Venture Capacitor - Lable:
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Projection Optics Company - Triplet - 18 inch Focal Length
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Fans from a Friend at work... old and loud... but FREE!
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Before I bought the LCD (about 4 months ago) I searched the forums and only found one other member who said there were no FCC issues! That was good to know. However I know that companies sometimes have more than one version. So let's see if the Viewsonic VA721 is a good purchase!

I'm taking it easy, because if it doesn't work out... I want to be able to use the LCD as a computer monitor.

First I began by removing the Silver Plastic Framing Shell on the Front. Since it was a snap-fit, I had to pull on the edges in the directions shown to pull it free,
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This proved to be a little difficult next to the control button area. But with a little screw driver prying and pressure... POP! it came off!
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Good to see another 18" in use and yours looks like it's in pretty good condition.

DM

Removing the Rear Housing is simple enough after you figure it out. However the Video cord is permantly attached so if seemed to be difficult at the time. The secret is rotating the base. There are four actions required:

a) Unsnap rear Housing
Remove Screws Holding Control Panel to Rear Plastic Housing
c) rotate base
d) continue to unsnap the bottom and then slide downward.
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To Remove the bottom base, four screws need to be removed.

To Remove the bottom base, four screws need to be removed.
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After This, I removed the screws on the sides to open the outer metal jacket
(But it was laying down on the desk, and not upright as shown in the picture)

Now looking at the Back Metal Housing there are 3 metal trap doors. Behind each is a connection. These connections had to be disconnected in order to remove the rear housing. Connections 1 & 2 looked Identicle. These turned out to be connections for the back lights.

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However the 3rd Connection seem a little erie. At first I thought this was a FCC, so all I did at first was remove the tape. Then as I tried to open the metal housing one of the ribbons pulled out. Oh that wasn't too bad. It is designed to do that.
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Looks great! Looking forward to see how it turns out.

For the Ribbons, under the yellow tape, the white plastic connectors rotate up, allowing the ribbon to disconnect. However I didn't know this at the time, so I simply tried opening the metal housing and carefully removed the screws that held the circuit boards in place. That's when the first ribbon pulled out.

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I also connected all the connections between the circuit boards. This included the Power, the Control Board, and the VGA input connectors.

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To remove the VGA cable from the metal housing, a piece of tape needs to be removed, and the plug slid over. Simple and easy.

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OK well this next picture might not be necessary, but it will serve as a reminder how everything is to be connected later when I have it installed in the projector.

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Next I removed the metal Flashing the protected the Edge Connectors to the LCD.

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Then I removed the screws that were holding the circuit Boards in place.

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And then I saw it.... an FCC connector. Now I know I'm having fun. So I removed the tape covering it, and looked at how it was connected.

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A sigh of relief... one side of the FCC has the same white plastic connector that the ribbon connectors had. So I simply popped it open, and pulled out the FCC.... err ummm... it says FPC. There are 16 lines in this one.

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After unfolding the edge circuit boards, I began to start removing things that I didn't need to. The metal assembly, simply houses the back lights. The LCD was laying safely below it. I was shocked to see how thin it was. The LCD is maybe 1/16 (3 mm) of an inch thick. This is very fragile. Now I'm very scared that my kids, 3 of them, could easily break it. I need a safe place to keep it until I need it.

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At this point I wanted to rehook everything back up and see if I could get an image on the LCD in the stripped condition. However with the FCC (FPC?) I was not able to do this. So I need to know, are there extensions for this type of connection? If not, I going to replace the back lights and rebuild the monitor, however, something tells me there is.

So does anyone know? Brain?

Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers!

Fulcrum

Hey....just a word of warning on the above pic. Pleeeeeeeeeeeeease be careful how much pressure you put on those connectors at the bottom of the LCD. They're uber fragile. All it takes is one of those wires breaking and you've likely blown the LCD.

Looks like a great strip, though! Congrats

I'm guessing from the photo that those might be a 0.5mm pitch. There's 16 pins....is the whole cable about 8mm? If so, I'm thinking that the ffc extenders found on this site MIGHT work. I'm not sure...I don't know that I recall someone extening one of that type before. Mine is simply a suggestion, but not one of any expertise.

Yes, the triplet does look pretty good. However I noticed one little tiny nick in the front exterior surface. The nick is the size of a pin head, so I doubt I'll see anything in the projected image.

Cheers!

Fulcrum

GusF,

Thanks for the help, it is appreciated. However, is there a link that you intend to provide? Or were you speaking of Lumen Lab?

Cheers!

Fulcrum

GusF,

Ahh yes, you are correct. You can't tell from the picture, but I'm actually holding the LCD up with my fingers, up off the table. The 2D picture makes it look like it's touching, but it is not. I'm actually a bit scared of damaging it, so for now only kid gloves... BTW where are my kids?

Cheers!

Fulcrum

Was referring to the LumenLab store....sorry, should have been more specific.

This weekend, someone local was selling two older opaque projectors, so I bought them. Why? Parts, and well one of them had a FS mirror. I also recently saw a pj featuring a mini Haas Box, and I thought that might be a nice little second build, but with a bigger lens, more light and clarity will result.

Anyway Here is what I purchased:

Edmund Deluxe 6X6 OH Projector:

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The Seerite 10X10 Opaque OH projector:

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Yes... This one has a FS Mirror!

Here is one last shot comparing the triplets between the recently purchased Opaque OH projectors, and the OPC I will using for this build:
Note: Length Measurements were done with a tape measure, but are not exact.
Note: Measurements are in English Units... Inches. To get measurements in mm, multipy by 25.4 mm/inches.

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Nice, I hope you got a good deal on these opaques Fulcrum.

BTW, are you still building horizontal or are you planning a bend with the fs mirrors?

Simul8r,

Thanks, and actually I did get a good deal... $10 for the Seerite and $5 for the Edmund Deluxe. I found these on www.craigslist.com which is similiar to ebay, but local and many times cheaper.

For now I'm going to stick with the Horzontal Build. I don't think the FS mirror is big enough for a folded design.

Cheers!

Fulcrum

$10 for the Seerite???!!! NICE!!!

GusF,

Yes, you are correct, Lumen Lab does sell the FFC extensions. I never ventured to look at the FFC link before, as I was sure my LCD wouldn't have one.


Anyway, today I purchased the 16 pin connection. Once I recieve it, I'll be anxious to fire up the stripped LCD to see if it still works with no lines. I hope this is not a bad idea.

Cheers!

Fulcrum

While waiting for the extensions, I thought you might want to review these threads. This one gives a description of FFC's vs FPC's and covers come of the cautions and concerns regarding both. This one is brainchild's how-to on extending FFC's - I found it quite helpful when I got mine and said "this connector won't help!"

Enjoy

GusF,

Yes, thanks for those scary and informative links. After I started reading them, I realized I've read them before, but WOW, I'm so much more interested this time.

Cheers!

Fulcrum

OK my FPC extender is on it's way. So I should see it Monday or Tuesday.

In the mean time, I'm looking over the Focal Calculations (Thanks Dazzzla):

The intended location for view movies is in my 8ft tall basement, but as winter is approaching and it gets cold down there, I will probably use it many times in my family room that has a 9ft ceiling, so looking at both the projection size, it appears there is only a slight movement of the triplet (25 mm difference).

See the attached pics:

Basement Focal Calc: placement will be 9 ft from the wall
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Family Room Focal Calc: placement will be 12 ft from the wall
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Right Now I'm pouring over the calculations for the Box Size as well as the locations for each component, to make sure everything fits. Wow! Right now it is upto 40 inches long.

The only question I have right now is how is the LCD is held in place without damaging the edge connectors, which are connected on two of the four sides of the panel?

If anyone can help me, that would be much appreciated! Since pictures help me the best, I would appreciate a hand full of members providing some pictures or sketches along with a description as to how they held their LCD in place.

Thanks,

Fulcurm

can you reuse the metal frame that it came with? use the backlight plastic with the area that would cover the image dremeled out. then just snap it back into place, metal frame, LCD panel, plastic backing. reuseing the metal frame will protect and support the edge connectors and give you a way to mount the LCD without damaging anything. heres a few different ways I do it.

Different LCD different mount.

backside view

Installed in Haas Style case, this case is wider than normal because it uses a BT-37 eye bulb

different LCD installed in "stock" Haas case

A little detail on the edge connector and how I support it

another view

TESCORP,

Thanks for the numerous pictures, and design variations for the LCD frame. The last two posts with the close-up shots, were espcially helpful. With your help, I can now move forward.

I see how you screwed the circuit boards to the wood frame to help keep them from moving around. I also see that it took you two extensions to hook up the FFC on the side edge connector to the bottom edge connector.

As I just received my FFC extention yesterday, I now wish I would have ordered a second one. I'm afraid if I only use one to make the connection, that I'll induce stress/tension, that later when I'm fiddling with the pj, I'll accidently damage the connection. It's probably best to error on the safe side, and have two extensions.


Cheers!

Fulcrum