VU meter panels

[waltzingbear]

no, probably the tooling was worn out, it happens, hence the words redevelopment and retool in their answer.

[horizonsound]

Here's the first prototype of the VU meter adaptor. It's a standard R22AF bezel out front, and fits an AL29WF out back.
The bezel will clip in to a standard SSL meter panel fascia, and the AL29WF should clip in to position in the back.
Currently in blue (will be black ABS) and needs a clean up. Hopefully picking it up in the next few days.
In addition to this, I've designed a PCB to attach to the back of the AL29WF to hold the lighting, status LEDs, and buffer, and have started discussions around custom gauge plates which have the status (Record, Tape, Group, VCA) LED holes and text on them.

[waltzingbear]

how long did it take to print out?

[horizonsound]

I'm not sure how long it took exactly, but it was under 3 hours from when i emailed the file, to when he sent the photo of the finished part.

[horizonsound]

Here is what it looks like.

Black ABS will come out better. You don't notice the layer marks as much in real life as you do in the photos.
I broke one of the two clips off as the PLA was quite brittle - next revision will fix that.

[Clip6]

Awesome.

[Tonemiester]

Nice!

[oyanliz]

Hi horizonsound,

If you want to avoid breaking th clips, is better to print in SLS (Selective Laser Sintering) method instead of FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling). With FDM method, breaking between layers it is very common issue depending of the geometry of the printed part. SLS printed parts are mechanically very similar to injected plastic (it could be more expensive).

Nice job anyway!!

I will keep reading the post.

Regards.

Oihan

[horizonsound]

Thanks for the tip. I’ll pass it on for the next trials.
I’m quite relieved there is at least an option possible to make up a full SSL 4000 meter bridge with modern VU meters.
On eBay, you can pick up cheap ones for a third of the Sifam cost. Not sure on the quality though.

Anthony.

[waltzingbear]

remember that none of these are VU meters. That would imply they meet the standards of what a VU meter is , which is more than just pointing at zero at +4dbu on tone. It is a set of readings based on the ballistics of the meter and its sensitivity which show a consistent response across time and meters.  There are very few real VU meters out there. very few.

But that doesn't mean that other meters can't be useful, but you need to compare them individually with tone burst and such to get an idea if they react in a similar fashion.

to read what a VU meter really is, here are two links to AES that provide that.

http://www.aes.org/aeshc/pdf/chinn_a-new-svi.pdf   
http://www.aes.org/aeshc/pdf/hilliard_early-history-of-vi.pdf

Cheers
Alan