It has been almost six months since I last posted a redone shack photo post. That has to be some sort of record! I tend to rearrange my shack as often as Scott @KC1UA buys and sells R8600’s. Over this time, I took stock in what I actually used every day and what I didn’t. I realized I really only needed a few scanners and other radios these days and again reduced the number of radios in my shack. My last shack photo series was also a contraction; I have now taken it a bit further.
A couple factors went into the layout and radio selection. First was what my needs were. I have devolved into mostly listening to railroad, aviation, GMRS/FRS and the local community and HOA. I have also gone back to recording some stuff for future review and dug out my old PL decoder as it is easier to view than the tiny display on the scanners. This is very useful for some of the GMRS and FRS activity around here that I am currently interested in.
The next factor was my antenna situation. I have a boatload of antennas in my attic as well as a single external antenna on my HOA home. As far as the HOA is concerned this is a TV antenna and that is all I have to say about that. Due probably to some issues with the coax leading to it I have found that either an Omni-X or ST-2 is majorly outperformed by a Diamond DX200 in my attic as well as a Comet GP-1. It is too hot for me to get up into the attic to replace the coax so for now I will use the Diamond. I have it feeding a Stridsberg 8-port multicoupler so decided to restrict myself to 8 receivers.
First off, a reminder as to why I use a cabinet: Wire Management. I hate seeing wires. Remember that episode of “Friends” where Chandler discovers Monica’s messy closet? Well, that is the rear of my cabinet. With 10 radios, all with USB cables, power, antennas and others with accessories like an Auto-tuner or audio cables there are a lot of wires. Since I am no longer using the Zetron Model 27 I have been able to eliminate a bunch of cables but there are still a lot. It looks messy but it is a lot better than it was. I need to replace my antenna jumpers to the patch panel with more flexible ones but that is a problem for future Rich, for now I have to deal with gentle curves. The great thing about a cabinet is that I can stuff the wires out of sight. It is sort of like a mullet, all business up front and a playground in the back. This set up makes it really easy for me to swing the desk around to access the back to swap out a cable or something.
That 8-receiver restriction led me to decide on 6 scanners; the other two ports are used by my R8600 and a Railroad Spectra. I decided to go with symmetry in my cabinet layout as aesthetics are important to me. I am using my 10u AudioRax cabinet that has been featured here before. Of course, I still have my 3u/3bay and 4u/3bay cabinets stored in the garage for future use.
By the way Scott: I still have my first (and so far only) R8600. Chew on that buddy!
So for my new layout I have 2 SDS200’s on top, 2 BCD536HP’s next and 2 996’s below. I moved the power supply down and have a blank panel at the bottom of the cabinet. I took the dual-band AnyTone out of the cabinet, it now lives on top of the cabinet. I have retired and stored the IC-7300 and IC-705 as well as the Zetron Model 27 but will retain them for future use down the road. Since I bought the IC-7100 I found I really like it as a desktop radio!
The iPad is used for home automation, a Zello network used by some friends and the occasional sojourn to my Lazy Boy to watch a movie, I can usually get past the credits before I fall asleep. Next to it is the head and mic for my IC-7100. I use this for my ham radio needs; I can do some pretty decent 20M stuff as well as 2M and 440. To the left is the Railroad Spectra with the R8600 on top and my SDS100 above that.
Below the 6 scanners is the 12V/50A Astron power supply with metering and my CD-1 PL decoder. The CD1 is connected to the 996XT and the 996P2 is connected for recording to the PC.
In this wider view you can see a portion of my handheld radios, some in desk chargers and others on a wood rack that was gifted to me by my friend Will. It came from a creator on Etsy (Flather Creations) who designed it to our specs. Remove the radios and it looks like a park bench. There is a slot the width of the stand so you can run charging or computer connections to the side of the radios. With no such cables it holds 5 radios, put a couple serial, power or USB cables and you are down to 4.
Next to the radio cabinet is a steel monitor stand that holds the RR Spectra and other radios. Under the shelf is the box for the 7100. I used to leave this in the cabinet but relocating it here allows more space in the cabinet for stashing wires and makes it easier to access said wiring. I think it should also reduce heat issues down the road.
The radio desk is a Husky (Home Depot’s house brand) workbench with 2 drawers. It has a hand crank so I can raise it if needed. It is sturdy, durable and the drawers allow me to keep some small tools and accessories at hand. I had a taller tool chest in the office before but most of the stuff stored in it lived better in the garage so now I am actually using it in the garage for tools as it was intended.
This is my main computer desk. I can rotate my chair to the left to get to my radios. The smaller display is for the Windows computer used mostly for programming radios and running ProScan, Butel, Scanner Recorder or ham radio stuff like FT-8 now and then.
The 49" UltraWide monitor is for my main computer, a Mac Studio I got a few months ago. I had switched to the Windows computer for my daily driver for a year or so but really missed the Mac (“Once you go Mac, you never go back”!) I use separate mice for the two computers, but they share the keyboard. The chair is from LF Gaming and cost me twice as much as the desk.
Above the computer is a 50” 4K TV, one of 3 on different walls of the office. I usually run a stream of an airport or rail cam here, today is during Oshkosh 2025 so I am watching the parade of flights in and out. When I took this picture the other day however I was running my GeoChron. I have another similar display to my right on the other wall that I also use for watching streams and a third on the back wall I use for my security cameras.
The desk is from Secret Labs, it is the Magnus ProXL, sit-stand desk. This thing was (and remains) my dream desk. It has the best wire management scheme I have ever seen on a desk. Using a full width tray along the back to hold wires, power strips and bricks, small accessories like hard drives and hubs, it keeps all the wires out of sight. It had a heavy-duty power cable that plugs into the base of the left leg that powers the desk and an outlet stashed in the wire tray. If it weren’t for the network, audio and USB cables in my build it would be entirely self-contained. I have the optional CPU holder on the left leg for my big PC case, along with all the magnetic wire management accessories (the desk is all steel) it really is a great desk for gamers, productivity and even radio. I have had my radio case on it before, it had no problem holding it, but for now I like it the way it is. I might end up doing that again down the road and use the Husky as a work bench like it was intended. Who knows?
Any bets on when I tear it all down and rebuild again? Being retired gives me more time to dream and build…
A couple factors went into the layout and radio selection. First was what my needs were. I have devolved into mostly listening to railroad, aviation, GMRS/FRS and the local community and HOA. I have also gone back to recording some stuff for future review and dug out my old PL decoder as it is easier to view than the tiny display on the scanners. This is very useful for some of the GMRS and FRS activity around here that I am currently interested in.
The next factor was my antenna situation. I have a boatload of antennas in my attic as well as a single external antenna on my HOA home. As far as the HOA is concerned this is a TV antenna and that is all I have to say about that. Due probably to some issues with the coax leading to it I have found that either an Omni-X or ST-2 is majorly outperformed by a Diamond DX200 in my attic as well as a Comet GP-1. It is too hot for me to get up into the attic to replace the coax so for now I will use the Diamond. I have it feeding a Stridsberg 8-port multicoupler so decided to restrict myself to 8 receivers.
First off, a reminder as to why I use a cabinet: Wire Management. I hate seeing wires. Remember that episode of “Friends” where Chandler discovers Monica’s messy closet? Well, that is the rear of my cabinet. With 10 radios, all with USB cables, power, antennas and others with accessories like an Auto-tuner or audio cables there are a lot of wires. Since I am no longer using the Zetron Model 27 I have been able to eliminate a bunch of cables but there are still a lot. It looks messy but it is a lot better than it was. I need to replace my antenna jumpers to the patch panel with more flexible ones but that is a problem for future Rich, for now I have to deal with gentle curves. The great thing about a cabinet is that I can stuff the wires out of sight. It is sort of like a mullet, all business up front and a playground in the back. This set up makes it really easy for me to swing the desk around to access the back to swap out a cable or something.
That 8-receiver restriction led me to decide on 6 scanners; the other two ports are used by my R8600 and a Railroad Spectra. I decided to go with symmetry in my cabinet layout as aesthetics are important to me. I am using my 10u AudioRax cabinet that has been featured here before. Of course, I still have my 3u/3bay and 4u/3bay cabinets stored in the garage for future use.
By the way Scott: I still have my first (and so far only) R8600. Chew on that buddy!
So for my new layout I have 2 SDS200’s on top, 2 BCD536HP’s next and 2 996’s below. I moved the power supply down and have a blank panel at the bottom of the cabinet. I took the dual-band AnyTone out of the cabinet, it now lives on top of the cabinet. I have retired and stored the IC-7300 and IC-705 as well as the Zetron Model 27 but will retain them for future use down the road. Since I bought the IC-7100 I found I really like it as a desktop radio!
The iPad is used for home automation, a Zello network used by some friends and the occasional sojourn to my Lazy Boy to watch a movie, I can usually get past the credits before I fall asleep. Next to it is the head and mic for my IC-7100. I use this for my ham radio needs; I can do some pretty decent 20M stuff as well as 2M and 440. To the left is the Railroad Spectra with the R8600 on top and my SDS100 above that.
Below the 6 scanners is the 12V/50A Astron power supply with metering and my CD-1 PL decoder. The CD1 is connected to the 996XT and the 996P2 is connected for recording to the PC.
In this wider view you can see a portion of my handheld radios, some in desk chargers and others on a wood rack that was gifted to me by my friend Will. It came from a creator on Etsy (Flather Creations) who designed it to our specs. Remove the radios and it looks like a park bench. There is a slot the width of the stand so you can run charging or computer connections to the side of the radios. With no such cables it holds 5 radios, put a couple serial, power or USB cables and you are down to 4.
Next to the radio cabinet is a steel monitor stand that holds the RR Spectra and other radios. Under the shelf is the box for the 7100. I used to leave this in the cabinet but relocating it here allows more space in the cabinet for stashing wires and makes it easier to access said wiring. I think it should also reduce heat issues down the road.
The radio desk is a Husky (Home Depot’s house brand) workbench with 2 drawers. It has a hand crank so I can raise it if needed. It is sturdy, durable and the drawers allow me to keep some small tools and accessories at hand. I had a taller tool chest in the office before but most of the stuff stored in it lived better in the garage so now I am actually using it in the garage for tools as it was intended.
The 49" UltraWide monitor is for my main computer, a Mac Studio I got a few months ago. I had switched to the Windows computer for my daily driver for a year or so but really missed the Mac (“Once you go Mac, you never go back”!) I use separate mice for the two computers, but they share the keyboard. The chair is from LF Gaming and cost me twice as much as the desk.
Above the computer is a 50” 4K TV, one of 3 on different walls of the office. I usually run a stream of an airport or rail cam here, today is during Oshkosh 2025 so I am watching the parade of flights in and out. When I took this picture the other day however I was running my GeoChron. I have another similar display to my right on the other wall that I also use for watching streams and a third on the back wall I use for my security cameras.
The desk is from Secret Labs, it is the Magnus ProXL, sit-stand desk. This thing was (and remains) my dream desk. It has the best wire management scheme I have ever seen on a desk. Using a full width tray along the back to hold wires, power strips and bricks, small accessories like hard drives and hubs, it keeps all the wires out of sight. It had a heavy-duty power cable that plugs into the base of the left leg that powers the desk and an outlet stashed in the wire tray. If it weren’t for the network, audio and USB cables in my build it would be entirely self-contained. I have the optional CPU holder on the left leg for my big PC case, along with all the magnetic wire management accessories (the desk is all steel) it really is a great desk for gamers, productivity and even radio. I have had my radio case on it before, it had no problem holding it, but for now I like it the way it is. I might end up doing that again down the road and use the Husky as a work bench like it was intended. Who knows?
Any bets on when I tear it all down and rebuild again? Being retired gives me more time to dream and build…
