Theremin case construction help

Hi all,

Well, my Theremax arrived yesterday and I've gotten about 70% through the electronics in four hours. The biggest challenge is - what do I do now for an enclosure! Wondering if some of the theremin geniuses could help me out with some questions and my scenario...

Here are my constraints:
Low budget - I only want to spend around $50
No shop tools available - need everything precut

I'm thinking white plastic/plexiglass like the ipod, or black plastic like the ps3. Any suggestions on a premade case like this? Or any suggestions on a low cost place to buy the materials precut?

Size-wise, what do you think about a 16" wide x 8.5" deep x 4" tall box? Can I make it shorter and less deep? (That might look better...) should it be wider?

Lastly, I'm wondering about case materials and how they would affect the electronics. Will the theremin get hot and melt down in the plexiglass case? will there be a difference with the cover open or closed?

Thanks guys! Very much appreciate your help. Looking forward to getting the case built and having a usable theremin ;)

The theremax works with 12V and draws about 100mA. So you have a max. power dissipation of 1.2W - not enough to melt anything.

Each non-conductive material will be fine for the case. Beware of cheap pre-fabricated plastic housings with aluminum top plate. The most important is to get enough distance between the volume and the pitch antenna. A 16" wide case will be fine.

I agree with Thierry.

16 to 18 inches is a good seperation distance for the antennas.

You will likely want a case that allows an inch or two between the control pannel, and board to make it easy to access, and perhaps avoid any possible capacitence tuning isssues with the oscilators. (not likely though).

One thing to keep in mind, is that the theremax comes with a metal plate for the bottom of it's lecturn case version. This metal plate serves as part of the ground, as well as the mounting for the board. You may need to order it if you only got the basic kit. You can use tin tinsnips to trim the plate to fit your encluser.

About the only other caution I can think of, is avoid enclosure materials which are high in carbon content, or for example, painted, or impregnated with metal flakes for metalic finnishes. (This may not allways be a problem, but...)

I have a theremax, but I've got a bad solder joint somewhere, and it's picking up some radio traffic. Gotta go in and fix that some day.

For good examples, do an image search at google for theremax, and you'll find some cool cases others have done with their theremax kits.

Maybe comb the local thrift stores to find an old jewelry box that's big enough to hold the board and metal plate?

If you find one that has a bad finish (scratched paint or stain), that would have 2 advantages:
1. They would sell it cheap because it looks bad.
2. It would "force you" to sand it down and refinish it in a media that did not interfere with theremin operation.

Don

[i]About the only other caution I can think of, is avoid enclosure materials which are high in carbon content, or for example, painted, or impregnated with metal flakes for metalic finnishes. (This may not allways be a problem, but...)[/i]

Thank you, Thomas, for clarifying this. That's in fact what I meant by writing about non-conductive materials but this may have been a difficult-to-understand term. It is not always easy for me to write my thoughts down in this language, I'm often forced to use a dictionary.

Thanks for the suggestions, guys!

For now I just want to get it working - I guess I'll put it in a cardboard box... :S at least the panel hole will be easy to cut :P

...then later will comb the thrift shops to find an enclosure. It would have been nice to find something prebuilt that's also low-cost, but I guess that's like asking for the goose that laid the golden egg!

Hi Thiery, My mother's meen banging it into my head everytime even mention stuff like terrabyte, or ram. To her, I might as well be talking another language, so I'm having to learn to simplify what I say too. ;)

Oh, one other suggestion for enclosures is cigar boxes, or pencil boxes.