Hack, Shack, Phack???

[2ManyToys]

Thought I'd throw up a few photos of my portable shack (phack?). I've posted some of these in the Uniden forum but figure many don't get there often.

I wanted to have my Uniden BCD996T & BCT15 mobile/base scanners together so that I had a monitor 'station' that I could move as one if needed.

Started with a double desk mount from ScannerMaster. Then I added two Radio Shack extension speakers for audio. The RS extension speakers bolted right to the scanner mounting holes after enlarging the holes in the brackets just a tad.

I originally powered it by the individual wall worts supplied with each scanner. Today I was bored & made a trip to the local Rat Shack. I decided that I wanted to power my 'phack' with DC so that I could run them off of a battery pack during a power outage.

So I used the OEM Uniden DC power cables along with molex connectors to fashion two kinds of DC power for the rig. 1st I modified a RS AC-12v adapter to terminate in a molex connector to match the connecter on the DC power cables. Then I terminated a cigarette lighter plug with the same. With the cig. lighter I can power it from a vehicle or my Home Repo jumper battery that has a cig. lighter outlet.

So for everything works A-OK. The sound from the RS extension speakers is good & allows me to listen to both at once. I also have a RS aircraft adapter so that I can monitor both radios with a stereo headset (one scanner audio in each ear).

Pics...

 

[hoser147]

Looks Good nice setup

 

[rhicks6000]

Nice setup.

 

[firetaz834]

Looks good, but the only thing I would do that I think would make it look even better is to take the seakers and remove the screws from the back and reposition the front so that the "Radio Shack" logo is on the bottom.

I think that would add the final touch to what you've done. But, looks super

 

[eddie412]

very nice!

 

[W9NES]

I Like it!!!

 

[snikliw87]

Cool setup.

The first picture almost looks like a boombox. All you would need is a handle on the top to lug it around and crank your scanner "tunes".

 

[NWI_Scanner_Guy]

Definitely different. It looks very nice.

 

[2ManyToys]

Looks good, but the only thing I would do that I think would make it look even better is to take the seakers and remove the screws from the back and reposition the front so that the "Radio Shack" logo is on the bottom.

I think that would add the final touch to what you've done. But, looks super

Thought of that, but the Rat Shack speakers aren't symmetrical, can't turn them 90 degrees

 

[2ManyToys]

Cool setup.

The first picture almost looks like a boombox. All you would need is a handle on the top to lug it around and crank your scanner "tunes".

I'm looking for a handle haha

 

[W9WSS]

Neat & Clean

That's called using your head, and placing your equipment so that it serves a useful and symmetrical purpose. It looks nice, and probably sounds great, too! Only downside is that you will want to expand your collection, and will most likely want to expand this package. Either way, a neat and clean station!

 

[Signal3and2]

Those Alpha-Tags on those screens look awfully familiar!

 

[N9JIG]

Looks great, but I am a little confused:

If the external speakers are plugged into the rear of the scanner, what are the cables plugged into the headphone jacks on the front of the radios?

 

[NeFire242]

Wow I really like this set-up, very clean and I like that fact multiple power sources in the event of a power failure in your area you're not SOL. Good job.

 

[2ManyToys]

Looks great, but I am a little confused:

If the external speakers are plugged into the rear of the scanner, what are the cables plugged into the headphone jacks on the front of the radios?

Plugged into the headphone jacks is a Radio Shack aircraft adapter. Basically a Y-connector w/ 2 mono males feeding 1 stereo female 1/8" plug. Then I have a long 1/8" stereo extension cable running to my chair that I plug stereo headphones into for private (i.e. not driving the wife crazy) listening. With the adapter I get the audio feed from each scanner in a individual earpiece. Audio from the 996 in the left ear, from the 15 in the right.

I simply unplug the aircraft adapter to use the speakers, plug it in for headphone listening. Clear as mud?

 

[2ManyToys]

That's called using your head, and placing your equipment so that it serves a useful and symmetrical purpose. It looks nice, and probably sounds great, too! Only downside is that you will want to expand your collection, and will most likely want to expand this package. Either way, a neat and clean station!

Thought about the expansion part. But I decided that if I went with a three or four stack the unit would start to get heavy & bulky, not serving the purpose of being somewhat portable. Plus I don't have the luxury of a dedicated monitoring post right now, so this phack is in the sitting area of our master bedroom. Figured I needed to keep it somewhat small because of that also.

 

[ScanManQSL]

Very nice setup!!!!

 

[N9JIG]

Makes sense to me!

Of course I did you one better, I got a deaf wife! I can have the radios as loud as I want and she never complains.

Plugged into the headphone jacks is a Radio Shack aircraft adapter. Basically a Y-connector w/ 2 mono males feeding 1 stereo female 1/8" plug. Then I have a long 1/8" stereo extension cable running to my chair that I plug stereo headphones into for private (i.e. not driving the wife crazy) listening. With the adapter I get the audio feed from each scanner in a individual earpiece. Audio from the 996 in the left ear, from the 15 in the right.

I simply unplug the aircraft adapter to use the speakers, plug it in for headphone listening. Clear as mud?

 

[N1SQB]

Very Nice Set Up!

Gave me some ideas! Thanks for the heads up on the adapter!

Manny

 

[radionerd13669]

very nice