Computer Cabinet

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N0YFE

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I finally got tired of all my computer network gear taking up space on a shelf in the mechanical room. I had looked around for different options and didn't like the price of rack gear or other types of storage. I finally decided on picking up a cabinet, door, and shelves from IKEA along with the necessary hardware to mount everything in one cabinet.

Along with this project, I finished running cable and Cat5 for data or voice to all the rooms in the house while I was at it. I figured if I was going to do it, I might as well to it right the 1st time. Most of the drops have 1 cable and 3 RJ45 jacks run back to the cabinet. In the future, I can add a telephone distribution module if I need to run phone lines to any of the drops.

I added a small fan at the bottom and notched out the back of the shelves to run cables and allow for ventilation to allow the heat to rise up and out of the cabinet. This really helped and now all the wires and equipment are in one space and hidden away.
 

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W4BOZ

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Excellent job. That looks really nice!

One question for you. Is that an Arris TM702G modem on the far right of middle shelf? If so, have you experienced any interference issues with it? I have what looks like the same modem in my house that was recently installed by Comcast and the day it was installed I all but lost VHF reception in my house.
 

N0YFE

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Terminators and interference

That may not be a bad idea to pick up some terminators for the unused port on the splitter. I haven't noticed any problems and blocking that off may help create a better signal for those TV's since they are fed of the Dish Network using a modulator on Ch 73.

I actually added the other large splitter to feed the other receiver to the home, but I don't have that connected yet and I may have to pick up an amplifier when I get to that project.

I have not found any problems with interference from the Arris modem. I'm wonder, does the issue go away when you pull the battery and unplug the modem or does it stick around. I don't envy the trouble shooting issue you've got ahead. Just off the top of my head it could be a bad splitter, bad coax, or the arris power supply,
 

N0YFE

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RFI Issues

Excellent job. That looks really nice!

One question for you. Is that an Arris TM702G modem on the far right of middle shelf? If so, have you experienced any interference issues with it? I have what looks like the same modem in my house that was recently installed by Comcast and the day it was installed I all but lost VHF reception in my house.


As a follow up, I ended up having to pull the Netgear FS524S and go back to using two 5 port switches. The 524 was throwing out so much RF that it was opening up the squelch on my HT upstairs and making a mess of the local repeaters.
 

W4BOZ

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Interesting. I don't have anything nearly as sophisticated as you do set up in my house. Actually, I'm still using a Linksys cable modem and a WRT54G at the moment. Comcast is supposed to tell us to turn those off and either switch to the Arris or they're going to come out and install a replacement for the Arris TM702G. I wasn't here when the tech installed it and didn't get a chance to ask him about it.

Either way, I'll post a reply if/when I actually get somewhere with the RF issues with this modem. I'm almost 100% sure it's the Arris as I used to have my desk set up on the opposite side of one room and the wall I shared had the cable modem/WRT54G on the other side. At that point, I had no issues with noise.
 

N0YFE

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Arris noise

I just checked and the model of my Arris is TM502G. I'm not sure if that makes a difference in the two versions for RF noise. As I was sitting thinking, does the noise go away when you unplug the power supply for the Arris or only when it completely powered down. I'm just wondering if the cause of the noise is the power supply for it.


Good luck and happy hunting
 

mike_s104

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Looks good.

I was tired of having all the equipment on my desk. So when we built out house a few years ago, I added this. Below it is a table with 3 servers and a security camera DVR.

If we ever do it again, I'll get a full-sized floor standing rack.
 
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W4BOZ

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Fox Mike
I just checked and the model of my Arris is TM502G. I'm not sure if that makes a difference in the two versions for RF noise. As I was sitting thinking, does the noise go away when you unplug the power supply for the Arris or only when it completely powered down. I'm just wondering if the cause of the noise is the power supply for it.


Good luck and happy hunting

My Arris doesn't have a separate wallwart power supply or anything like that. It uses a cord that plugs into the bottom and all the power supply circuitry is internal. It also has a battery inside of it for backup.

I had a chance to unplug it for a bit while monitoring some VHF stations I can hear reasonably well (WX) and ones that I could hear better if I had a nice outdoor antenna but could still hear alright before the unit was installed. Both perked up right away while the unit was just unplugged from the wall (I didn't disconnect the battery) and I had the scanner a few inches away from it.

In the end I'm not sure if I'll end up bothering with this too much as I might be making some service provider changes in the near future. For the time being, I might just wrap the power cord with a snap on toroid and see if that cleans anything up. I figured this would be a worthwhile discussion in case someone else experiences the same issue and does a forum search for the Arris brand of modem you and I are using.

Thanks!
 
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