Tube Tracer Build 5 - Final

Conclusions

The visual appearance of the uTracer case has many of the characteristics I hoped to achieve. I am particularly happy with the selection of materials. The results would have been even better, given a bit more time for planning and sourcing of parts which would better match with each other.

The case is almost complete. Texts and graphics for the face plate need to be added.
In the front exhaust holes for the cooling air are visible.
The fixed USB cable in the rear left corner will be coiled and stored inside the lid for storage and transport.

The concept of using tube adapters with screw terminals is in a way elegant but the result is not very portable if you need to retain the capability to test many different tube types. The uTracer itself can of course very easily be moved around in its case. However, since the adapters need quite a lot of space for storage, one may need a second case just for the tube adapters. It may still be possible to add small pockets inside the lid to store up to 8 spare adapters.

In home use this is not a problem as long as you can find the correct adapter when you need it. If you frequently have the need to test a limited set of tube types, it is even feasible to hard wire a dedicated adapter for each individual tube type or family.

Originally, one of the most important reasons for the choice of Dilite material for the face plate was the sandwich structure which naturally lends itself to engraving. The texts and graphics on the face plate would have been very exiting to design and produce. Unfortunately, as described above the CNC router had so small working space that this could not be accomplished.

Eventually, I decided to use water transfer decals and the results were great although only time will tell, how resilient the decal surface will be.

The case is here in its final form. Decals have dried and texts are readable, although not perfectly aligned.