Figure I will get started here...

I was looking around at the commercial projectors but had a bad feeling about paying 500-600CDN for replacement bulbs. Actually I wasn't going to buy one with a bulb that expensive... Not that Im a cheap-ass, but it just doesn't make sense to pay that much for a bulb... Seems crazy to me.

I ran a website called dssunderground.com, but have since renamed it to www.dumbasspeople.com... where most of them are actually the opposite (smart asses?)... Weird, but ya, anyways...

So someone on the site mentioned this website, and I am SO GLAD they did. This project looks awesome, and I am right into this kind of thing. (I have completely re-case modded my xbox etc etc)

I am building an actual theater in the basement of the house I am moving into next month, and this projector is going to be perfect for it. I have been reading this site non-stop since i first logged in and paid for the plans. I can't seem to pry myself away!

Here's what I have so far:

- LL Lense Kit - Shipping to me on tomorrow
- LL Light Kit (Minus backordered ballast) - Being shipped Tomorrow
- 2 LL Fans and 12V adapter -Shipping tomorrow
- LL Wireing Kit -Yup, shipping tomorrow
- BenQ fp557 LCD Monitor -Shipped today. eta a couple days


As for a box, I really want to go the haas man route... I have emailed him already and left PM but Im not sure he is still around much? I am VERY impressed by his CNC woodworking machine there, and I would love to pay him to make up a kick ass case like that for me. Failing that, I will have to wing it myself with my crappy tools, but as I have seen from a couple others here, it can be done without a CNC.

Im going to be hanging it from the ceiling, and using an HTPC to run it. Going to be running (probably) a chaintech optical output sound card to run to my DTS/THX receiver...

Still thinking about what vid card to use though.

I have a pretty decent digital camera, so I will take some pics along the way.

Like i said, I have bee reading like a madman here for the past few days, and really like all the idea's here I have seen. You guys also seem very cool to ask/share stuff with... Nice community...

CAN'T WAIT to see that big picture on MY wall! (grin)

Welcome to the lumenlab pj junkie club.
I am so hooked too. Can't help it. Gotta have a lumenlab fix everyday.
I can't wait to get all my stuff in and get my pj up and running. I'm on hold for now but in June watch out! I'm slowly adding to my collection and still looking.Hopefully Brain will get the new pro lens kit by then. My Dell 1702fp is waiting impatiently. lol

Holy crap, it's DeeJay. I remember talking to on IRC years ago and I've spent way too much time on your site over the years in my Satellite testing days. Good to see you! Another Canadian on board.

Yes, a lot of people have spent a lot of hours on satellite stuff... (grin)

The satellite days are over pretty much now, but most of the old crowd still hangs at the new www.dumbasspeople.com website... They are all good people...

Me being the tech gadget geek i am, i just cant say no to this project. LCD should be here any day (tomorrow?) and my lenses etc where just shipped today.. (But with an incomplete address... hope they can straighten that out)

Cyber, you have your PJ made yet?

Haven't started my enclosure yet as I am debating about just getting a box from Haas. Found a local fabric store that can get blackout cloth in 108" width so maybe I might start my screen.

Nice.... I'm not into my new house until apr 15th, so I cant really do anything yet...

The benQ came in today though.. woo hoo! I'll be setting it up and testing it out tonight.

Testing out the BenQ tonight...

Its Good Friday tomorrow, so I guess no mail tomorrow, thus no LL stuff in my mailbox...

Next week i hope for more goodies in the mailbox!

Color and pixels all look good on the lcd though... nice...

Well, the parts keep trickling in...

Got my chaintech optical output 7.1 soundcard from tigerdirect.ca today. (Like 30 bucks!)

Went to see the house Im moving into next month and checked out the basement area I am going to build the theater in... the screen area is about 9 foot wide by 7 foot tall or so... Should be decent. Going to be a cosy area there... Should work out good.

April is going to be a very exciting month around here.

After seeing Haas's box arrive at some of the other guys places here, its even MORE to look forward to!

Deej

Still no sight of the LumenLens Shipment.... Hope it gets here ok...

Just paid haas for the enclosure... Woo hoo! 7-10 days till it arrives... give or take...

And yes, shipping from FL to BC Canada is not cheap, but from the way this enclosure looks, it will be worth every penny...

Yeah BC!

haha... yeah shipping's always going to be a hassal whenever something needs to get shipped. I dunno if its like that for all of Canada, or just us people in BC.

I'm excited to see how things go with your Haas PJ. I'm really geared toward getting one of his enclosures too. How much did it cost you including shipping?

Good luck, i'll be watching this plog..

Aijuswannasing

I think my LL shipment is here... Not sure if its the backordered ballast, or all the rest of it, but i got a postal note today to go pick it up tomorrow... We'll see!

Getting stuff in the mail is like Christmas! Love it...

Got all the stuff unpacked! Now I just gotta put it all together!

Good luck on your PJ, seems that you're off to a good start.

How much did the Haas enclosure cost, and what was the total including shipping?

Well, lets just say he lives in Flordia, and i live in BC Canada... Shipping was expensive... His work is priceless too... (grin)

It was big bucks for what it is, but I personally feel it was worth it to me since i couldnt possibly make a better box myself, and I wanted to be sure it was wife approved... (grin again)

I forgot to also include the little IKEA reflectors I got.. Who knows where they are now after our move a couple weeks ago! haha

I have a long weekend this weekend.. .maybe i can find more time to play around with it, but my honey doo list is still a little bit long.. hahah

Deej

hey deejay,

just wondering, when you ordered your LL stuff, did you go for the parcel post or EMS shipping? I just want to know if there really is s a big difference in delivery time and if the insurance thing is worth the extra 9 bucks.

thanks,
Aijuswannasing

the last time i read your plog was when i was on spring break. i hope all goes well for you though. have fun.

Just had it sent regular post... I wasnt in a hurry, but it took about a week or so... No big deal

Think i might have more time to get into this today... So much stuff, what should I start with i wonder? haha

Deej

Hi Deejay
I too Em from BC, Canada way Up north in Prince Rupert and Like you I want the Haas's box very sweet looking... what are you going to use for the optics the ones from Lumenlabs or others. cant wait to see some pics

Deej,

So how are you doing?


Need any hints who this is?

Deejay,

Check out my new plog to help you decide if you want to try making the case yourself:

http://www.lumenlab.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=6520&hl=

Already got the case...







Anyways, I have broken it all down, and am going out today to get some nice dark stain, and some black paint.

After seeing/reading some of the problems one or two others here have had with the fans like i got, Im thinking about switching the fans.

First step is getting the wood ready, and then its time to get the stuff in the box!

I was able to get out and stain/paint the case today. Looks real nice!







I dont get holidays for another week, so its still pretty slow going...

Well it's about time you did something with yours! :-)

Insert pr0n thread here

Looking pretty good!
I'm trying to get a Haas box still...Maybe if I change my nick to cornaball and start crying I'll get one? LOL



keep up da good work.

Some more pics of the painting etc :











Well, ive got a lot done.. Been wrking on this a bit today.

Sripped the benq dow, and am now working on the lens sled. I hit a snag though. The two side pieces are just a hair too narrow, so im going to have to take just a bit off th insides of the lens holders.

The way haas has the lcd mount figured is cool. You simply epoxy the lcd to these thin slats of wood and then slide the wood into the sled, but my lcd is just a bit wider than the gap...

I just bought a router today so I can cut a channel into the side of the inside to run the wires from the front to the back. Also to route the holes on the back for the on\off switch, and a square for a 92MM tornado fan i got... Not using the fans I got from LL as there has been quite a bit posted here about problems with them in this kind of case. (Maybe LL should look at selling traditional 92 or 120 fans? Wondering about that)

I took a bunch of pics, but i gotta go bath the kiddo now, so I will post em later.

Got the back of the lcd open...







So the lcd is now ready for action in the PJ...

Gotta say the tut's in the forum here really helped me get the lcd apart. Only took about 20 min! (Wish i had the link here right now, but check out the reference section...)

you may have seen this before, but here is the PJ lense fitting into the focus mech...

I have actually painted these black since these pics. BTW, i used the same flat black stove paint i used on the alum flashing, and the paint seems to stick to the pvc just fine, no problem.

The LCD/Lense sled...

In the front, the empty slots is where the lcd needs to go.

Haas made the sled designed so you actually dont put the actual LCD in the slots. He includes some thin wood slats that go into the gaps.

You then glue/epoxy the lcd to the wood slats. Then when you have the wood slats epoxy'd to the lcd, you can slide the lcd/wood into the slots, allowing removal whenever needed.

I have run into a very small problem here. I guess the lcd Haas uses will fit in the space, but the Benq I have is just a hair too wide to fit. The lcd doesnt actually go in the slots remember... So it will sit just outside the slots epoxyed to the wood that goes in the slots.



Try to follow this: (grin)

Ok, on the right piece... The left most gap... Just to the left of the gap, between the gap and the edge of the wood.... The wood is too thick there, from bottom to top. With this piece and the other one both being just a little to thick, the lcd wont fit... Just barely. So i will need to actually plane it down just a hair on each one.

Once i do this, the lcd should fit in there nice.

I will show this being done as I do it, to better explain it, if anyone doest quite understand Hard to explain in pics and on the forum...

About the only thing I am a but leary of is the wiring.

I went to the hardware store the other day, and they dont carry any of the electrical blocks i have seen here. Crappy wire selection too. I will have to go to the electrical supply shop here.

What kind of wire should i get? Electrical isnt really my thing, so the types of wires needed for the AC to ballast, and ballast to bulb, as well as the wires needed to the snap etc... I've done 12v before, and i dont think i will have probs with that...

Im thinking about getting a electrician friend to come for a beer or two...

Ok more pics!

Like i said, I had to thin out the wood a bit on the sides of the lense sled... My lcd was just a bit to wide to fit in between... In the pic below, you can see the middle part I have slimmed out...



Below, a better shot of the depth difference now...



Now a side view...



I did both sides the same.

While i had the router out I decided its a good time to now also make the channel on the side of the case to run the wires from front to back... Measured:



But then once cut, I was a little off... Oh well, its inside the case anyways!

I then put the sled back together, and put the wood slats into the sled for the lcd again.

I placed the lcd on the wood slats, and eye'ed it to even with the lense/lexan carriers in behind it. As centered as possible right in the middle.

Then I marked on the top and bottom where the lcd ends and at the same time, the dots also represent the space from the wood side, to where the lcd actually goes from glass to lcd panel. Thus the space I have to glue the wood to the glass of the lcd panel.



I then sawed the extra wood off each piece. The lines you see mark where the side of the sled comes out to. From there to the inside edge is area to glue to the glass of the lcd.

I then placed the slats in the slots of the sled, and then laid a thin strip of GOOP (awesome wood-glass glue) on each side... Then placed the lcd on top, and let it sit all night and the next day.



Here is a shot I just took, with the wood firmly glued to the glass edges of the lcd panel. I might have gone just over the last pixel on the left side. I dont think it will make much difference in the end though.



This way of mounting the lcd was really easy and pretty painless... Thanks to Haas again for another great idea.

Now I think i am going to have to finally get into the wiring, and electrical parts. Been putting them off a bit.

I got my new 92mm tornado fan (119cfm) today as well. I saw on scubasteve's plog a really great way to mount the bulb and reflector so its highly adjustable. Im going to have to do that too!

Wow look at those fantastic mortgage rates!!!

Seriously, this is nice work it looks like this will be a really nice PJ and the step by step plog is nicely done.

Good work ....

I got a little hurried on my LCD mounting ...... I guess my Samsung weighs a little more or whatever, so I couldnt get good enough support by just siliconing it to those little wooden inserts .... so instead I siliconed it to the wooden inserts and the sides of the Sled all in one bundle .... Bad thing is that its a pain to remove, good thing is that I could thow the sled into the air and the LCD would stay perfectly attached (even if it hit the ground)

Im thinking that when I want to clean the fresnels that I dont want to bother with removing the entire sled, unhooking the LCD ECT.

Im thinking about cutting notches in the top of the sled where the dowels are for the rear fresnel and Lexan holders. So that I can just lift the dowell out and slide the fresnel/lexan out from the top of the sled this should allow for much easier cleaning ....

Ya i was a bit leary of using silicon for that. I wasnt sure it was going to hold very well, and it takes DAYS for it to set right.

This goop stuff i got is a lot like that clear model glue... But i read on the package it works awesome with wood and glass, and it cured in just a couple hours. I left it for about 24 hours before moving it. Its pretty solid.

You now have me thinking about the fresnel and lexan panels too!

I do love that idea about the bulb and reflector adjustment rails scuba... I gotta go find some parts now

I just moved my pics to another server, so if you see broken links to pics, give it a day or so for dns...

I have edited all of the links so they work though, so if you dont see the pics yet, you will soon.

Well, I have suffered a huge and dissapointing setback.

I have mounted my monitor circut boards into the metal braket it came with, after trimming most of the extra metal on it not needed...

For the hell of it, I plugged it into the lcd in the sled, to see if i got a good pic still, and wouldnt ya know it, one FCC has come loose on the end... So i have about a one inch strip on the lcd panel with no picture! ARGH!

So now i am wondering what Im going to do. Guess i will start with looking for a replacement panel, but i dont know if that will be possible. Crap!

I guess I can continue on with the case though until i get the lcd thing figured out.

Wish there was some way to re-attach the fcc to the panel....

Argh!!!

See the inch or so on the right side? That sucks!

But at least I got some wood cutting done today....

I'm going to get a nice foam/filter fan cover for the outside so you wont see the fan etc...

Well, im getting a little discouraged here...

I have even been eyeing some of the store bought projectors lately. Seems silly with all the time and money I have put into this thing so far... But whatever...

Was checkingo out this benq one...
http://www.benq.ca/Products/Projector/index.cfm?product=450
They are selling for 1000 bucks CDN aprox and come with some kind of wireless pro thing-a-ma-bob free.

This lcd thing is just getting to me.

It seems 15" monitors are getting more and more hard for me to find around here where i live.... They want 369 CDN for a Benq 567!!! Crazyness.

Just sucks I paid 300 for the 557 and now i gotta lay out more. Just seems so much easier to buy a projector... But i love projects like this, and you cant beat the bulb replacement prices on these diy's PJs though...

Frustrating.... I still think I will keep on with it though. One more panel, and a lot more careful i think is the name of the game here now.

Still no one with a 557 or 557 for sale anywhere I have looked. No one here has heard of one have they? What are some other places I might look for a good 557? Anyone?

Deej,

thought for sure I already replied, BUT!!!!

I would recommend checking out the Samsung 512n.
It has great specs, no FFC issues because it has wires and is known to be a tough cookie!

Best buy sells em for $249 and there is a $30 rebate OR you can go to Tech 4 less and get a refurbed one for $179.


Don't give up just yet...cause if you do I have first dibs on your parts!

Oh yeah, Mrs. MG says to say hi!

Fastscirocco

Wish i knew someone who could walk this stuff across the border for me. Gets so expensive paying the taxes and duty etc on US stuff...

Anyone know a good canadian source for the 512? Looks like a good monitor to use for sure from what i have seen here.


HOLY COW! I just tried to run an order on the tech4less site for that 179 512n... Can you beleive they want to charge me 60 bucks for shipping?

So 239.00 USD... Pretty much 300 bucks canadian, and then when it gets here, i will get the GST and PST here in BC.. as well as any dutys etc... prob a 350-400 monitor to get it from the us... Thats stupid hey...

Really gotta find a good Canadian supplier for those monitors.

Ended up buying one of the 512n's from that site, and just having it shipped to a American Bro of mine... Then i will get him to parcel post it to me.

Its going to take a while to get it, but hell, only 233 CDN for this monitor when it gets here. Nice...

Good deal Deej,

Now if I could just get my Haas box I'd start to get excited!

FS
Posting Mrs. MG avatar free

Soooooooo,

I have spent a bit of time mounting up the rail system pretty much like Scuba did...

As seen here...

And I today went and screwed the lamp into the base, and did a line up in the assembled case, and found that the bulb I have is longer than the one he is using...

In order for my fixture and bulb to line up in the center of the PJ, I will HAVE TO mount it solid. I dont see any other way. The arc point of the bulb comes almost exactly center when the fixture is placed right up against the side of the case on the inside...

On the plus side, i should still be able to use the rails to adjust the reflector though.

Kinda sucks though that I wont be able to tweek the bulb position, but i figure if i measure perfectly it should be ok.

Anyone else with a haas case out there... Have you figured out the exact perfect sweet spot distance from the rear fres?

I have an idea about that Deejay .....

You must be using one of the T15 jacket bulbs .... either the USHIO T15 or the S400DD .... and yeah, those are a little longer ....

However, you can maybe using longer standoffs between the rails/side of box .... this may allow you to flush mount the bulb mogul to the lip of the rails allowing you to still slide it back and forth ...

In my PJ the bulb mogul/block are on top of the rail basically .... You could probably do the same thing, but instead have the mounting block BEHIND the rail ... I think it would work fine ....

As for focal distance in the rear, right in the middle of the two rear dowells is the 220mm mark that fits the guide .... Ive found that just a hair forward to be slightly better ... which corresponds to alot of people saying 210-215mm .....

Awesome thanks Scuba...

Yes, i have the ushio.... Wish i knew this ahead of time.

I am going to actually not use the bulb now. I'm going to find one of the smaller ones... In the guide the smaller "eye" bulb looks to be perfect for this sort of case...

Now i gotta see if i can get on here in my lil town.

I am just hoping I am still ok using my eballast with the eye bulb?

Dont get the EYE bulb .... its a good bulb, great actually ... and even though right now its outperforming my venture bulb, I believe its just because of a problem with the venture ....

I would pick up the USHIO Pulse strike bulb in the ED28 Jacket size, that will be the EXACT same size bulb I have, and then you can mimic my rails more closely ...

The pulse strikes warm up soooo much faster..... I can literally turn on my PS lamp, let it warm up, turn it off let it cool down, and fire it AGAIN before my EYE bulb gets warmed up .....

It literally warms up 3 times faster, if not more ....

If you cant find that USHIO bulb anymore, Brain used to sell it here, and I had a problem finding it .... let me know cause I have a really good source in town that sells these really really cheap .....

I put on on order because either my ballast or Venture bulb isnt exactly right, that and I want to do a comparison between the venture PS and the Ushio PS ....

And BTW, I was a member on your DSSunderground site .... Oh how I miss the HU card, did they finally hack the P4??

Hey scuba, hook me up with a couple of those bulbs will ya?

Looks like i will need to order from the US anyways, so may as well get em shipped from you private if possible.

I checked the eye prices, and i need to order it from montreal, and they will be about 110 bucks or more each!!! ARGH!

Ya using the same bulb would be good... Can I use the same base I have here already, or will i need another base? The one I have here is a GE-6041.

PM me with the pricing on those bulbs and I will paypal ya. Thanks!

(PS: i dont think you'll see a P4 hack, although anything is possible. Just seems there is no interest in it because everyone moved to dish. Now that dish is cardswapping though, we'll see.)

Sooooo

I got my samsung syncmaster 512n and it has one lightly dead pixel which is not really a big deal... BUT...

I also has one stuck pixel that shows up red on any dark picture.. and its near the middle of the shot vertical, but off to the left horizontal. Its VERY annoying... Not sure if I will be able to live with this. ARGH...

Wondering what I should do. Beginning to wonder if I should cut my losses on this one. Already spend a few hundred more than I think i probably should have. (And i know im over more than pretty much everyone here already.)

Not everyone . Look up "pixel massage" in the search - there might be a way to revive those troublesome little buggers. Worst comes to worst - can't you ask for a replacement?? Hasn't been stripped yet, right?