Connection Box for Morse keys or Audio equipment

UPDATED 22/11/18

For some time now I have had an "improved version" of the "connection box" shown in this blog page.

It consists of 20 chassis mounted stereo sockets, fixed into a "plastic conduit" box as used for mounting electric cables in buildings..
The sockets are mounted on the "loose" capping, so that the backing can be permanently fixed to some point on the desk/wall

I now have 15 straight keys attached to my USB to Serial Converter in this manner ! ..

Having 8 morse keys connected to my laptop, via the USB/Serial Connector cable, via twin stereo adapter plugs, was a messy solution,...

Messy Junction !

 I wanted to tidy my desktop, and decided to make a connection box to plug all the keys into... The box I chose was rather larger than necessary, but will suffice to show the construction process, and details of the work as it progressed....

Two designs of box presentation

Depending on the space and location of the connection box, in its "in use" position, depends on the "face" where the socket holes will be drilled....

I decided that the side view would be convenient, and would sit nicely in a small space beside my radio on my desktop... so I found the centre line, then spaced the holes accordingly...

Inside the box, there are ridges, to support small pcb`s which makes the thickness of the box a little too much for the outer fixing to grip the socket sufficiently, so I had to "pare away" or thin an area behind each hole.......

The next job was to carefully twist the lugs on the sockets by 90 degrees. 

The reason for this, is , to facilitate threading a bared copper wire through each socket, after soldering to the first one.

Once the first one is soldered, it is easy to thread on the others, before fitting them into the holes in the box,....

As each one is fitted, into the box, they slide along the wires, into positon fairly easily... soldering first, or trying to wire up after fitting, would have been very tiresome,

After soldering, tighten up the lock nuts, and trim off the excess wire,

solder on the external lead, after tying a knot in, to prevent pulling it away, when in use...

 The finished box only needs the lid screwing on.....

Make sure the connections on the "fly lead" jack, are compatible with the socket on the equipment you intend to use this box on, and follow through to "mimic" those connection on the sockets on this box.... A multimeter, with croc clip, and a spare jack would be useful for detemining the correct connections throughout.

Disclaimer.....

You are responsible for any damage to your equipment, if you decide to follow this blog instruction.. I accept no responsibility for damage to your equipment.