Description
This Blue Box Front Panel Kit contains the parts needed to convert a 110x250x190 blue box enclosure in to a case for your RomWBW based RC2014. This includes the front panel PCB and the backplane support plate with the fittings needed. The switch/LED IO Kit and the 4×20 LCD Driver Module are optionally included too. The front panel itself is a custom made PCB with high quality silk screen text and graphics and replaces the metal panel supplied with the enclosure.
Blue Box Enclosure Not Included
The 110x250x190 blue box enclosure was selected for the RC2014 RomWBW enclosure for a number of reasons. Firstly, it is just about the perfect size, with room enough for a fully laden RC2014 Zed Pro. It is also easy to access, either from the front or rear and also the top is easily removed. It is also excellent value for money which is always nice! And, lastly, whilst it seems to originate from China, it is ubiquitous in many countries, often holding local stock. Because of this, it does not make sense for me to supply the enclosure itself as you can almost certainly get these cheaper.
Sourcing one of these boxes yourself is fairly easy. Some combination of Blue, Enclosure, Project Box, Junction Box, ABS, Plastic, Metal, Panel typed in to your favourite search engine or market place should give a few results. Brand names vary wildly, although I am pretty sure they are all made by just one manufacturer.
There are a lot of sizes to choose from, so ensure you get the right size. 110x250x190 seems to be the nominal size it is sold as. Sometimes 105x245x191 is mentioned and this is more accurate. In some countries the nominal dimensions are 9.8″x7.5″x4.3″
The RC2014 website has some tips for ordering the blue box along with some links.
Rear Panel Not Included
A rear panel to suit this enclosure is under development. As soon as it is available this page will be updated with a link. In the meantime, leaving the rear of the enclosure open means you will have access for cables and connectors.
RomWBW Usage
This kit is designed to take either an RC2014 Zed or an RC2014 Zed Pro which run the RomWBW operating system. From version 3.4.0 RomWBW has had support for a front panel assembly. As RomWBW starts to boot up the LEDs indicate the different parts of the boot process. From there the switches are read, and depending what they are set to it can boot to console as normal, one of the 7 images on ROM, or boot from a specific drive/slice on disk media. When booted the LEDs act as disk activity lights for each drive.
For a more detailed description, see Chapter 3 of the RomWBW User Guide
The LCD Module can be easily written to from BASIC or Z80 assembly.
Whilst this Blue Box Front Panel Kit can house other RC2014 systems, the switches and LEDs will only operate as a generic Digital I/O Module.
Assembly
The kit includes the extra fixings needed to fit your RC2014 in the enclosure. The backplane support plate is laser cut to size with all holes necessary to install either a Backplane Pro, Backplane 8 or Backplane 5. No drilling or cutting is needed, and only basic tools are required. See the assembly guide for details.
This kit is available with 4 options so if you already have the I/O Kit or the LCD Kit you do not need to buy these again;
- Minimal Kit – Only the front PCB, backplane support plate and fixing hardware
- As Minimal Kit but including the Switch and LED I/O panel and module
- As Minimal Kit but including the 4×20 LCD display and module
- Full kit – Including both the I/O Panel Kit and the LCD kit.
A further option including the rear panel will be added when this is available, but this will also be available on its own.
