I have started building some new SSRs to use this year. While the current SSRezs work great, they are all in bulky enclosures, and each arch used two of these. While they weren’t really visible while watching the show, at least not to the point of being distracting, they did strike me as a little clunky. The new component has been named the ‘DirkCheap’ SSR, in honor of dirknirkle (Dave H.) from the DIYC forum, who came up with it. It is a more minimalistic appoach to an SSR, using less componentry and supporting fewer lights, but also with a much smaller footprint. This is where I started:
2 SSRezs on Arch
The parts for the build are pretty simple. The DirkCheap pcb, 8 components for each pcb, some pvc pipe and caps, some heatshrink tubing, Cat5e cable, and a scavenged fused plug:
Pieces
Assembly of the boards was quick, and I then soldered in the cat5e cable and the 110V supply line.
Board Assy
The wires from the lights were then attached. One wire from each light strand went to the outputs on the pcbs, and the other wires were all bunched together and connected to the second 110V supply wire. All the wires were fed through holes in the pvc end caps prior to connecting them. The power plug and cat5e cables were fed through the other cap and the cable ends were crimped on. The caps were then put on the pipe.
Almost Done
Assembled
I dug out a couple of the Ren64 controllers and hooked it up for a test run:
Works like a champ. A little hot glue, a little black spray paint and a couple zip ties, and it’ll disappear into the back of the arch. I like it.
I received notice today that the parts from the January group buy shipped out today. Woohoo! More to build 🙂
