I just finished my ultraprobe build and I am thrilled to see the work of others.
As to the probe itself, I followed Paul’s build as close as possible. The connection cable is made of a small microphone cable and teflon coax inside a silicone sleeve. The cable is ended with a 4 pin microphone connector which carries both the power and signal.
The case is then entirely my construct. It is made of steel with aluminium panel I milled on my homebuilt CNC. I took the dimensions from the original PCB layout to drill holes just above those smd LEDs, so now if you look straight down on the panel, you can see which one is glowing. Nevertheless this became unnecessary as soon as I finished the artwork with labels. The artwork is done on the CNC as well, but instead of the spindle, I mounted an permanent marker as the tool and I plotted the labels. The base colour is white acrylic paint, then there are the labels and it is all capsuled with a layer of acrylic clear coat. Unfortunately I did not follow Paul’s advice with doing a couple of very light coats first and the writing got slightly mushed.
All in all, I am happy with the result and I would really love to see where others went with their Ultraprobes.
Here are some photos from the build:
Milling.- https://photos.app.goo.gl/PQAr2NG5h4QQemXw6
First partial assembly – https://photos.app.goo.gl/5mP4ZASDdVWmfPw37
Assembled unit before labelling – https://photos.app.goo.gl/iFxTwhBfS4iu4DDW6
Plotting the artwork (video) – https://photos.app.goo.gl/WtzysK9rq9JYJ2hNA
Finished project – https://photos.app.goo.gl/5J5PYbsYmo4WNnh67
Thanks for being the brave person to be the first to share. It looks amazing; I am seriously jealous of the homemade CNC. Great work on that, too. My work area is limited to a small bench in my home office, and for brief spells, the dining room table, until I pass my wife’s tolerance threshold and have to return projects to boxes again 🙂 so anything like that is a long way down my list after “get a proper lab space”.
I’m looking forward to seeing more of these Ultraprobes here. I have added it to my project list as it will be invaluable, but I need to clear a few other projects first.
Here is how mine tuned out. First time I build anything like this. I made a 3D-printed case for the speaker and the amplifier. The probe is the thru hole version.
Works quite OK, but it is a bit too sensitive. Even with the extra 10uF cap for the amplifier removed.
@mrcarlsonslab I don’t think you know how much this compliment means to me. Thank you so much. You inspire me not only when it comes to electronics, but in crafts in general. Thank you for all the work.
@zyxt I understand your struggle. I am so happy my father is a craftsman and that he made sure I have a nice big workshop/lab and also tought me love to all crafts.
As to the CNC, thank you for those kind words. It was not that hard to build, since most parts are 3D printed, yet it is a very handy tool. I am currently planning a bigger one, which will be finally all metal. Hope I will figure it out somehow. I might refer the progress in the “Homebrew” thread.
Hope you will have your “dream lab” very soon. 🙂
@patrlind It looks very clean. 🙂 Is the front panel 3D printed too? Also what about shielding the plastic box? Isn’t there a problem with humm or other noise on the amplifier board?
@patrlind Nice looking and I 3D print and I am interested more about your build.
Is there any stl files on what you printed?
Larry – N7LUF
Tnx. for sharing the project pictures with us. You did a great job for putting together this nice project. I must admit, I am jealous of your CNC machine capability 😇 . I would like one myself.
@honzam In my experience the audio board have no problems with shielding, it is totally quiet when the probe is not attached.
The front panel is also 3D printed, yes. Didn’t turn out perfect, but it’s good enough I guess. I just added a filament change on the top most layer in order to have some other color on the lettering.
@larry_n7luf I made it in FreeCAD. I have no CAD experience since before so the whole project is a big mess really. Very slow to work with. Maybe I could share the FreeCAD project perhaps… But not sure if I’m allowed to share the 3D-print files publicly by @mrcarlsonslab?
@patrlind I get most of my 3D prints from 3D repository and do not want to go against any gray parts of the rules.
I also have CAD programs, but do not have the skill what I would like to have.
Beside having 3D printers, I have a CNC machine, but have not had much luck with it.
It is looking it would not matter what case one uses, and maybe a nice wooden box also.
The filament choice also might be a question and I can print all type of filaments.
Larry – N7LUF
Here is how mine tuned out. First time I build anything like this. I made a 3D-printed case for the speaker and the amplifier. The probe is the thru hole version.
Works quite OK, but it is a bit too sensitive. Even with the extra 10uF cap for the amplifier removed.
Mine is also very sensitive unless I shield the probe.
Tony