Guess I should start my plog... I have been working for a bit and things are o.k. now, got off to kind of a rough start as some of you may know. Trashed my first LCD as documented here but it's all good. I ordered a 15.4" Samsung WUXGA LCD from ebay and I'm off an running again. Let's start with the basics, here my build:

17" Widescreen Acer AL1716Wab 1440x900 15.4" Samsung LTN154U1-L01 1920x1200 - ebay
22" fl Beseler - ebay
MST Controller - Not ordered
Lexan UV Protectant and Heat Shield - Lowes
650mm Pro Fresnel - LL Out of stock
220mm Pro Fresnel - LL Out of stock
Pro Reflector - LL Out of stock
400W eBallast - LL
T15 Mogul - LL
400W T15 6.5k lamp - LL First one arrived cracked
Click to view attachment

I have my box built, started with some 1"x8"x8' pine. I should state that I originally built this box with the intention of using the 17" monitor in it. I also wanted it big enough so that I could go with a larger monitor if I needed. So this thing is a massive monster, approx 40"L x 26"W X 20"H. This will be mounted inside... er... behind the walls so I am not too worried about size. When I finish the movie room in the basement, the back wall will be outset from the foundation wall to conceal some utilities and the projector. I am going to mount this projector high, so I had an issue with being able to open it from the top. I decided to go another route and make one of the sides hinged. I used cabinet latches to hold the side shut, and used foam weather stripping around the whole door to seal it perfectly so no light leaks out.

I currently just have to build some frames for the LCD, Fres, and heat shield and then put everything together. Oh, and finish my weird (you'll see) light adjustment mechanism, and my triplet focusing mechanism.

Pictures to come...

Rough starts very often end in smooth finishes...

We'll be watching!

Wow, that was bad with the lamp being cracked. I'm sure the folks in shipping will take care of you though.

Well, you've got a wait ahead of you for other parts anyway, so it's not going to hold up the whole project. Keep on truckin' and you'll be enjoying high-definition goodness soon enough.

Yeah, I have been emailing with Bennie from LL Support and they are going to ship a replacement. I am not too worried about it since I do have a wait as you say. Unfortunately because I went the the 22" Beseler the only fres I can find with a focal length longer than the Beseler is the LL Pro fres, which is out of stock.

I am really happy with the WUXGA replacement LCD though and I am kinda glad I killed my first one now. The WUXGA looks awesome, although I don't have a controller yet. I do still have the power supply from the 17" monitor which I used to power the backlight, tonight I am going to use nedflan's realtec controller to check for dead pixels.

So, here's a few pics of my box and my light adjustment mechanism. The box is sitting on it's side. So the "door" side looks like the top, but it is actually the left side as you look at the projector from the front.

Hinged side:
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Latch side:
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Weather stripping used to seal the side door:
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Side flipped up:
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My light adjustment mechanism (yes that IS just a piece of plate steel):
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Heres my T15 socket (what's that screwed to the bottom?... Yes, it's a hard drive magnet):
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Mogul on the steel:
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Side to side and forward adjustment:
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What you see above is a small plate with 2 hard drive magnets, which are some of the strongest magnets you will find, epoxied to a piece of 16 gauge steel plate. The bottom plate will be screwed down and the plate on top of it can slide side to side and forward and backward. I am going to weld the larger plate (holding the mogul) upright to the top plate (the one that slides). I can then slide the whole assembly forward/backward and side/side. The mogul can go up/down and forward/backward which should give me plenty of room to adjust for correct center of the lamp arc. The reflector, when I get it, will be affixed to another magnet which will slide on another thin piece of the steel protruding perpendicular to the moguls plate. The magnets are incredibly strong and should hold the light exactly where it is placed.

FYI hard drive magnets are extremely strong, they can break your finger if you get it sandwiched between them. Also, SCSI hard drives seem to have the strongest magnets. But try not to get them stuck together as you may not be able to get them apart. I had 2 large SCSI drive magnets, they got stuck together and nothing would bring them apart. Twisting them and sliding them did not work, the top magnet finally broke apart from all my efforts. Even then it was difficult to get the pieces off.

What a brilliant idea!
I don't think I've ever seen that done before.
Looking good!

Thanks. I'll let everyone know how well it works. Still have to weld the upright plate to the base plate. Work has been a little crazy but I hope to get some time to work on it in the next few weeks.

Very cool idea regarding the magnets. I have a few dead hard drives as well and this looks like a cool idea to borrow. Thanks

Victor

FYI - This is a good site for rare earth magnets if you don't have some dead harddrives (I have stripped about 20, I collect the platters too and I am going to make a mirror with them ). And yes, as the site warns you as well, rare earth magnets are about the strongest permanent magnets on earth and they are dangerously strong.

Heres some wiki on the topic.

I still haven't welded my "upright" mogul plate to the base plate yet, but I have cut some smaller pieces that will protrude perpendicular to the mogul plate and hold the reflector. I will post more pics when I get the whole assembly together.

Interessting idea, to use magnets to do that.
-i'll be watching your plog

of course, i was just considering using magnets for lens shift... but why stop there? magnets for everybody... and i'm sure i have some dead harddrives somewhere (they may be dead because i opened them up... potentially to make a clock)

definitely keeping track of this to see how it works out

So... Overall my projector has stalled while waiting for the fesnels from LL to get in stock. No, I cannot use any other fresnels. I am using a 22" Beseller so I need to the 650mm fres.

Anyway, I finally got the plates welded together for my light assembly. It worked pretty well. Here are some pics.

Here are the pieces separated.
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Here it is all together.
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In the pic above, the silver plate you see has counter sunken holes for the screw heads and will be screwed to the bottom of the pj. The black upright plate attaches via magnet(of course ) to it and can move forward and back, side/side. Everything on the assembly is fully adjustable but holds very strong when placed where it should be. The reflector (also out of stock) will be attached to the long thin black plate that runs behind the bulb. I am also going to attach a distribution block to the bottom of the upright plate to connect all the wires. The whole plate assembly will be grounded, and everything is painted black to hopefully stop it from heating up too much.

your pretty proud of your wife's idea aren't you??

?? My wife stil does not even know what it is. Nor that hard drives even had magnets inside. Don't be salty because my idea is better than yours, theres no shame in having a inferior projector to mine. You can still come over and watch my pj when it's done.

Where are you watching the super bowl at on Sunday??

Ha Ha, I had been out of this forum for a while since my PJ is on hold for fresnels anyway. That post must have been the reason you were SO adamant about watching it at your house. And where did we actually watch it... And on who's beautiful 50" plasma was the awesome HD displayed on???

DO NOT EVER DO BUSINESS WITH NEXFAN.COM.

I don't know how this did not come up in my research, but they are ripping people off!
http://www.resellerratings.com/seller2006-p2-s1-d1.html

Over a month after they charged my CC and still no fans. No replies to 4 emails either, the latest having threatened to report them to BBB and CC comp. From the above link I can see why they are not worried, they already have hundreds of people reporting them. I am only out $28, I am going to dispute the charge with the CC company but at least I did not get as screwed as some people. Stay away.

On another note, I did get my fresnels and will be putting most of my projector together. Still waiting to get the controller but then that should be all the parts. I have been out for awhile, you know, work and what not. I will get this thing done though... One day.

patiently waiting................
















are you done yet?

I really like your idea of using the drive magnets. That method could probably work elsewhere also. Nice!

I borrowed your magnet idea, it worked very nicely. Only problem is the magnets are too strong! It makes fine adjustments tricky.

http://s195.photobucket.com/albums/z270/Dr...rrent=00011.jpg

http://s195.photobucket.com/albums/z270/Dr...rrent=00027.jpg

I need to flip my metal sheet over, the black paint makes it even harder to reposition