First look at the new OWL prototypes (incl. power box) and mounts

[geezacoleman]

The new CNC enclosures have just arrived over the weekend. We wanted to test out the black vs silver anodising and a couple of different designs for both the front and back.

Current thoughts are grey anodising + the more curved design are preferable than the black (marks show easily). Cost is the biggest barrier for the heatsink backplate vs the plain design - if we can keep heat in check without the fins it reduces the rear plate cost by over half.

The new OWL Powerbox also arrived - this will power 4x OWLs per box and allow for pass through of the EN switch between units as a daisy chain type setup. There will be sequenced power on to avoid any accidental current surges across wide booms.

The sheet metal stainless shrouds/mounting plates also arrived. These are in 3mm stainless, which seems potentially excessive so we will drop back to 2mm for weight/pricing improvements. These will also be powder coated. The shroud provides the sun protection and also physical protection to the OWL, mounted with M6 bolts.

[ben]

Looks very high quality.

[geezacoleman]

They’ve turned out really nicely! We’ll make some changes to the shroud still, it’s a little too big. Hoping to make the power box more compact eventually too.

How are you thinking of mounting them to your boom?

[ben]

Have not decided on the boom whether to buy or build.
Just another comment looking at it again, will that bolt securing the angle of the mount be sufficient to avoid camera slipping backward or forward with constant boom movement?

[geezacoleman]

Good point - assumption was it would stay in one place, but as with everything it will just loosen over time no matter what you do and eventually sag. So we’ll make a change to defined bolt positions or something similar.

I think we’ll move to bolts on the back of the shield rather than the side, then add a spacer if needed between the certical and the shield.