16 port hubs, what case

[smeighan]

I dont see these 16 port hubs shown on the wiki cases page. What enclosure should i be getting. I assume it is the same enclosure for active or passive?

[taybrynn]

The $7 group24 battery box from walmart works good for either.

[smeighan]

The $7 group24 battery box from walmart works good for either.

I only see this one, You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login or $9.70

It should work.

Maybe when this thread finishes someone can add to the wiki cases the 16 port hubs?

[mms]

I think this is the one that we have:

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[taybrynn]

Yes, thats it.

Most people put the PS in the bottom and modify the top a bit to mount the active hub onto. 

In my case, I just took 4 small wood blocks and glued them onto the inside walls of the box, then pre-drilled and mounted the active hub onto those wood blocks. 

It worked great. 

Mine even got totally buried in a big snowstorm, but by a day later ... the slight heat from the PS coming out the top had melted the snow around the box slightly.

I know how handy you are, so you'll have no problem modding the box to your satisfaction.

[smeighan]

Yes, thats it.

Most people put the PS in the bottom and modify the top a bit to mount the active hub onto. 

In my case, I just took 4 small wood blocks and glued them onto the inside walls of the box, then pre-drilled and mounted the active hub onto those wood blocks. 

It worked great. 

Mine even got totally buried in a big snowstorm, but by a day later ... the slight heat from the PS coming out the top had melted the snow around the box slightly.

I know how handy you are, so you'll have no problem modding the box to your satisfaction.

I was thinking of putting this right at the bottom of the megatree to keep the cat5 lengths short.

So you have apicture of either of your boxes? I was wondering how you brought out the 16 cat5 cables. Did you bring the cables into the box and then plug them in. What was the ingress for those cables?

thanks

[taybrynn]

Sean,

I'd be glad to show you the box anytime.  I have a couple active hubs, each mounted in the battery box.
It's nothing fancy.  I could probably post some pictures also.

Right, putting the box under the megatree would be smart since you'd minimize the cable lengths.
I normally order all the cat5 cables I need from monoprice and they are very reasonable.  The cost for a short cable isn't always a lot cheaper than for a 10' cable.

In my case, I used purple for pixelnet connections (no power, just pixelnet signal) ... and black cat5 cables for the power injected signals from the active to the SSC(s).  I then used grey for DMX (non powered) connections.   And had already been using yellow for my LOR connections.   Anyways, it does help after a while to keep your connections straight.  Since I'm going to all DMX now, yellow will take on a a new meaning this year, maybe as DMX or pixelnet.

yes, I ran each cat5 from the SSC straight into the box ... using the vent that is molded into the battery box lid.

You can clean it up a little with zip ties, and I also added from strain reliefs in the form of zip ties to rebar rods into the ground, so if somebody happened to trip on a cat5 ... it would not immediately hit the cat5 connections on the active hub.  Worked great and amazingly, the kids left it alone.  In my case, the battery box was mostly in the snow, so you could hardly even tell it was there.

There was no need to drill any holes in the battery box ... and the wires all went out one side ... and that also where the cord for the ATX power supply came in also.

[MrChristmas2000]

I used 2 old plastic IC tubes cut to hold the PCB up from the powersupply which I placed in the bottom of the box. You could probably use small sticks just as well. The way the battery box is consructed it allowed for the supports and PCB to set in the top without any drilling. The boxes dissapear into the darkness.

I placed mine a few feet away from the Megatree so as to allow me to service easily.

I'll post pictures later.

[chrisatpsu]

i get either size battery box from sears, my active hubs sit on the ledge or lip created at the top of the case.

[chrisatpsu]

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[taybrynn]

I will add that I ended up going into the battery box 3-4 times during the month, so having it accessible is good advise.  Like I said, you cat5 cables all being say 7' vs. 3' might not be a huge cost difference, but the 7' would give you more options on where the active hub can be located.

I used rebar driven into the ground on either side and another 12" stick of rebar over the top ... with wire it together to make it secured to some degree.  It's just nice that the wind can't just blow it over and a casual passer by could not easily walk away with it.  It's low tech and not perfect, but for me ... rebar is one of the best things out there for securing stuff ... and super easy to remove when your done ... tested in Colorado soil.

[pk]

Here is a picture of the SS Hub sitting in the top of the battery box mms posted.  You can see the vents at the top which are where I plan on running the cables.  I am going to mount the hub as shown so it will be upside down when in actual use.

[Steve Gase]

What I did...

I got a $22 truck storage box from home depot.  It is water-tight, has plenty of space, it has a place where you can lock it up, and it is strong.  The one that I selected was black and I placed in behind a bush, though inside the tree would also work.

Inside the single box, I placed 3 power supplies connected to a single heavy-duty cord coming out of the box, on a single 20amp circuit.  I have space for a 4th power supply, and the power for the 4th should 'fit' on my 20amp circuit.

On top of the power supplies (still inside the box) I placed a "shelf" of coro.  The 16-port hubs were layed on top of the coro.

3 bundles of cat5 cables came from the megatree, and into the box.  I cut out a small holes at the top edge of the bottom part of the box -- the lid came down over the "open" holes.  I used foam material from a pool noodle to be a bushing/gromet around each cat5 bundle.

The whole thing closed up, and I secured it to a tree with a cable and lock.

I first worried about air flow and over-heating... and I monitored it for a few days and nights.  No problem.  Until I starting having problems with a few water-damaged IP67 strings, I kept the entire setup powered for days straight.  ...your environment may differ from mine (moderate Texas winter).