6th January 2019 6th January 2019 By Bzzz In project 19" rackdremelfront panelhotmelt gluerevoxrevox evolutionuser interface

Revox Evolution 19″ panel mount (#P10)

Christmas, the fabulous time of the year where you got plenty of free time, but you aren’t supposed to make hell of a noise

Happy 2019, y’all!

Having ordered a second 19″ keystone plate recently, I decided to finally make the user panel of my Revox Evolution stereo system into a front-mount panel that fits the outside of the rack. Without, it got even more hidden inside because of the top-mounting system that is used. Here’s an original marketing wankery image from Revox:

So if that unit is sitting inside of a 19″ rack, imagine the user experience (wank, wank) of operating the display if the top part is blocked by other stuff.

Let’s get started!
All we need to have is a 5U blank panel, somewhat precise measurements of the display unit, a power tool (Dremel 4000 plus the Speed Clic cutting discs in my case) for the large parts, and probably a metal file for the details.

Width is 175mm, height of the main part is 172mm (why?), and then there’s the smallish crap of the button parts below. Fortunately, this is all 90 degree stuff, unfortunately one of the parts is visible once fitted, so it pays to actually do 90 degree cuts and straight edges. Sizes of the smaller parts are 18mm, 10mm, 5mm and 27mm, starting from the top, both sides in a symmetric fashion. But in the exceptionally rare case that you want to do the same, please verify that yourself. Outer dimensions also mean that we need 153mm of space on each side to get the unit centered. Vertical centering is not a big deal, as there basically is no space on top or bottom on a 5U panel. Now make some noise and fine metal dust…

With some manual clean up (heavy understatement), the panel fits:

Really, that’s a snug fit. It won’t fall out just by gravity, as the bottom part with the buttons will actually snap in a bit (hence the two bites filed in), and when the top part is moved (rotated) in, there’s enough of a friction fit that will keep everything in place. The hinge doesn’t move that way, and fortunately the entire top sits on the plate so that the only way out is by grabbing it and pulling it out the front. That won’t happen during operation. Of course we can’t angle the entire unit anymore like the hinge used to allow, but that’s what you get with user panels on rack mounts….

Do we trust a friction fit? Well, not if the hot glue gun is nearby

A few dabs on the front (already snapped in), some more hot snot on the top to fill the entire edge. That mofo won’t got anywhere…

So the entire assembly looks like this:

Now let’s wait for the 3.5/RCA keystones to arrive (cable clutter cleanup!) – and also for the DB9 extension cable from the top of the stereo to the display. Revox does deliver data and power over these nine pins, so I’m not sure if a cheap cable can handle that, but let’s see. All of these items aren’t here due to the holiday season, but I couldn’t wait with the panel mount and I’ll post a quick follow-up once everything is in place. And as there’s no old D-Sub cable left in my scrap box, the stereo will not be operational for the next days to weeks, probably to the liking of my landlords