SimBox NG

Hardware & Tech Questions
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As some of you know I have a deal with my significant other that I can keep my gaming PC in our guestroom, if I can remove it on short notice, should we receive guests (monster in law).
For this purpose, I built the SimBox. It was originally built to house a 34" Curved screen and all other stuff. My VR SimPit
This SimBox has seen numerous changes, especially since I started using VR HMD a couple of years ago.

Long story short, I’m still not satisfied with it. I need something I can pack/unpack even faster. Preferably for each session…

So I have decided to start over, and build a new SimBox, aptly named «SimBox NG».

I will keep the new chair that I just finished.

The new SimBox will be constructed around a frame of modular extruded aluminium.

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I’m thinking of 4040 dimension, or a mix of 4040 and 3030.

The current SimBox has folding sides.
I’m thinking of having the sides, of the new SimBox, move out in parallel, to the base.

Blueprints will follow… Stay tuned!

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I gues you have very cold and dark sumer up there :wink:
Looking forward to this project!

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Not so bad now, but June… Well, let’s just say that the month of June has been erased from the 2018 calendar. 2018 only has 11 months. :wink:

The build starts with ordering materials. The actual construction phase will start after the vacation :sunglasses:

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As I really only use a 2D monitor for Windows stuff, like installing and updating my games and sims, I don’t need a whole lot of pixels to look at.
And the smaller the screen, the less realestate is required in the SimBox NG. Another advantage using a smaller screen is less VR sensor shadowing.

I just got this nifty little 15,6" 1920x1080 screen. It’s advertised as a Playstation/X-Box monitor, but works just as well as a PC monitor.
Aluminum frame. Just 13mm thick.
2x mini HDMI input. Receives power from the USB C port or a 12V adapter.

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I remember when 15" monitors were a step up from the standard 14", back in the CRT days… Now I have come full circle… :wink:
Ok, the resolution is better. :smile:

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@Troll, what is your situation that you’re so cramped for space? I’m sure it’s been asked before but I’m too lazy to look it up.

In Canada, we have something called “basements” … hundreds of square feet of unused space. :smiley:

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You hit the nail on the head there, @Linebacker!
A basement is what I need…
We have them in Norway too.
But we chose to live on this island, which basically is a rock, in the middle of a sound. Solid granite everywhere. Some places the granite is covered in mud, and you can have a basement. Most places you need to blast several hundred tonnes of rock to get it. A basement is usually the most expensive part of a house, here.
And since I already occupy one room with my other hobbies, model building and flightsim controller construction, the guest room is the only room left that’s not permanently occupied…
I have a plan, though. The garage is crap! I would like to replace it with a larger garage, that is insulated and with a room ontop.

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Just imagine the NORAD style sim cave for the @Troll :thinking:

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We should totally create a Sim-Arena called NORAD. Each station would have a huge monitor, HOTAS + rudder + Track IR and each player would be a registered user that would keep all of his/her settings for each sim in a pen drive he/she’d receive after paying up for the registration.

Yeah, I know.
PLus off-topic. Sorry :stuck_out_tongue:

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Well… With granite weighing in at 2,6 tonnes per kubic metre, a small house like ours with a base of 10x10 meters, and a 3m deep basement will mean you need to remove 780 tonnes. NORAD may be a bit bigger than that… :wink:

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So it’s more like “inspired by NORAD” or “NORAD-ready”? :smile:

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It would definitely be NORAD compatible… :wink:

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You’d totally need the appropriately styled label though…

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Curious to see your blue prints/pic as I’m always looking for design ideas so that someday I can convert my “corner of sim toy shame” to sim toy glory :joy:.

80/20 looks like it would be great to work.

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So obviously you’re going to be going with motorized side panels for the sliding in/ out, right?

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Ah yes, that rock in the middle of the sound sounds like our Canadian Shield which you experience in northern Canada. Your house sounds beautiful though!

That sounds awesome! I don’t know what I’d do without my basement nook … I call it “The Bunker” and I like to keep it dark down there … you can barely make out the beer fridge. :smiley: …

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I’ve digressed … please continue on with your work.

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Here’s a rough draft. I’m using Shapr3D on my iPad since I’m off on vacation. Very useful app, and works great with the Apple Pencil.

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Well maybe not motorized, but I’m thinking about spring-damper assisted movement… :slight_smile:

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Oh, like the self-closing drawers you can order for a kitchen reno?

Hmmm… how about using that in conjunction with say solenoids that keep the sides/ top closed? Push a button, everything starts slowly folding open.

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Oh, no! Not at all! I cherish the inspiration! :slight_smile:

I’d really like to live in a bigger house… But as long as the wife wants to live within walking distance of her job, and the little one is in school, I don’t see that happening. We could perhaps find some other house in the neighbourhood, but that would just be different, not better.

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Not what I had in mind, but worth a thought… :thinking:

I want the base on wheels, and thought I’d make the sides fold out to act as supports, resting on the floor.

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So maybe some extendible feet once the sides are clear as well? Might be easier than having two pivot points for each side to move both out and down. Just a thought.