DIY Projector with onboard HTPC and 6CH amp
Hey guys. Been away from my favorite speaker forum for a while. Been busy with another DIY project. I got some nice feedback on my Jukebox Jr., so I figured I'd do a little write-up on this one as well...
I built this as an xmas present for my little brother, who is a very selfless individual who strongly believes in the "reuse" part of "reduce, reuse, recycle." He only buys used clothing, helps run a charity thrift store, converts abandoned lots into neighborhood gardens in downtown Philadelphia, and basically tries to help the world more than he harms it. He even bought a home in a really bad neighborhood, and has since helped renovate it. It came with an empty lot next door that will provide the perfect little outdoor cinema.
The project incorporates all used or old stock products, excepting two fresnel lenses and a first surface mirror.
-575W HMI light engine, fans, and triplet lens from a Dukane 670 overhead projector ($40)
-15" Detel LCD (rebadged Tatung L5CES) with burned out blacklight ($25)
-old media cart from university surplus ($25)
-6 Channel Amp by BSG Labs ($20)
-donated Gateway PIII 500, with Toshiba DVD-ROM (this has since proved to be too low power to play DVDs reliably, so I'll be putting in an Athlon 1100)
-various and sundry screws, paint, and other materials lying around my workshop.
Strolling through a university surplus store in search of a projection screen, I happened upon this old media cart that looked to still have some life in it.
What struck me most was how similar its shape was to the tentative design I had whipped up in SketchUp.
It also had all sorts of extras I could incorporate, like sliding shelves, a hinged support for the mirror, and a bunch of old gum stuck to it I felt certain I could use somehow :P Not bad for $25.
Although I love to build stuff, I recently had surgery to repair a shredded ligament in my thumb and figured why not follow the theme of reuse by modding the enclosure as well, saving my thumb the added abuse.
A friend had given me his old Gateway PIII 500 in exchange for helping him shop for a new PC, and since I was using a standard LCD and my little brother is not the type to have his own HTPC, I figured why not throw it onboard. A little while after that I happened upon this nifty little 6 channel amp on sale on ebay for the amazing deal of $20. Apparently, the seller discovered a whole pallette of these things in some warehouse somewhere. They were originally made by BSG Labs, which has since gone out of business. Until a couple weeks ago, he still had over 200 of them but I'm guessing someone offered to buy the whole lot. 30 watts per channel won't blow the roof off, but it's about perfect for a small gathering outdoors, where neighbors can get testy.
The amp came with a separate little preamp that basically split a single stereo source over 3 pairs of speakers. Instead of using the preamp, I made my own 3 mini-jack-to-6-channel DIN cable.
Then I scored an old soundblaster off ebay for $5, fired up the fantastic KX drivers, and had myself a nice little 5.1 dolby setup for $25. So then I need to wire 5 channels into the enclosure (I'll be using a separate subwoofer).
Front 3 channels have their binding posts just under the front of the enclosure. Rear surround posts are on the sides.
Anyway, I won't bore you will all the design details. For anyone curious about DIY projectors, I'd suggest you head on over to the forums at Lumenlab. They also just released their own prebuilt model - The eVo. In any case, quite a few tweaks later I had a working projector.
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Originally Posted by curtis
Sens, you're amazing.
