Hm....... well I started working on the pieces for my first mod ever and have already run into a snag, I've made rotating couplings for sata and power connections, 3 of them, one each for power and sata and one with them combined........ my problem is I simply dont have the tools to miniturize them as much as I want. Anyone know a good company in the us that wont charge me several grand to make a miniture dozen or two of these things? their not terribly complicated
dont have a digital cam but basically, think headphone jack.. modified to have multiple tracks around it...... with a wire running off it to an actually connector......... thats the basic idea, with a modified holding shell around with with spring loaded connectors in case of wear.........
Sounds like a cool idea. I'd be a little concerned about data loss through them though. Getting a small number of them made cheaply will probably be another problem. I can't see any sort of engineering firm doing this sort of thing for less than a few grand. Maybe if you befriend a model engineer, they might be able to make it for the cost of materials, depending on how much time they have on their hands. Good luck
dont need an engineer, need a manufacturing facility, these things are already drawn up in autocad the size they are now and shrunk down as well, as for data loss, theoretically there shouldnt be any. plus my sized up working model...... ive taken a pair of old drives and on linux basically have em moving bout 90gigs of files between em and when the finish they start over in other direction, had this going for bout a week and a half straight now, took the rotators apart last night and everything still looks brand new, gold plating included these are what I want but im not rich http://www.techbriefs.com/content/view/918/32/
I'm based at Coventry University, and I've got access to a rapid prototyping machine which is pretty damn useful. I've designed and built custom fan shrouds and drive rails on it so far, they came out great. If you want, you could possibly pm me with some details or upload the autocad files somewhere. Admittedly, you're based on the other side of the atlantic. But hey, it's something to do...
lol autocad but no digi cam Look, im sorry, id love to help but i don't have a clue what your making.
well since autocad is on the computer at my friends house and Im too lazy to go and get it I will post up a quick rough up of a paint sketch done in bout 30 seconds for basic illustrative purposes........ if I can figure out how to post a pic....... just a quicky done in paint, gets the basic idea across, and its not really to any sort of scale at all, its not that long
I really wouldn't worry about the gold plating too much. It might look a bit nicer but the extra effort/irritation/etc it'll cost probably isn't worth it. Especially considering the gains from gold-plated contacts aren't that great. Consider that most of the components on either end of the cable are produced at 5% tolerance; the gain from gold plating could be stolen back from you by one surface mount resistor somewhere else in the system being just a few percent over/under value, causing attenuation.
I like the design and really the idea itself. But are you going to have spinning harddisks involved in your mod? Like have one sticking out of the top of your case and just spin? I like the combination cable, just one connection and done. But why so involved with rotating?
the reason I have it rotating is for lanparty's. Im building a tower that can be flipped and sat on its side like an old style desktop with a monitor on it..... the lan parties I goto tend to be small cramped affairs in apartments lol. And with alot of us having towers, monitors etc etc taking up space, it tends to get crowded. The idea is simply while Im at a lanparty, I can flip the case on its side, flip the drives(hdd and dvd) and get about my gaming pleasure. thats why I want rotating coupling, I dont necessarily need them even If I do rotate the drives, but it would make life easier for me I think
the reason I have it rotating is for lanparty's. Im building a tower that can be flipped and sat on its side like an old style desktop with a monitor on it..... the lan parties I goto tend to be small cramped affairs in apartments lol. And with alot of us having towers, monitors etc etc taking up space, it tends to get crowded. The idea is simply while Im at a lanparty, I can flip the case on its side, flip the drives(hdd and dvd) and get about my gaming pleasure. thats why I want rotating coupling, I dont necessarily need them even If I do rotate the drives, but it would make life easier for me I think and the reason for gold plated contacts is to prevent corrosion, not for any connectivity gain copper oxidizes in open air
lan party. good reason for a mod! so this tower you are building is going to be big enough to allow the dvd to rotate 90 degree? Going to have it mounted to a circlular plate on the front? Think that could turn out quite nice. Use a solinoid so at the push of a button for flip of a switch, you can transform your case! Watching this project.
thats the idea, but I think, barring any help from the local college which might or might not happen, I will have to pass on the couplings themselves, the current version is about the size of 3-4 clenched fingers so its kinda bulky, and I think I could build em that small myself if I had the proper equipment, which I might be able to get access.... might
Even if you don't do the neat connectors, do the mod with rotating bezel. That will be some crazyness by itself.
Am I understanding, you want to have a DVD drive that rotates so it can be sat horizontally or vertically (in relation to the case in its normal upright position)? Because you know most drives will work fine when at an angle? In fact my HTPC is a regular midi-tower on its side.
Why do you need a rotating coupling at all? the cables are flexible enough to allow for 90 degrees or rotation pretty much indefinatly. Moriquendi
