If you do, I'd appreciate if you'd share it. I'm at a single UNO right now, but it looks like I'll be getting a few more (or more likely MEGAs, more pins) for my yards.
Julian
Modeling Pre-WP merger UP (1974-81)
Mel,
I picked up a mounting cage at Radio Shack for mine...
Jim
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
jrbernier Mel, I picked up a mounting cage at Radio Shack for mine... Jim
Thread moved.
--Steven Otte, Model Railroader senior associate editorsotte@kalmbach.com
Steven Otte Thread moved.
And right in the middle of my submission!
Surprisingly, Google doesn't turn up a ton of cages for these.
fieryturbo And right in the middle of my submission! Surprisingly, Google doesn't turn up a ton of cages for these.
I fail to see the advantage of using the Arduino form factor with a card cage. Without any edge connectors, there's no easy way to interface physically to the Arduino.
I mount my projects horizontally, on a backing made of whatever I have laying around. The connections are modular using a shield if I'm using an UNO or MEGA, and just in-line .100" connetors for anything else. I make my own single-sided PCBs for mounting the Arduino PRO or NANO to give it access to the outside world, but there are shields available that give them a standard form factor and pinouts.
Good luck, but I don't see any advantage in doing what you propose.
I would shy away from styrene for an enclosure. Athhough modern components are much more resistant to static issues they still exist, and styrene will build significant charges in the right conditions.
The RS holder is listed as a project enclosure under an "Arduino" search. They are pricey. Not available on line - store only.
I would think a couple of wood sides with slots spaced to handle an Arduino in a box, plus a little space for wiring, would be good. The boxes allow mounting a sheild on the enclosed Arduino. Boxes are a buck fiddy for UNO sizes if you search, big 'uns are more. A piece of brass stock or some wire can make an effective stop for the length on 1 end and keep them from pulling out the front on the other .
I'm not a big fan of having a lot of wire running around or having to build dedicated space for a bunch of electronics, and would tend to mount Arduinos close to where they are used. Hanging them off framing with a couple of screws and non conductive stand-offs wouldn't bother me a bit.
I would also stay away from styrene - use small wood strips for form the guides. The main issue is that the Arduinos don't exactly have the board edge perfectly clean of components - some of them have surface mount parts right at the edge of the board - so you need to be careful of not rubbing parts right off the board.
If you want neat - make actual cards, with some sort of connector, and repalce the Unos with Nanos sockedted to the board with connecting wires to the board edge, so that it can then plug in to some sort of backplane. The same code that runs on an Uno will run on the Nano, and it has the same outputs plus 2 more analog pins (which you can use, or just ignore). ANd they are super cheap, especially ones that don;t have the header pins already soldered on. The big benefit though is space, the Uno bard is relatively huge especially if you are just extending the pins and not adding extra circuitry. But even if you are - a Nano plus those driver chips you used on the light control board can be all placed in a footprint smaller than an Uno.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Most of the industrial project mountings I've seen use some kind of plexiglas, as do some computer cases. Maybe start there?
Just found these:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Arduino-UNO-R1-R2-R3-Mount-Holder-Accessory-BLACK-/272027913098?hash=item3f56208b8a:g:liAAAOSwA4dWLnGf
I had to chuckle after seeing the Vector chassis. I am quite familiar with them and know what kind of costs you are getting into, home brewed or not. It's quite a contrast to David Popp's mounting Tam Valley Frog Juicers with stick on Velcro Dots.
http://mrr.trains.com/sitecore/content/home/articles/2016/10/how-to-library-dcc-installation-for-large-layouts-part-1---bus-lines
CG
CentralGulf I had to chuckle after seeing the Vector chassis. I am quite familiar with them and know what kind of costs you are getting into, home brewed or not. It's quite a contrast to David Popp's mounting Tam Valley Frog Juicers with stick on Velcro Dots. http://mrr.trains.com/sitecore/content/home/articles/2016/10/how-to-library-dcc-installation-for-large-layouts-part-1---bus-lines CG
You asked for a cage, and this isn't a cage, but it might give you food for thought. Din Rails ... http://arduinotronics.blogspot.com/2016/01/arduino-plc-or-pac.html
Steve Spence
KK4HFJ (Ham Radio)
http://arduinotronics.blogspot.com
$7 for 20 card ghuides cheap enough?
https://www.amazon.com/Uxcell-20Pcs-Length-Horizontal-Mount/dp/B00X73RK28/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1481162394&sr=8-3&keywords=pcb+card+guides
No fabrication and they are ABS instead of styrene. Sized for a PCB thickness. They have other lengths and nylon as well as ABS.
RR_Mel I’ve been working at my CAD on a card cage and I’ve come up with what might be a good design. I found steel sheet 6” x !8” x .060” at Home Depot ($6.97) that will work for both ends as well as the top and bottom of my rack mount.
Mel, I'm sure that you have been around the block enough times that you probably know this, but just in case, Home Depot sheet steel prices are astronomical compared to any decent scrap metal operation that sells by the pound.
The last time I bought steel, which admittedly has been awhile, I was paying well under a buck a pound.
Must have bought him out, the only ones I see when searching for "card guides" are $10 and up. I didn;t check exact sizes, but it seems ones twice as long are only slightly more expensive - so 2x as many guides if you just cut them in half, for maybe 20% more money.
At 20 for $5 that should be 50 cents per slot.