Here are a few photos of project enclosures made for the Ten Tec amateur radio receiver kits, model T1056. A Radio Shack enclosure is used, with an aluminum front panel and plastic cabinet.
Basically, the process involves soldering components onto the printed circuit board and then measuring the completed board before laying out the hole pattern and drilling the front panel. No drilling is required on the plastic case. The height of holes for controls depends on the stand-off supports you use. The supports are also available at Radio Shack.
If you keep the control potentiometers soldered directly to the PC board, then the holes are all aligned and the spacing is set by the printed circuit board. Or, instead of soldering the pots to the board you can use jumper wires to locate the controls wherever you want on your panel. I decided to keep all the pots soldered directly to the board, except for the main tuning controls.
Measure twice before drilling. Mark the panel and use a sharp center-punch on each hole centerline. The center-punch helps keep the drill bit in the correct location when cutting the holes. After center-punching, I drilled small pilot holes before drilling the final larger holes.
After all the drilling is done, make a trial fit-up of all switches, jacks, indicator light and control panel to cabinet. After you are satisfied that all the parts fit properly, then disassemble completely. Wash the panel with liquid soap to remove any dirt or oil.
Completely rinse and dry (I use a hair drier).
Only after the panel is completely clean and dry, then finish with two light coats of spray paint. Allow the panel to air-dry overnight (or longer) before handling to avoid fingerprints.
After the panel is dry, then you can mount the speaker to the panel using two-part epoxy adhesive.
After the speaker is installed, reassemble all the parts. You can then attach pressure adhesive rubber feet to the cabinet. The rubber feet give the radio a solid support and prevent it from sliding around your operating table when you adjust the controls. The yellow radio works on the 40 meter ham band.
You can also paint the plastic cabinet. Be sure to wash and dry it before painting. Allow the cabinet to completely dry before assembling. Attach the rubber feet to the cabinet after the paint is thoroughly dry. The gray radio is a 20m receiver.
There are other packaging options. Ten Tec sells several all-aluminum cabinets that also make nice enclosures.
73 de NG9D
hi..i'm from malaysia.my callsign 9W2EES.so how to order this kit.thanks.
ReplyDeletewww.tentec.com
DeleteHi! I've seen your T1056 videos. Your work is excellent! Over the past two days I've built the 1056 for 40 meters. I'm having some trouble, though, in getting L2 into alignment. Alas, I have no other 40m receiver or transmitter, and I have no signal generator. I've been trying by ear to find the 40m band, but all I come up with are SW broadcasts, including Radio Havana @ 6140KHz! I've also picked up China Radio International, and several Christian broadcasts. I've done this at nighttime in Oregon, so I'd expect a least a little 40m action.
ReplyDeleteI've run L2 all the way in and backed it out so it appears to have turned just barely perceptibly, then scanned through the band set to see what I can find. I've repeated that process, a tiny bit at a time, until the slug is run all the way out. Still nothing but SW. It's possible 40m is in there somewhere, but I'm wondering if I'm missing something (I've quadruple-check components and soldering) or if by-the-ear won't work.
Do you have any thoughts?
Many thanks!
Todd
KF7SIS
Todd, As you know the kit comes with frequency determining parts that cover all ham bands 160-10m, and the builder chooses the correct set of parts from a table for the band of interest. Please check you used only the parts specified for 40m (7MHz). If all the parts are correct, and if you are using an antenna for 40m (i.e. a coax fed 66 ft. dipole or maybe an end fed 33 ft insulated wire), 40m should come in loud-and-clear. Also, drop a line to Paul at service@tentec.com and within a few days you should get some professional advice. 73 de Lynn/NG9D
ReplyDeleteHi Lynn,
ReplyDeleteT1056 Receiver Kit looks like a good home brew kit to set up.
The band in Australia 160 to 10 metres have been a bit quite.
73.de.Dennis vk4oc.