My friend has a similar "Rhino Coat" on his, but it has a sand paper like surface texture to it. That would eat away at my TiVo that rests under the empeg after a few weeks .

First of all, what you've done here is outstanding. Second, if what I'm about to ask causes you to fall over backwards, then just tell me to forget about it.

Here it goes. What would it take for you to add a place in your docking station for the PCATS tuner module, complete with a small attachable antenna, all wired up and ready to go? I realize that this would add a considerable amount of space and engineering to the unit, but hey, it never hurts to ask, right? I don't know about anyone else, but I'd personally be willing to pay hansomely for this additional capability even if it made the unit twice as tall/wide/long/expensive.

Im planning on reworking my mlord dock to add tuner functionality.

I have obtained some pins from Shonky for this very purpose. It would be cool if these was present as standard.

Right now, no -- I'm too busy with the remaining 70+ docks currently on order. It's possible that I may offer custom built one/two of a kind docks later on, but those would be much more expensive than the current ones.

By the way, work on the current backlog is progressing, but I'm building the next 50 all at the same time, thus the slight pause in visible activity.

The first of this large batch will likely begin shipping in a week or two, and most of the rest of the batch should be in the mail by mid-April.

Cheers

Man, I have not been this excited since I received my shipping confirmation form SonicBlue... If the docking station is anything like Hijack then it will be another perfect complement to my Empeg/RioCar.

Mid-april huh... oh, that is only 5 weeks...

Maybe even sooner.. I just got the first phase of my new (Linux) project flying.. and the second phase can wait a week or so..

Okay, I enlisted some assistance for this project from She-who-shall-remain-unamed over the past few weeks, so things have been moving forward (mostly) while I've been kernel hacking to pay the bills.

There is a huge stack of pre-wired back panels for docks sitting here, and more of those getting completed each day.

I have purchased additional docking connectors and pins, and ordered more fans from my Supplier-Of-Things-That-Run-Silently.

Down in the workshop are huge stacks of cut-out MDF bits and pieces for the shells of about 85 docks. Unfortunately, the local Borg is now stocking a slightly lighter variety of 1/2" MDF than before, so the tops/bottoms will be mostly darker than the sides on this batch of units, so they will definitely want an opaque topcoat of paint rather than a clear finish. Your choice on that.

But one problem that arose is the tablesaw has at some point shifted ever so slightly out of alignment (it's had tons of heavy use with no readjustment for over five years now, and only once in the five years before that.

The result is that we need to re-mill about 270 pieces to square them up ever so slightly. Fortunately, the original dock dimensions have enough slack in that particular dimension that the re-milling will actually improve the design overall.. it just means a slowdown while I get it right (me this time, not She-wsru).

Today I stumbled across a nifty new system for crimping RJ-45 cables, and I'm considering taking the $100 up front plunge for the cutter and crimper to save some cost/labour in that area.

Each dock requires a 1' cable with RJ-45 connectors on each end, threaded through a wooden block. Previously, I purchased pre-made cables (to save labour) and glued up the blocks around the cables from separate pieces of wood.

With this new system, we can simplify the blocks to a single piece with a slot and centre hole, and then crimp a cable threaded into place through the centre hole. I think the labour ends up being less for each dock, and the cost probably about the same overall -- accounting for the equipment purchase and slightly more expensive RJ-45 connectors.

For anyone interested, I don't have a web link (yet), but the crimping system is from "Platinum Tools", and is called "EZ-RJ45".

Cheers

EZ-RJ45

Personally, I never thought that it the benefits of that product would outweigh the additional cost, as my cables are good probably 98% of the time. Of course, I probably made a lot more cables than you do, and there's little good reason to become an expert at cable making.

You probably have -- I've only made maybe 30-40 cables myself, but now I'm staring at the need to make about 80 more, which then get shipped to other people and which are not 100% easy to replace (but still possible).

I need 100% success here.

My cheapo RJ-45 crimper that I have right now (C$25, Radio Shack) does a barely adequate job, leaving the contacts slightly crooked after crimping, and requires considerable attention to ensure the wires don't shift around at the last instant as they are inserted into the connector.

This tool looks like it might solve those problems, in a revenue neutral way for me! Tool is US$50, plus US$12 for a cable stripper (which I'd get regardless), and then the connectors are perhaps twice the cost of ordinary ones..

Cheers

Are you sure you're using the correct heads for the type of cabling that you're using? Solid core wire requires different connectors than stranded wire does. The crimper shouldn't have any great impact on how well the connection is made (unless you're unable to apply enough force, but I'm guessing that grip strength isn't a problem for a rock climber).

Some new heads have dual-mode conductors so that they work on either solid or stranded wire, but it's easily possible that you got one of the ``older'' styles.

She-who-shall-remain-unamed

while (1)
while? uname -a
while? end

Naw, I've got the right heads for the type of cable. Just cheap crimpers, that's all.

Cheers

while (1)
while? uname -a
while? end

csh Junkie!

while (1)
while? uname -a
while? end

csh Junkie!

You people scare me.

Mark, i thought you might want to see the docks new home at work. I'm gonna try and paint it this weekend. See attached.

(and ignore what's on the screen! )

Dude, with all the millions of dollars LucasArts has, the least they could do is replace that broken keyboard of yours. How'd that happen, anyway?

(and ignore what's on the screen! )

Methinks Loren's switched projects. That ain't no gladiator model.

the least they could do is replace that broken keyboard of yours

/me wipes screen again...

Methinks Loren's switched projects. That ain't no gladiator model

god i wish i had... but alas, i haven't.

That Iron Giant has captured your girlfriend and he's about to crush your empeg!

Very cool, Loren

Thanks!

Okay, production has resumed, and should continue steadily at the rate of a few units each week for the forseeable future.

The owners-to-be of the next 11 docks from the queue have now been sent payment requests for shipment next week.

Cheers!

Just payed for mine ;-) 40mins not bad eh Mark ???

Just cleared a space on the desk for it.

BTW for those interested it cost approx £110 including paypal fee and postage.

Mark - will these 11 units be put together with your new crimping tool ???

Cheers

Cris.

40 minutes is good, but the record is under one minute!

The wiring is done already for these ones -- crimped with the new tool on the docking connector side, soldered joints on the back panel connectors. I have also switched from "whatever I have on hand" wiring to using newly purchased 24g 7-strand hookup wire for the signals, and thicker stuff for the power lines.

The ethernet connections are now being done with the EZ-RJ45 crimper and special RJ-45 plugs -- cost works out about the same as using purchased pre-assembled cables, but the dock design is slightly improved because I can now "crimp in place", which helps out with the way the cable is mounted/positioned internal to the dock. Labour works out about the same as the earlier design, end result is slightly better.

These docks are the first ones of the "final" design, which features (in addition to the new ethernet cabling method) a much tighter tolerance fit for the player. Hopefully there won't be too much variance in player dimensions.. My own three remaining units all fit the new dimensions just fine, but there's not much margin for error!

These are also the first docks to be using the "new" 1/2" MDF supplies that seem to have supplanted the "original" MDF in all stores in this area. The new stuff is lighter in colour, and a little less dense than the older stuff I had been using. New docks are now a mix of the old/new types of MDF. So far, it seems to make no difference (other than a few grams of mass) in the final product. Keeping my fingers crossed on that one!

Anyway, I'm looking forward to being able to ship more of these soon.

Cheers

Okay, dock assembly is moving more quickly now that parts are completely cut out and ready for assembly into a few dozen of them. So I have just sent out additional payment requests to the next few names on the list.

In all, about 20 of these should ship within a week or so of now, and perhaps five or so more each week thereafter, until I run out of something.

In total, production will likely be limited to no more than about 90 units total, or possibly a few more above that for "Basic" models without fans. So there's still a few empty spots for new orders at the end of the queue.

Cheers

In reply to:

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So there's still a few empty spots for new orders at the end of the queue.

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I'm glad you're pointing this out. I put in my order just the other day, but for a while I was under the impression that you only planned on making a small number of these and once you were done they were no longer being made. That part may be true, but I also assumed (wrongly) that the queue was full.

Yeah, we're up to 88 docks total now (including those already shipped), and I also need to enter myself into the queue for at least three Works models. Plus two or three others for "special" purposes .. I'm thinking of raffling one off at the Euro-meet this summer..

I have purchased a total of 100 docking connectors plus sufficient pins for that many, and most of the other components are easier to restock than those. Fans are an issue -- cheaper in quantity, and 85 of them have been purchased already in two lots. I think that when I run out of those, I'll stop making docks.

However, people are welcome to order more docks beyond the current "limit", -- I'll gladly add you to the list, but there's no guarantee you'll get one (beyond the first 90 or so). If sufficient back-orders pile up, then I'll do another quantity order of parts and make another batch. I think at least 25 (and preferably 50) would be necessary to reorder stuff.

I have over 100 sets of the more difficult MDF parts already machined -- those are the really time-consuming items, due to the number of steps and the precision required of them.

Cheers!

Okay, I've inserted "me" onto the list for four more docks. So if you just saw your queue position drop by four, then I'm the culprit!

Meanwhile, a small rash of new orders was just now appended to the queue..

If fans are the only thing holding things up in the future, maybe just drop the fan from the list of features? Or do most of your sales include the fan?

I think that, out of 97 ordered, only six are without fans..

Cheers