All-in-one Hub (Power, USB & Dew controller)

[souls33k3r]

Hi All,

Sadly, i can not afford the a £400 (can not justify the cost if i'm being honest) hub so will have to do the old DIY fashioned way.

A little bit about my skills level, next to nothing but i'm a fast learner. Just got sheer enthusiasm and willingness to learn new skills.

Now i've already got a USB hub and dew heather controller so will take their chips (whatever the technical term is ... sorry) out and incorporate them to the hub (which will keep the cost down). I will most definitely need help and a friend of mine who's here on the forum has agreed to give me a hand. Will be a good way to learn things as well.

I just wanted to see some ideas (pictures would be lovely with a start to finish project or even a link to SGL thread), a finished product, the dos and don'ts, things to avoid and be careful of. Anything that will help.

The goal is to have less cables hanging, better balance so the size and weight of the box has to be kept to a minimum (ideally 5"-6"x5"-6" at the most).

I sincerely do hope i'm not asking for much here.

Many thanks

Kind Regards,

Ahmed

 

[coatesg]

Hobbyking sell these 12V/2.1A 5V USB power distribution boxes (seen here mounted on my scope) for £12.99 + delivery. They are fused with car type fuses on the back. I was going to build a power distribution box, but decided this was a cheaper way of doing it - not sure I could find the project box and banana sockets for that price!

This receives 13.8V from a bench supply, and powers the little PC next to it, mirror fan, focuser and (eventually) secondary heater (it's not wired up here, but it works fine). 

 

[coatesg]

(Realise, you'll need to use a separate USB hub and dew controller, but you could get small ones of each and use velcro to attach them to the sides, but it saved me a lot of work...)

[souls33k3r]

14 minutes ago, coatesg said:

Hobbyking sell these 12V/2.1A 5V USB power distribution boxes (seen here mounted on my scope) for £12.99 + delivery. They are fused with car type fuses on the back. I was going to build a power distribution box, but decided this was a cheaper way of doing it - not sure I could find the project box and banana sockets for that price!

This receives 13.8V from a bench supply, and powers the little PC next to it, mirror fan, focuser and (eventually) secondary heater (it's not wired up here, but it works fine). 

 

This looks awesome, i'm sure i can salvage some parts from this to incorporate. Can i ask for the link where you got this from? 

Thanks

[coatesg]

Sure! https://hobbyking.com/en_us/hobbyking-powerstrip-fuse-protected-power-distribution-board.html?___store=en_us

£12.94 + delivery

[Wyvern]

Cheers for the link. and now even slightly cheaper at £10.32 + delivery. 

What's not to like!!

Regards,

Les