CMV CT-520D LCD (500:1 CR, 16ms)..$206.55 (with tax and shipping)..Have it!
Lumenlab S-15 Lens Kit......................$ 69.71 (w/shipping)...................On order
120V S400DD Ultimate Light Kit..........$175.97 (w/shipping)...................On order
120mm Case Fan (2+hardware)..........$ 33.20 (CompUSA)....................Have it!
Reflector (IKEA Soup Ladle)................$ 5.40 (IKEA).............................Have it!
Lexan Heat Shield...............................$ 5.16 (Home Depot).................Have it!
Glass Door Hinges (for keystone)........$ 14.06 (Lowes).........................Have it!
Fuses and Fuse Holder........................$ 4.18 (Radio Shack).................Have it!
10 amp SPST Switch (2).....................$ 8.02 (Lowes)..........................Have it!
12V Power Supply for Fans.................$ 9.06 (expected cost)................Not yet purchased
Various other electrical......................$ 9.59 (Lowes)...........................Have it!
4x8x3/4" MDF (Enclosure)..................$ 25.00 (approx).........................Have it!
Various other Wood...........................$ 3.66 (Lowes)...........................Have it!
Enclosure hardware...........................$ 17.28 (Lowes)..........................Have it!
Weather Stripping..............................$ 2.54 (Lowes)...........................Have it!
Filter material....................................$ 3.20 (Lowes)..........................Have it!
Aluminum flashing.............................$ 11.29 (Lowes)..........................Have it!
Various Wood Screws........................$ 9.83 (approx)..........................Have it!
Elmers Wood Filler (filling holes).........$ 3.19 (Lowes)...........................Have it!
Flat black spray paint.(inside).............$ 4.57 (Lowes)...........................Have it!
Exterior paint....................................$ 12.37 (Lowes)..........................Have it!
TOTAL COST.....................................$619.60 (approx) (updated 2/18/05)

Have most everything! Still need a 120V to 12V transformer for the fans. The Lumenlab gear (lenses/lighting) are on order.

I did not include any tool costs so others can compare to their projects. With tool costs I will be at about $705 since I have needed a few things.

I'll update this post as new items are purchased. Progress on the projector is in following posts.

Its funny looking at that list everything seems to be about right but I would have never guessed that it would add up to $603. I was happy to see the list and have everything itemized, but unhappy when I realized that I will have everything plus a N6 ($120) so my project is going to be $700+ and I still need to buy video cables and install a electrical outlet and better sound system (5.1) and, and and. The fun never ends.

I have noticed that the projects tend to get a little pricey at times. But the way I have it figured is that 700.00 10ft big screen that you can work on and fix yourself. hmmm bulb blowed? balast down? fan not working? lcd quit (best one there, time to upgrade to a better monitor-wooot) It your puppy and you'll know how to fix it. CS
ps.I'm going to spring for the Pro lens so my lcd update can go up to 20 inches.

Here is a photo of the projector box coming together. It is coming out pretty well considering all of the cuts were made with a jigsaw and some very careful measuring There are a few gaps but those imperfections will be taken care of with some wood filler.

Box dimensions (external, approximate): 33" long x 16 1/8" wide x 12 3/4" tall.

The box has an internal length of 28 1/2". I've left a bit of an "outside of the box" area for the ballast and possibly the electrical wiring. I want to keep as much of the electrical outside of the light box as possible.

The hole in the front is 7" diameter. I am still working on the focus box.

...and here is a photo of the box with wood filler applied. A good sanding will follow after it all dries. Probably will need to do a second pass on the filler and final sanding.

Looking good pyro

I'm bad with filler. I always get too anxious to get it done and end up sanding it while it's still wet.

Pulsareus,

Thanks. I got a little anxious also but I was pretty gentle with the sanding around the areas that weren't dry yet, especially the screw holes. I'll be going over those areas again tonight. Hopefully get the focus box done also.

Got the CMV CT-520D in today. A little disappointed. I have one stuck pixel (blue) about halfway down from the top and a quarter of the screen from the left. Right in the middle of a movie!

Anyone have any suggestions for a stuck pixel? IcuePC has a 3 dead pixel return policy.

Other than the stuck pixel, it is an excellent monitor. The factory settings are 100% brightness and 50% contrast. This makes movies pretty grainy. I adjusted the brightness and contrast down using monitor calibration software and now it looks pretty good. With my eyes I can't detect any ghosting in action scenes.

I got one of this monitor and it has one stuck pixel. I don't know if it is visible when projecting picture to the screen.

I am going to give the stuck pixel the massage trick and see if I can fix it. Otherwise I guess I'll just have to live with it.

I've read a few different websites regarding massaging pixels and have see different techniques:

1. Rub down from 1/4" above to 1/4" below, then left to right.

2. Rub in circles around the pixel.

Has anyone had any success with fixing stuck pixels here on the Lumenlab forum? If so, let me know how you did it.

The pixel massage trick hasn't worked yet. I am going to go ahead with using the monitor however.

I'll be making some major progress (I hope) this weekend on the projector, so look back for updates. I'll also post some drawing of plans I've drawn up. My major deviations from the original Lumenlab plans are bottom cooling, two fans instead of one, and I'll be placing the ballast (electronic) outside of the light box area.

I have read that massage has worked. Someone also wrote they rubbed around the screen randomly and suddenly in the sweet spot it came ( ) - unstuck!

I've made a little progress tonight. The fan holes are cut an mounting holes drilled. The fans will be mounted on the outside of the case to give plenty of room inside the box for the reflector and lamp fixture.

The reflector is a stainless soup ladle I picked up at IKEA for $5.40 (w/tax). I just bent the handle around and have used the hole/slot to mount to the box. The slotted hole in the handle is large enough to allow for adjustment of the reflector up/down/left/right.

Good Idea! Maybe i'll do that with my ladle.

Just a thought.....You might check the position of the reflector when the box is hot. That long handle's bends might change as the box heats up and returns to its original place when it cools back down.

Ok, made a bit of progress this weekend. Here is a shot of some of the flashing installed. The piece behind the reflector is just an idea at the moment. I will probably have to redesign that part a little to fit the electrical wiring behind it.

Here is a photo of the internal supports for the lexan, fresnel lenses, and lcd panel. This part took quite a bit of time to measure out and install...but it's done! You can barely see the air intake at the bottom of the photo. Cool air will come in from the bottom of the projector.

This is a photo of the box, lid, and focus box front, all primed and ready to go. You can see the bottom of the box and the air intake.

Finally photo for the day...the box is painted glossy silver. Starting to look a lot better than the box with just wood filler .

Looking good, hurry up and get the stuff inside so we can see how it looks on the screen.

Thanks pagercam.

I have the remaining parts (Light kit, Lens kit) on order. The new shipment is not expected until tomorrow (2/22) so at the best it will be to me before the weekend to finish it up. So, I am keeping my fingers crossed. Hopefully it won't be more than 1.5 to 2 weeks before I finish up and have a projection to show everyone.

In the meantime, I am working on the wiring, focusing arrangement, and keystone adjustment. I'll be posting some more photos tonight...if I make it home from work at a decent hour considering the rotten weather (raining cats and dogs here in SoCal).

QUESTION:
Does anyone have the exact dimension of the barrel outer diameter on the standard projection lens? I can at least get the hole cut on my focus box while I wait to get the lens.

Where abouts in SoCal, I'm in South OC

I'm santa barbara where are you?

I'm up in the High Desert currently, work in Rancho Cucamonga.

A little more progress tonight. I did a little bit of the electrical work in the back of the box. I put in the fans and an electrical outlet which will power the fans and lcd. Still need to wire everything up.

...and here is a photo of the back of the box showing the fans, switches and power cord. I intend to install the electric ballast in the area to the lower left in the photo.

...and one final photo for tonight. This is a photo of the focusing arrangement. At this point, I am not too happy with it as there is too much twisting movement. I am going to rethink this setup and maybe come up with something different.

I got a little frustrated with the focusing arrangement last night (see previous post). I've thought about it and am just going to turn the bottom brackets up so the wheels run on the sides of the box and hopefully this will keep the focusing plate from twisting side-to-side.

If that doesn't work out well, then I will go back to square one. Anyone have any suggestions?

Ok, I've reworked the focusing mechanism, it is much better now. No more twisting side-to-side. I changed the top brackets so that the wheels run against the wood rail and keep it from twisting. The bottom brackets have been moved up to ride on top of the rails. A lot smoother operation and much more accurate.

Wow, great focus mechanism!

Yeah, i might just have to steal that one for mine when i start it soon. Great work man.

Thanks vroom!

It still needs a little bit of tweaking and it needs a little more friction to stay in place when the projector is tilted up (or down). I think some weather stripping around the edges will help with the friction and help seal any light leaks also.

The wheels I bought were 3/4". The brackets were a little wider (7/8"). If the wheels were a little larger in diameter, greater than the width of the brackets, I think you could easily omit the wood rails and notches in the focus plate. The bottom brackets would be all the way at the bottom so the wheels run on the bottom of the box. The top brackets would run against the sides of the box.

Well, I guess you always thing of better ways to do things after they are already done .

A little progress on the electrical wiring. The main power (which is hard to see) comes in below and between the two power switches. The first switch (on the right in the photo) powers the electrical outlet. The outlet provides power for the fans and LCD power block (not shown). The second switch (on the left) will power the ballast/lamp.

The two 120mm fans work well and are pretty quiet. The fan specs say they turn at 1800 rpm and each pull 60cfm.

BTW, I learned tonight that Lumenlab has shipped my light kit and lense kit!! Very cool!

Should have the projector up and running shortly after the shipment arrives. I can finish off a few other things this weekend and should have a first projection to show everyone by mid-week.

Finished cutting the hole for the projection lens and installed the hardware for the focus adjustment and for the lid. Here is a photo from the front.

...and here is a photo from the side. I've tilted the box up to it's approximate operating position.

Wow your box looks really nice

Yeah, very slick.

Richard

Thanks for the compliments on my projector Gemini and rpearsey. It looks pretty good now, will look 10 times better when it is actually projecting something up on the wall

Been working Saturday morning on the keystone arrangement. Here is a photo.

I've just used a couple of wood blocks with a slot (cut all the way through) and a hole drilled partially through to hold the pivot points. The fresenel (being represented by a piece of cardboard) is held by glass door pivot hinges on either side. In the photo, I have it adjusted for a 15 degree tilt. I can adjust the entire arragement back towards the lcd panel when I don't need keystone adjustment but want to keep the fresnel-to-lcd distance at the recommended value. Right now I just intend to use gravity to adjust the fresnel.

I received my light kit and lens kits last night! Thanks everyone at Lumenlab!

I proceeded to install the mogul base and lamp and got all of it aligned. Also worked on installing the triplet.

Things left to do: install the ballast and finish up the wiring, finish installing the triplet lens, strip and install the lcd panel and electronics, install the aluminum flashing in the light chamber, and install the fresnel lenses and get the keystone arrangement working.

Really not that much left to do.

Sorry, no pictures right now since I have been having computer problems. Once that is solved, should be able to finish up the projector quickly. Hoping for a working projector by the weekend.

ur silver thing caught my eyes. good job !

Well, It's been a few days since my last post. Things have been going slow due to computer problems that I had to get fixed.

It seems that I got a bad ballast but Brain is fixing me up so I should have a new one in the next few days.

I've proceeded to finish some other parts of my projector.

1) Fresnels installed with auto-keystone (gravity) adjustment.
2) LCD stripped (CMV CT-520D). Went smooth thanks to forkev's guide (Here).
3) LCD panel installed. Need to tweak this a little to get the electronics to fit better.

Left to do:

1) Install new ballast and lamp.
2) Install flashing.
3) Setup and project!!

Actually, I couldn't wait so I set things up to project using a 100W (1690 lumens) light bulb in a utility light fixture. Well, it projects and image! It was dim (duh!) but works. Very cool! Can't wait to finish up with the real lamp.

Finally, here is a picture of the guts of the projector:

Very nice work Pyrometman. I hope that you get the ballast soon. I am not sure based on the pic below, but did you ground all the panel boards? It would be too bad to waste all that nice work

Really like the focus mechanism. This idea might become part of my projector.

Thanks for the compliment neda.

I have not grounded anything. As far as I know it isn't necessary to "common" the boards together with this lcd panel. I've seen this being debated on the forum and have been convinced that it's not needed.

matropolis,

Thanks. The focus mechanism works pretty good. I think it could be simplified however. A few posts back I mentioned eliminating the wood rails by using wheels that are wider than the metal brackets so the bottom wheels can run on the base of the box and the upper wheels can run on the side of the box.

My brackets were 7/8" wide and wheels are 3/4" dia. If you get 1" (or larger) wheels then the wood rails won't be necessary.

Got my new ballast in. It started up perfectly within a few seconds. Thanks Brain!

Here is a shot of the lamp test.

...and here is one of the first screen shots:

Darla from Finding Nemo.

I've made no adjustments at this point...only what I had done setting up the projector to project on a white wall.

...and another. This time it's Gill and the starfish from Finding Nemo.

I've got a few light leak issues and you can see the glass door hinges at the edge of the projection.

...and one final one for tonight, the menu from Star Wars Episode V.

...as a follow up to the screen shots I posted last night, the screen is 80" wide which translates to 100" diagonal (4:3). The projector is tilted up >10°. I still have to make some adjustments to improve the image.

1) Parts of the image, mostly in the corners, are slightly out of focus.
2) Need to adjust the lamp and reflector positions to try and improve brightness.
3) Need to mask off light leaks. I can see a dim image of the FFC's and bright spots in 2 of the corners.
4) Need to adjust the glass door hinges so they aren't showing in the projection.
5) Next project...a blackout cloth screen instead of a dingy white wall!

Anyways, I will take a few more screen shots tonight and get them posted.