GroupdDIY 511 Racks: round 5.5 available

[sahib]

Not to dwell comparative agreement. Certainly things are not exactly alike. But the reality is what it is. And this is a really expensive product. I've been thinking a lot about this project and my conclusion is that somehow has gotten out of hand. For a DIYer should not be priced as expensive or even more than a series system from any manufacturer API, BAE, etc ... And I can not use someone I argue that the pleasure of building worth more than that. I can understand but to some extent. Many DIYers like myself, we welcome building equipment for our work, but obviously trying to save a little money in this process. It is true that RS is expensive and can lower the price a bit, looking good in other providers. But the figures of the cost of supply chassis 51X that vds. I seem to have arisen simply astronomical and unaffordable viewed at any point of view.

With all due respect but get real.

Are you telling me that an 11 slot chassis made of 1.5mm steel with 3mm excellently designed PCB and all metal connectors as opposed to brand products that are made of 1.2mm steel, 1.5mm pcb and plastic connectors is expensive at £200?  XLR connectors are going to cost you almost £80 alone.

In terms of power supply I would like to know what is expensive apart from the electronic components?  The case? The heatsink? The transformer?

Take the heatsink. There are two T section aluminium cut to siz and machined with 8 tapping operations. Two large heatsinks (that will cost you about £25 off the shelf) cut to size and machined with 9 tapping operations. Price? £57.00

Call the materials £30, that leaves you £27. Go to any machine shop and ask them you'll supply the materials and how much they are going to charge for those operations. Case is the same.

I have spent three days on working out the mechanics and testing. O.K. I work cheap and pay me £25 an hour. Total £600 development cost alone for the heatsinking. How many sets of heatsink should we sell before I get that money?
Will I ever get it back? Never.

Nothing has got out of hand and the costs have not risen astronomically. It is just that your expectations are unrealistic.

Get me an order of 500 for the power supply then I'll supply it to you less than half the price. But in the meantime I am not going to subsidy you because you feel you are  DIYer and you should get it cheap to your satisfaction.

 

[[silent:arts]]

... and don't ask me how many hours (days) it took for the PCBs ...

 

[JBVries]

In terms of power supply we are ready too. However few indians raised concern over the cost and I felt I have to do something about it. I actually have orders and people were about to pay but I told them to hold on for a few days until I sort out the new heatsink arrangement, which will save you all significant amount. I may also be able to lower the price on the transformer holding plate. Therefore please bear with me over this weekend and I will amend my previous post with the new prices. I will also notify those including you who are in my waiting list by e-mail.

I already ordered the PSU parts and electrical connectors kits from Ptown. Will this modify what is needed in that respect?

 

[delaymix]

I do not think I have been misunderstood or I have not explained clearly enough. I'm not questioning the rack where they will host the modules. Nor am I criticizing and questioning the electronic materials supply. This source is much more than a source of any manufacturer in the series 500 and it is obvious that the parts are worth money. As I said in my comment, and you are welcome. said earlier, you can search for suppliers of parts much better RS dealer prices, and that certainly is a significant amount of money to save.
To make clearer my assessment of the situation by my previous comment, I refer to the chassis of the power supply, the cost seems expensive, out of context. And I'm not questioning their development work and research. Moreover, I think that paragraph concerning vds. have done a tremendous and that is something to praise. I've only said that it seems to me that the chassis of the power supply for 51X rack has a really high cost. They are 142 euros for a metal box with the shipping plus VAT. However vds. pieces sold at the price they see fit. I have the feeling that my exposure has been tense or annoyed and that was not my intention. I hope this review does not bother is what I think, because that is what I see.

 

[JBVries]

I do not think I have been misunderstood or I have not explained clearly enough. I'm not questioning the rack where they will host the modules. Nor am I criticizing and questioning the electronic materials supply. This source is much more than a source of any manufacturer in the series 500 and it is obvious that the parts are worth money. As I said in my comment, and you are welcome. said earlier, you can search for suppliers of parts much better RS dealer prices, and that certainly is a significant amount of money to save.
To make clearer my assessment of the situation by my previous comment, I refer to the chassis of the power supply, the cost seems expensive, out of context. And I'm not questioning their development work and research. Moreover, I think that paragraph concerning vds. have done a tremendous and that is something to praise. I've only said that it seems to me that the chassis of the power supply for 51X rack has a really high cost. They are 142 euros for a metal box with the shipping plus VAT. However vds. pieces sold at the price they see fit. I have the feeling that my exposure has been tense or annoyed and that was not my intention. I hope this review does not bother is what I think, because that is what I see.

We get your concern blah blah blah. Build your own next time and invest hundreds of your own hours. It's not always strictly about price although I don't think the guys doing this project are out to make a buck and if they are they are in the wrong business. Your posts are long winded and borderline irrelevant as the creators of this project are going to do the best they can (or at least I would believe so). If you can do it any better, cheaper, faster, sexier. Do it. But please, enough with the sob story. Your bummin' me out man.  :-\

 

[Dubka]

Hi Martin,

I have collected the first batch of twenty 511  cases. The way the distribution is going to be that ten will go to Volker and Jeff and I will take 5 each. I also have two 511 left over from the first batch. I'll need to see my waiting list but I am sure you will be served.

For the remaining eighty 511s I have not been able to talk to my contact on Friday but I'll do on Monday and press on with at least 40 to be completed by the end of next week.

However on 511 case there will be a slight price increase due to Neutrik connectors. I am not sure if there has been a price increase on the edge connectors but the metal work is o.k. However, we are talking about an insignificant rise here.

In terms of power supply we are ready too. However few indians raised concern over the cost and I felt I have to do something about it. I actually have orders and people were about to pay but I told them to hold on for a few days until I sort out the new heatsink arrangement, which will save you all significant amount. I may also be able to lower the price on the transformer holding plate. Therefore please bear with me over this weekend and I will amend my previous post with the new prices. I will also notify those including you who are in my waiting list by e-mail.

Cheers mate, I look forward to it 

 

[sahib]

JBVries,

Purchasing the electronic components from Ptown will not modify anything. Nor the electrical wiring. I am also glad you are purchasing from him as he offers a good value. However, he should make sure that the fuse holder, switch and the IEC are the exact types that I specified, as the cut outs are done to fit them.



delaymix,

O.K. the chassis.

The front panel  has the cut outs for the switch, five fuse and five LEDs. The switch cut out requires another operation at the back for the locking tabs. The front panel also has an additional  gold finish laser cut facia that goes over it. There are people who cut front panels in this forum and ask them what will they charge.

The back panel has the IEC and two XLR cut outs.

Top cover has the ventilation holes cut.

Bottom panel has the ventilation holes cut, plus twentyfive countersink clearance holes for M3.

Bear case, plus the stand-offs and screws.

There is an expenditure built into the cost which takes shipping from the supplier to me, and from me to US and Germany into account. So that Jeff and Volker could get it to their side of the guys.

I take receipt of these cases, unpack,dis-assemble, do all the operations, re-assemble, re-pack and ship them to Volker and Jeff.

Packaging. (Ask any 511 purchasers how was the packaging from any of us.)

You do the math.


Finally, none of the three of us put any of our own time as a development cost. No development cost is built into these prices.

Your exposure has not been tense nor annoying but your assesment is wrong.

 

[Ptownkid]

I can't believe that a Porsche costs so much, I mean I can get a toyota for like 15k.

 

[RedNoise]

craft job , craft prices ... (Hate tho slavery eastern industryies)

 

[pacemaker]

Hi Cemal,
I am really sorry, :-[
maybe my post about this project's price
was a bit stupid.
I meant no disrespect at all
I can imagine the load of work needed
And know your design is top quality
i have just received one 51X rack
i bought from another member
and the box is top quality,
I will buy one of your PSU case,
and i will buy another 51x full kit,
This project is amazing,
And i want to support it.
again ,
I am really sorry if i bothered you,
My apologizes

 

[JBVries]

Anyone heard from Jeff lately? Or are we on pause on this project again? ???

 

[sahib]

We are not on a pause at all. Don't panick. Jeff and Volker have been very busy lately.

He has already asked me about the delivery of his batch to him. Currently we have 20 x GDIY 511 cases in hand and other 80 is under production. I am hoping to receive the second batch of 40 by next week. At which time I will ship him the whole lot including the power supply cases and the kits.

I have also worked out a cheaper alternative to the heatsink. Please bear with us little a bit longer.

 

[12volts]

Cemal,
I'm in for an 11 slot full monty rack when they are ready. As for the PSU, I'm doing my own thing, but I might buy the transformer and mounting plate from you.

 

[jsteiger]

Anyone heard from Jeff lately? Or are we on pause on this project again? ???

Oh yes, I am here. I have gone nowhere except crazy. Not gone but working on it.

I knew that Cemal was wrapping up a few loose ends with things. I figured I would wait until it was closer to the time he was ready to ship.

I have an email folder with everyone's request stored, so don't worry. 

BTW, last week I officially place an order for a large batch of custom toroidal transformers for the 51x PSU. This will benefit our North American friends as Cemal and Volker have the rest of the world covered. I can't even begin to tell what a PIA this has been. I ended up switching from my original proto supplier as the shipping, import tariffs and additional customs costs were outrageous to bring them in from Hong Kong. I had gotten a proto built from a 2nd supplier. I had them add primary thermal cut-offs as well as tweak a few other things like 50mm longer leads and such. Their proto had solid leads for the secondaries which just felt/seemed cheap to me, so that was changed to stranded. I have to finalize the street price but they will be within $1-$2 either way of $50.

So, hang in their guys! 

Best, Jeff

 

[okgb]

thermal cut offs ? not like hard to change fuses right ?

 

[strangeandbouncy]

    thermal cut-out - heat

                    fuse - current . . . . . .

 

[jsteiger]

thermal cut offs ? not like hard to change fuses right ?

No it's not hard but...this is one of the reasons it took so long to get this ordered. Like I mentioned before, I wanted to be 100% sure I had what we needed. Not only to efficiently power these racks but to also not burn down our studios and or houses in the process.  My first proto had a Primary Thermal Cutoff built in at 130C. I did not ask for this. It was just something that they use as a standard in this particular build, for some reason, I never asked. I did not pay close attention to this then. After my initial full load test for extended hours, I found everything runs pretty damned hot including the toroid. I was concerned with the heating of the transformer. I thought maybe I had a poor quality transformer. My initial findings were confirmed by Cemal, which most who follow this thread have witnessed. Cemal has came up with fantastic solutions for most if not all of these issues. By that time, I had received a 2nd proto from a different manufacturer. In my build, under full load, for many hours, this transformer also ran hot. Basically, the same as the first one. By now, with Cemals hard work, I have excepted this as quite normal for this situation. The 2nd transformer did not have a Primary Thermal Cutoff in the construction. By now, Volker had a few conversations with his supplier about this where the term "Schutzklasse", which means safe up to 120C before anything melts. I naturally investigated on my own. I asked my new supplier about this and they suggested adding a 125C one shot thermal fuse to the construction. The end cost of the transformer increased by about $1.25 for this. IMHO, a no-brainier. I think that is some pretty cheap insurance when you look at a potential loss of life, studio or home.

Best, Jeff

 

[JBVries]

Thanks Jeff. Sorry to be a nag. I'm sitting on some 500 series DIY and other units that have never been used so I'm just a little extra eager  ;D

 

[jsteiger]

No worries and no apology needed. 

 

[FiahotProductions]

I'm coming into this pretty late here. I have been looing at this for awhile now. What so I need to do to order an 11 space rack w/ PSU? Please let me know. Thanks!!!

Anthony