Current bargains at poundland

R

rmeldo

Senior Member
Hi forum,

Before christmass Hippy posted a thread about Poundland selling a small project box (fake alarm) with a 3x AAA battery compartment, 4 LED, aLDR and a switch. All for £1. Very good value.

http://www.picaxeforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=11089&highlight=poundland

I went yesterday and they are still available. I also found a step counter (http://www.picaxeforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=11577&highlight=poundland) and a nice 9cm aluminium antenna.

I bought some boxes before Christmas and I have been working at packaging an 8M based radio-thermometer in it.

I have measured it all up and done all the packaging in 3D using pro-Engineer Wildfire2. The files are available if anyone is interested.


For the moment I attach the drawing of the biggest board that can be packaged into the box. It is possible to desolder the switch from the original board and "convince" it to fit a 0.1 inches pitch pre-drilled board.


I hope others find it useful.



Riccardo
 

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R

rmeldo

Senior Member
You've seen my hair BB. Good job I could remember how to plat. It is a testament to my strong memory.
 
hippy

hippy

Ex-Staff (retired)
Glad the info proved useful but it's a shame one cannot get a bigger board in. I have to admit I haven't tried putting anything in mine yet.

Some suggestions for more space -

1) Dremmel away the battery part inside the case and power from an external supply. The battery cover should still fit and keep it looking nice. Not much good though if you do want battery powered unit.

2) Try fitting thin strips of strip-board down the sides at right angles to board shown, or go to 'dead-bug' assembly though it could become a bit of a mess. Perhaps not a good idea for RF projects.

3) Try the board component side up. That may allow more to squeeze under the battery compartment incursion.

4) With the original PCB out and supports cut down it looks like the base can fit the other way giving a larger space at the opposite end. Maybe a PCB top and bottom ? Would be tighter squeeze for LED's and would probably mean losing the on-off switch.

I don't have any modelling software so was going to use polystyrene pushed in and cut to shape until I could fit the box back together and see what was left. A sort of 'Rachel Whiteread meets the PICAXE' ...

http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/turnerprize/history/whiteread.htm

Another good tip for Poundland : Their 8cm Signalex DVD-R30, set of four discs, 1.4GB per disc. Cheapest 8cm I've found. Worked okay for me and you can get 12 discs in a single 'tub' so quite a compact backup storage scheme.
 
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R

rmeldo

Senior Member
see message 14 of this thread: http://www.picaxeforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=11523&page=2

If you download the free viewer you'll be able to see the box assembly with all the gabbins in. Good for investigating packaging options.

Disregard the board as it is obsolete.

If of interest I can re-generate the Edrawing file at work. We have the paid for version which generates models that can be measured from with the free viewer.


A question: If you cut down the supports, how can the board be held firmly in place? I would have done it had I known how, since those supports are really in the way. That is the kind of trick which could be extremely useful to know.


Also thought that if the supports were to be cut, then the board could sit much lower down, with the copper strips facing the bottom of the box and it might be able to extend under the battery compartment, as Hippy suggests.
 
hippy

hippy

Ex-Staff (retired)
Hacking boxes for projects is a bit of an art form but my principle is "anything goes" and at worse it can probably be glued back together and not the end of the world if it goes so badly it's junk when that cheap anyway.

I usually hold boards in place with hot glue spots, masking / gaffer / duct tape or simply put some squidgy foam or polystyrene in to make it a clamped fit; the foam pads from those DVD's I mention are a useful keep for that - "repurpose everything" !

Off-cuts of balsa ( I use sticks from firework rockets - did I say "repurpose everything" ? ) can all be easily worked and used to give a more substantial wedge-clamp if needed.

If you cut the PCB pillars to a few mm high it should be possible to drill holes in the PCB so it is held from waggling, then held by foam-clamp pressure.

Another trick I've used in other boxes is to dremmel notches into the base screw pillars. That way at least one end of the PCB can slot in firmly, leaving only the other end to secure. That shouldn't weaken the pillars too badly and gives a bit more room and saves filing PCB corner notches.

If you can work with 3V, it looks like the battery part at the "Made in China" end could be dremmeled away and the -Ve battery wire relocated to the other side. That would give more room at the LED / LDR end with base rotated so battery box at that end. Just the battery case edge could be cut away to give a bit more room inside and should still take the third battery okay. As long as it all works and looks okay when assembled it doesn't really matter what sort of a mess it is inside.

The plastic casing food often comes in can be cut to size or glued or taped over things like battery tags to stop shorting - I won't say it again :)
 
B

BeanieBots

Moderator
Hippy's words are so true.
You eventually end up with an 'eye' for alternative purposes when viewing almost any object.
I use cardboard a lot. It's free and very workable.
When damp, it can be molded into curves.
Once you have the shape you want, it can be varnished or coated with glass fibre to give a very strong and even professional look with a lick of paint.

For the 'ultimate' in professional enclosures, seek out old equipment.
Old external drives not only come with +5v,+/-12v supplies built in, but they also have removeable face-plates which can be replaced with panels to take LCDs and the like.
 
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