Racks on Ebay

[popsicko]

I find the subject of racks and the different formats to be quite confusing. It's also the main reason I have not dove in and started building my modular.
I was looking on ebay after reading that computer sub racks might work for the euro format and found this

http://cgi.ebay.com/Schroff-EuroPAC-Chassis-Subrack-Enclosure-3U-19-rack_W0QQitemZ270224344093QQihZ017QQcategoryZ64061QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Can anyone say for certain if this will work? What should I do for a power supply? Is the Doepfer kits the only way to go?

Thanks
-b

[dougcl]

For $35 it's easily worth a try. I was looking at those, but I just ended up fabricating one out of aluminum. This would be a lot easier, and arguably cheaper. Worst case, it's a scam. Not sure if the Doepfer modules will fit right in the existing rails (assuming there are rails). Get the Doepfer DIY kit #1. You get busboards, power supply and rails. Although the rails are cheapie, and there is a chance you'll get a junk wall mount transformer with the kit. The wall mount transformer needs to provide 15VAC at 2A. These seem to be a little hard to find. I found one at http://www.allelectronics.com/ for $8. Demand the specs on the transformer when you buy the kit. I think you can slide by with a 12VAC 1A transformer. In any case the kit #1 will give you enough stuff for 6U, so you would want to bolt two of those Schroff 3U cases together.

I would buy a couple just out of curiosity, but I refuse to use Paypal, and it appears that is the only payment method.

Doug

[Danno Gee Ray]

I have 4 racks that appear to be exactly what this person is selling. I am currently using them for my modular. I havent tried any Doepfer mudules in them yet, I don't have any. So far these are working OK. The only problem for me with the ebay sale is the shipping costs.

[popsicko]

I wonder if those racks are sold locally in LA? I would think there would be a computer supply house or maybe even Frye's Electronics that might have one.

@Danno Gee Ray - What type of modules are you using?

thanks,
-b

[Danno Gee Ray]

I'm puting in some MFOS stuff, Woggle bug, Tau phasor, Ian Fritz modules, Some Thomas Henry modules, and State Machine stuff. I also built a passive ring mod that will go in and am looking at some board projects now on EM that will go in as well. Everything is being built with home made front panels using Black / clear brother p-touch labels. I have some blank face plates that I got with these racks (got em surplus) and also have some aluminum panels I picked up at the hobby store.

[dougcl]

Hi folks, I ordered two of them and they showed up today. I took them apart and made a 6U rack out of the pieces and two new side panels made from aluminum sheet. The racks appear to be Doepfer compatible. The screws to mount the modules need to be 2.5mm instead of 3mm though. You will need torx wrenches to partially disassemble the racks to remove the unnecessary and obstructive PCB slots. I am happy to answer any questions.

Doug

[popsicko]

Hey Doug,
Do you have any pictures?
Was it a simple process or a big pain?
How long did they take to arrive?
Any other details you'd like to share after having it for a few weeks?
Thanks!
-brad

[dougcl]

Hi Brad, I'll get a pic up today. Not a pain at all, however, AH is all out of Doepfer DIY #1 kits right now, so it's sitting empty. Apparently they will be receiving more in a couple of weeks. I don't anticipate any problems though. Only two recommendations come to mind at the moment. First, buy all you want in one shot so you save on shipping. ie. get 8 of them instead of two at a time. Shipping would be $35. It's $40 for two. Second, combine two 3U together so you end up with two spare rails for mounting the bus boards.

I guess there is one more thing, make sure the DIY #1 kit comes with a 2.5A 15VAC transformer. Just confirmed last night that 1A and 12VAC doesn't cut it.

Pics later.

Doug

[dougcl]

Pics

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[dougcl]

more pics

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[dougcl]

Please note the blank panel that he also has available. He threw this one in to see if I wanted any. If he is selling these cheaply, they might be nice to use for DIY modules!

Note the screw is a 2.5mm dia (normal Doepfer is 3mm), and it's a little longer than the ones used on the Doepfer racks. I haven't yet bothered to get some cheese head versions so the ones in the pic are slotted (standard rather than phillips), so they look a little off, but it all works.

I have not bothered to line up a bunch of Doepfer modules to make sure they all fit across the rack with no HP left over, nor have I bothered to count the screw holes, but you can see that the module lines up on either side nicely.

You can see in one of the pics, the back panel which I have cut to size, but not yet drilled. The aluminum is 6061 0.063" which seems like the appropriate weight for this application. If there is a metal place near you, check their rem pile behind the shear

By the way the A-190 is available if anyone is interested.

Doug

[popsicko]

NICE!!
So they are not that deep, you just had to gut the insides a bit?
Is a back necessary? This could just go into an SKB rack right? Or build something custom? The point for me is to get into a modular while bypassing the somewhat prohibitive cost of a Doepfer Eurorack.
They should give racks away to encourage everyone to by their modules!!! hehehehehe!
Thanks for posting the pics!
Might be cool to rattle can it or get it powder coated. It would probably be less than fifty bucks and you could do any color you want!
Thanks again!
-brad

[dougcl]

They are exactly the same depth as the Doepfer racks. A back is necessary to mount the power supply. I am also going to mount the wall wart transformer inside on the back panel so I can have a regular 110VAC power cord coming out the back of the unit. I did this on another DIY case and it works great. Please note the extra two rails that arise from merging two 3U racks. I will use these to mount the Doepfer bus boards. One thing to consider is the distance from the front plane to the busboards. It should be shallow enough to allow room for the power supply, but deep enough to accomodate your modules. Some DIY PCB boards can be quite deep, so make it as deep as possible IMO. I don't know what an SKB rack is, but this thing is exactly the same dimensions as the Doepfer subrack, so my guess is it will fit into the standard format. Yes, the Doepfer/Cwejman/AS racks are expensive, and they realize that this is killing their module business, hence the Doepfer cheap rack, and the tendency to cram a lot into each module. The problem is the parts add up. Consider these 3U's at $35 (which is a great price), get two, add the aluminum, add the hardware for mounting the power supply and transformer, the power cord, switch, etc, then the Doepfer DIY kit, and you're near $300. In my view this isn't cheap, but at least it's not $550 (or more) which is ridiculous. I think I will just leave the new panels untreated. I suppose anodizing would be most appropriate, but I really want to avoid getting into the $400 range, which is where the used subracks usually sell. By the way, a word on the Doepfer DIY rails, they aren't so great. When all assembled, your modules have enough room to fall down into the case as you are laying them out during installation. This doesn't happen with proper rails as shown here (and on the non-DIY Doepfer racks). This can be a real drag, if you are always rearranging your modules, which you probably are. So in my view these Schroff racks at $35 each are worth it for the rails alone. Doug

[ehdyn]

Doug;

Thanks very much for sharing your experience-it's been very helpful to me.

I bought the same case, and am extremely pleased with the build quality.
Unfortunately, I didn't buy two as I had never used ebay before and didn't know what to expect.
So I guess I'll be ponying up an additional $40 in shipping to snag another one of these cases.

Please keep us informed about your build. I know a lot of other people who are scratching their heads on how to proceed with this one.
AH is all out of power supply kits for awhile now. If you know of anywhere else where the proper power can be obtained please inform. Can't seem to locate what I'm looking for at any of the usual suppliers.

Oh, almost forgot- I'm interested in your A-190-anything wrong with it? Is the 12bit nature of it restrictive at all?

Thanks again,
ehdyn

[dougcl]

The A-190 works great, although I did find that I would have to soft reset it typically to get it to work (press the reset button on the front during power up). Not sure why and it wasn't enough of a pain to look into it further. 12 bits was not a limitation for me.

Doug

[ehdyn]

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