The design of Source Selector Unit/Preamp is coming along and I think I’m going to spring for a professionally made front panel. Today I spent some time with the design software from Front Panel Express and I think the ability to provide custom engravings will be worth it.

First, let me show you what the front of the unit will look like. Here is my layout drawing of the front of the unit with measurements.

The meters are to the left, the center panel is the source selector and gain adjustment, and on the right is the power indicator and switch. I started out assuming that I’d just use some small screw heads or rivets to mark the source markers and zero gain point. But then, mostly out of curiosity, I thought I’d see what the panel could look like from Front Panel Express. This is what I came up with after playing with the software for a couple of hours.

I’m very happy with how this looks. Unfortunately it’s going to add about $100 USD to the overall cost. But it will save me some time and effort machining the front plate, will look far better than anything I could do in my shop, and it will give a finished look to the project.

I will still machine the reminder of the aluminum plate using my normal processes. I briefly thought about doing the rear plate as well, numbering the inputs and labeling the outputs, but decided that it really wasn’t required. The connections there are pretty self explanatory.

As always, questions and comments are welcome.