Step 1 : Build a 128 channel board


First, build a board. I used the Hill 320 plans, but for my setup, I only wired 2 banks of 8 chips, for a total of 128 circuits. I am not posting a picture due to the cosmetic imperfections of the jumpers and connections. Least to say it all worked for me. What I will show is the finished Controller. Instead of using Hill's serial ports, I paired my outputs in groups of 6 and used cat 5 jacks, NOTE THE PHOTO.
These are patch panel inserts that i got for 16.95 for the whole panel. I seperated them and stacked them as you see. My outputs only use 22 ports, so i tied the last 2 ports to the 10 data lines, and 2 power connections, that way, all I have to do for future expansion is add 2 short CAT5 jumpers to a new box and i can expand my bank of 374 IC's.I also added in a Hex inverter CMOS chip with all inputs tied to the 1st data line in from the parallel port. Each output of the hex inverter connects to the 7th pin of 4 jacks. the 8th pin is ground. Also note in the photo the 7 segment LED pigtail, this tests the operation of each jack, and cable run to ensure signals are working.

Step 2 : Stealing your power


You need to have a common ground for the chips, as well as a good 5 volt supply for all the 374's, What a better way than to get it from the desktop tower. Here you see the female parallel port plug, and a modified 3 prong plug. I cut the "HOT" leg off just in case anybody accidentally plugged it into 120 volts, nothing would happen(neutral and ground carry no voltage, and are electrically the same.) My 5 volt positive comes on the neutral blade while the negative is on the ground pin.
Note the labels.

Step 3 : Hack your desktop


I needed the 5 volts to be removable so I used 18 gauge wire and found a disk drive power y-adapter at Radioshack clearanced for $1.97. I used the male and tied the 5 volt positive (RED) to the silver screw(neutral) of a replacement receptical plug, and the negative (BLACK) to the groung or green screw. Now I can move the controller 200 foot away from the computer and use a regular 3 prong cord.(distance may be further, I havent experimented with that much yet.)

Step 4 : On your mark, Get set, Make some boxes!


I used this tutorial here -----> http://computerchristmas.com/?link=how_to&HowToId=68
to go by when making my SSR boxes. I decided to do 3 outlets since i could get 6 conductors down a cat 5 cable rather efficiently. I used a garden variety 3 gang nail up box and the exact list of components listed in the above tutorial.

Step 5 : Hook up, hook up, whos got the hook up?


i wanted to make connections a breeze, so i decided on cat 5. Well, I racked my brain trying to figure out how to mount a cat 5 keystone in this box, i did not want to do a solder version as in the tutorial i mentioned earlier. so I bought a keystone and lo-and-behold!! it fits very snugly in the wire knockout. I used some high temp heat glue to hold it in place and waa-la. Here is where the led comes into play. I mounted it in the side, (also using glue) and when the cat 5 is plugged in, you get a nice little glowing LED. If the show is in progress, you will see it flicker VERY VERY fast.