Building a radio room

[scan_madison]

What are some of the "must haves" in your opinion in the shack? Some of the things I can think of are as follows:
* Plenty of wall power sockets
* Sound absorbing materials in the walls and ceiling
* Absolutely no "noise-producing" devices in the room or near antenna

Please add yours. Thanks.

 

[ka1njl]

Good question. I can think of several things that would be in my dream shack. They include wired network infrastructure (i.e. Ethernet ports on each wall), a convenient method of passing feedlines into the room and an audio distribution system (audio cables in the walls with wall mounted connectors). These are in addition to task lighting and, perhaps, AC outlets mounted at desk level or above 30", to prevent needing to crawl around on the floor behind the radio desk to plug/unplug radios and power supplies. As I suspect we all know, whoever called radio "wireless" hasn't looked behind the desk at my operating position.

With all the innovative ideas I am seeing here on RR, I think I may have to rebuild my own shack.

 

[ecps92]

Switched Wall Sockets - I used lighted ones to know what is on/off

If your wiremold doesn't have individual controls for each socket I use
Leviton 125-Volt Grounded Switch Tap, that have a light in the rocker
commonly found at the Orange Big Box Hardware Store

What are some of the "must haves" in your opinion in the shack? Some of the things I can think of are as follows:
* Plenty of wall power sockets
* Sound absorbing materials in the walls and ceiling
* Absolutely no "noise-producing" devices in the room or near antenna

Please add yours. Thanks.

 

[K5MPH]

A mini fridge to keep the Beer close and cold....

 

[WA8ZTZ]

Operating desk, table, bench, whatever away from the wall to allow access to behind the gear and all the connections. Cords, coax, wire, cables, etc. run in cable tray overhead.

x2 on the 807 stocked fridge.

 

[Chronic]

smoke detector and fire extinguisher

 

[ka3jjz]

A properly grounded bus bar running across at least one wall - preferably all the walls in the room

Mike

 

[bharvey2]

A mini fridge to keep the Beer close and cold....

Excellent point.

The second most important item might be incandescent lighting if you do any HF work or at least strict vetting of any lighting you use. Some of the cheap CFL and LED lights are notorious for creating hash.


The third item would be radios, naturally. (Yeah, I know. There's always a wise @#$ in the room. You know how many times of heard that?)

 

[N9JIG]

The problem these days is that the worst producer of radio noise is almost required in most shacks, and that is the computer.

There are so many other producers of radio noise that it is almost impossible to get rid of them. I have found that my mini-fridge sends out noise on the VHF railroad band. USB hubs are noisy, as are computer monitors and the computers themselves.

As for shack building itself, before putting in any wiring place all the radios, computers and accessories and try different layouts. Then take a few pictures and use them to help place the wiring. Put the wiring in place and then install the radios etc.

When setting up power, antennas, USB etc. leave some room for expansion. Consider a multicoupler for the scanner antennas and leave a port or two for new radios down the road.

Leave access to an outlet to plug in a scanner temporarily as well as an antenna. Make sure you have a USB port easily accessible.

Try to set it up so you have access to the rear of the desk. If that isn't practical make sure you leave enough wire to pull the radio and accessories out and replace them.

One of the most used tools in my shack is a flashlight! I keep one on the desk so I can see into the dark spaces around the shack to pull a wire or something. It also helps view displays of radios that I have turned off the backlight to.

 

[AK9R]

One of the most used tools in my shack is a flashlight! I keep one on the desk so I can see into the dark spaces around the shack to pull a wire or something.

I think putting LED strips on the back of the operating desk is a good idea. Turn it on when you need to access a wire, plug in a cable, etc. Turn it off when not in use. I've also though about putting a mirror on the wall behind the operating desk. Might make it easier finding where to plug in those cables. Of course, you'll have to learn how to read backwards.

 

[scan_madison]

Excellent tips so far! Keep 'em coming!!
Just thought having a large sized city/town map along with thumb tacks would be useful too. Or maybe a Google Map displayed in the monitor.

 

[W2PDX]

Another good practice is to label your coax with some type of color-coded tape or zip ties. Makes it much easier to trace coax/antenna routing, especially when you're running multiple antennas into the shack.

 

[N9JIG]

Another good practice is to label your coax with some type of color-coded tape or zip ties. Makes it much easier to trace coax/antenna routing, especially when you're running multiple antennas into the shack.

I wholeheartedly second this suggestion!

Since I have several multicouplers I color code those as well. I then use color tape indicators on both ends of the jumper cables going to that multicoupler. Each of these cables have a number on the tape. at both ends.

This way if I lose several radios and all are on the same multicoupler I can figure out which one is bad. If just one radio isn't working I can swap out the individual cable to see if that is the issue.

I got a package of color tapes at Fry's Electronics for a few bucks, it has 5 colors (white, red, green, yellow and blue) and I use a Sharpie to number them. If I reuse a cable I just remove the old tape and replace it or just put the new color over the old one.

 

[CommLt]

Can't wait to see where this is headed. Pictures as always please.

 

[mikewazowski]

Thread moved to Radio Equipment Installation forum.