Ok so I thought i was finally getting underway but damaged my first LCD. So while I am saving for the new one and since I have everything else thought i would start on building my box and set up

Ok these are my materials all bought from Carpow
10.6 and MST (well will be when i get the new one)
220mm and 330mm fresnels
320mm FL triplet with focus mech
light box reflector and condenser
still need to sort the globe and Ballast

I've done some experimenting with a cardboard box and a 150W halogen spotlight and worked out that with the set up below i can focus an image from 2.6 to a little over 4m from the projector. didn't measure the sizes of the image as i don't have a clear wall at the time to fit the image
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anyone see any problems with that set-up. the 35mm to the front fresnel will allow for a keystone adjustment.

If not i will start building my box to house this with allowance behind the light box for the ballast

Cheers

Finally I have time to continue with this project.

It's a beautiful rainy winter day here in Melbourne (actually the rain is great we really need it), too wet to do the paving i have been promising to do for my parents so spent the day in the garage and beginning the building of my projector box:)

i'm using MDF for the same reasons as others here have stated and some softwood square rods to make frames for the fresnels and lcd. total cost about $14 AUD from Bunnings

ok now for some day 1 pics

Ccad plan of projector

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Sides ready to cut
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Wet Dog sitting in my now wet chair:)
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Sides Cut and then planed and sanded to take out any slight differences
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ok and last one for today

Then cut out frames to house my fesnels and LCD
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Well that's as far as i got today, tomorrow will clear some space and set up the router to finish off my frames

Nice job so far, have you tried the optics on the focal calc in the calibration section? what breed is your dog?

Cheers, yes used the focal lengh calc first, but i tested the positions of all the fresnels with a test image and these semed to work best.

the dog: she's a french mastif. now 18mnths old and 44kg:)

Ok some picks from today, finished off my frames for the fresnels and LCD today. Tomorrow will start on a frame for it all

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Good work on the frames. Did you cut a channel in the frames to hold the fresnels? I can't tell from the photo.

I also like the staples used to join the ends together. Quick and efficient.

Hi Mate, yes i cut a 2mm deep channel in the fresnel frames. How's your project going?

I bought some metal from bunnings yesterday to make an internal frame for the whole thing. which i will have a go at today

ok decided to build an internal frame to mount everything on. The metal is from the local hardware store and is aluminium. Very easy to work with and the frame will allow easy adjustment of the Fresnels and Lcd. I also plan to make the lightbox adjustable back and forth also.

Well this is as far as i got today

one of the top/bottoms cut and bent into shape
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one side with the fresnel in place
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On the set square before i rivit it together
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It's a bit difficult to see in the pics but the top and bottom parts of the frame are L's which the fresnels and LCD will sit in. I will cut some grooves in the top of the L for adjusting and securing them in place.

Hoping to finish off the basics of the frame tomorrow if i have the time but it's the old mans birthday:) so will see how i travel.

Got a little bit done today.

The Basic frame is together. Need to rethink how i was going to mount the lightbox a little so i can fit it into the frame. but already have some ideas. Will see how i go tomorrow

basic frame with fresnels and lcd in there approximate places
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you know that that would look awesome with a smokey acrylic . That frame looks great.

I'm impressed by your metal frame, and I like how the LCD and fresnel frames fit inside, I'm assuming that when you add the actual enclosure, you will be able to control airflow over the LCD.

Another advantage to your design is you could align all your optics while it is still just that metal frame.

Very cool.

The project is on hold at the moment. We are looking at moving, so I am busy getting our house ready to sell.

Thanks, wasn't planning to paint it as it will be out of sight, but maybe:)



Exactly. Thats what inspired me to build it as it gives me a much easier way yo adjust all the optics. Especially since this is my first projector and although i have been lurking here for a few years i wanted to be able to adjust for errors in my calculations



I don't envy the move. looking at buying a house to fit the theater??

ok now i feel like i am getting somewhere. Still early days of course but it is starting to take shape

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I decided to used polished aluminium for the front and rear. originally i planned to sit the lightbox on mdf but the centre was too high but with the aluminium plate works well. hopefully next week i will have my replacement LCD and the globe and ballast until then i plan to tweak the box a little more. The next two pics show a test image using a 150w halogen spotlight and the box open as shown (lots of light leak ). the prjector is about 4 metres from the door and the image about 3.2 wide and 2m high.

I am thinking of making a tapered light box from the lightbox to the rear fresnel and then a matt blck one from the front fresnel to the lense but i'm not sure if that will cause me problems with heat.

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How are you going to cool it? do you just plan to isolate the light section? looks like it could be done easily with this open frame design. you also have many choices of "skins".

Yeah I was thinking of that, isolating the light section, and running 2 fans, one at the back for the light and one on top above the LCD and fresnels drawing air from vents in the bottom, prbably both connected to temperature sensors.

Yeah the sides will be MDF initially but am thinking of something nicer for the final product. This is the beauty of the frame, no technical adjustments required to change the exterior looks:)

Post number 20:)

Ok haven't made too much progress in the last week except made a mount for the MST and the sides, top and bottom of the case, should have the LCD, lamp and ballast by the weekend so hoping to have some working pics soon

Ok just a few recent pics
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just a pic of the locators i made to stop the fresnels and lcd from moving out of position
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the MST on the bottom of the case, i plan to roof mount it so have placed it on the bottom
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Very cool, keep up the good work!!

"the MST on the bottom of the case, i plan to roof mount it so have placed it on the bottom"


Wow, mounted on the roof?? what'll your neighbors think??!!

nice design. one question, where did you get the LCD and controller from and how much was it? thanks.

probably should have said from the ceiling, though outdoor cinema is cool, it's a little too cool down here this time of year

You can get it from johnzo, check it out in the trading post section of the forum

http://www.lumenlab.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=21496

looks like its coming along! did you make the plate the main board is sitting in? how did you do the cut outs for the inputs?

Hi, yes i made it from aluminuim plate. the cut outs took me ages i just used a drill and file to try a clean it up it looks ok from a distance but if you get up close and personal it's rather rough. For the time being i am not going to use it as i don't need all those connections for my purposes as it will really be just a monitor with all the audio run through my amp, so i am now mounting the controller inside the case and have run cables to the bacl of the box for s-video, rca video in and tv in, later i will add connections for vga and hdmi, and audio out for the tv to the amp. but for now that will suffice.

Well i actually did finish this project and am quiet happy with the outcome here's some pics of the finished prodect

Finished projector
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shot of the viewing wall, sort of a creamy colour but still getting a pretty good image

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projector mounted in it's final resting place:)

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This gives a resonable idea of the picture, it's good in the dark but you can notice it's a little dark in the corners when viewing

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So I am now in the process of a second build basically the same layout but with some improvements. in the last build i had planned to have all the MST inputs accessible but had run out of time so mounted the MST inside the case and had a standard video cable from my amp into the projector. i now have a HDMI DVD player so decided it's time to connect it up properly and improve the projector while i'm at it. so the blog is alive again

Cheers James

Excellent build!
Have you painted your enclosure?
I like your internal "skeleton" and if I decide to build another, I'll be making an aluminum internal frame.

Thanks Quasi, but compared to your latest effort i'm a hack mate, i had read through your plog last night as I want to do a new build which in my head is very similar to the outside of yours, great minds, i have been toying with the idea of dissing the complete aluminium frame reducing it to sections. Any way have bought some new mdf and aluminium and will get out to the shed and start pondering projection as i know it.

no never painted it, call me weird but like the unfinished mdf.

Ok so here are some pics of the new build, was working well until the MST died so am waiting for a new one from carpow

Completed Unit
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Insides from the top
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and finally a pic of my new improved lense and lcd fine adjustment
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this time as can be seen in the first pic i have vents on the side for cooling but also for easy access so i can make final adjustments of the lenses and fresnel lense when it is all in place

Couple of other improvements i am planning to make
1. LCD still has antigare layer so i will remove
2. have just got over ebay a Lubic DIY pc box which has some great modular aluminium frame components. and not easy to find anymore. seriously thinking about a 3rd build my girl just thinks i am crazy.

3. maybe a higher wattage light 250w or better though will see the results without the antiglare layer first though

ok the antiglare layer was to dificult to remove so that's off the list unless i consider replacing the front polarizer

but the new projector is complete and running now with HDMI inputs

2 questions which have probably been answered else
1. am finding the picture quite pixelly especially when i have the laptop plugged in even at the native resolution of 1280x763 you can't read the text and for some images it's very grainy. close ups seem fine.
2. does a screen make a huge difference, i am at the moment projecting onto a light oranage wall and wondering if it's worth buying a cheap screen.

anyway some pics of the final build mounted and ready to go
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now for some pics of the image

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1. Native resolution of the panel is 1280*768

2. Yes. Even painting a section of the wall with white paint or any of the special paint mixtures used by other members will help with brightness, contrast and color. If you can get a high gain screen, it would be better. Still, congratulations on your work. Looks very good.

You must not be running the Lcd at it's actual native resolution if text is blurry.

Try some different resolutions.

Thanks, have read the 10.6 thread and it seams the problems i was experiencing was to do with upscaling when using HDMI and even when i adjust the resolution of the screen from the laptop i can't get it to display properly so will try t get my hands on a vga cord and see if that helps

On a brighter note when playing from my dvd player using hdmi i can control the resolution of the signal it outputs via the HDMI from 1080p right down to 576p (i think 576 well it's 500 something) i have found that with this set up i get the clearest digital image at 576p and when playing movies it is still a vast improvement over standard vga or rgb that i have tried. with about a 100" image. Needless to say i am happy with the results and the new build i a great improvement over the original.

Ok so what's next

My girlfriend and i will probably be moving out of here soon and i anticipate that in the new place i will not be able to hang my lovely creation from the ceiling. so was thinking that i will build a coffee table projector and might as well go full HD.

Here's the plan
Coffee table projector + HD media centre
15.4 WXGA 1900x1080 with pixel works controller from johnzo for the projector semi folded design (any suggestions for the best combos of light fresnels and lenses?) for light i was thinking 400W lumen lab
ATX HDMI motherboard
Twin HDTV tuners
and a second screen mounted in the top of the table for music browsing and also for MAME like the old table top machines
Basically a neat all in one media centre

any way just dreaming for the moment there are a few more pressing matters to consider but want to plan it out and start to gather the components as opportunities arise

Cheers to all here, there is something so satisfying about the build, the rethinking and evolution of a DIY and then seeing the final product but without this forum i never would have thought of it