deskthority

Finally got a metal box to put my Soarer's Converter inside. Got tired of fixing this:

So it now looks like this:

(One I made for Tom88jerry.)

Modular! I've got a longer section of choc block so I can hook up several sockets in parallel, which will be drilled into my project box.

The box is 100x50x20 mm inside so there's space to spare. How about a little USB hub? I need to put a separate socket on the side to lead to the Teensy's vulnerable mini USB port anyway. This way I can hook a mouse to the computer too. I'm not after many ports at all. Two desired, but any more than four might not even fit!

For bonus honour points: how about a suitably little powered USB hub? One with an internal battery, not an external power supply. That would let me use classic keyboards on my iPad. (It works! I have another hub like that already, but it was £20 and solar powered, which seems a waste trapped inside this box.)

I plan on drilling holes for DIN, PS/2 and RJ45 in the box. So it'll be pretty busy in there. But the wiring is flexible enough to get creative.

Also: suggestions for really short USB>mini USB leads? Any good sockets I should know about?

Thanks!

This is the solar / battery powered hub I already have. Quite handy and does fit in the box:

It charges from the host as well as by light. Its main problem is that it has a switch for putting it into powered mode, which I suspect disables all charging. Unscrewing the project box routinely would be a pain. And exposing the switch would mean one end of this thing jutting out the side!

Rotary switch and suitably classic knob (for a classic keyboard converter box) are here and looking for some housing action. Time to drill. Suggestions for a USB hub still welcome, I'll try to lay things out half sanely inside.

Muirium wrote:Also: suggestions for really short USB>mini USB leads?

I find it not too probable that you will find a USB hub with all ports except one on the same side, so you will probably have to desolder the port going to the Teensy anyway.

BTW, alcohol is the recommended lubricant when drilling aluminium (project boxes). I find a set of needle files to be very handy for squaring off holes.

Yeah, any hub I get in there will wind up taken apart to route ports safely to the outside via panel mount sockets. The rotary switch (my keyboard input jack selector) is bigger than expected anyway, so room could be too tight.

Thanks for the tip about lube. I'll take it slow and cautious.