My Rack Shack

[ShawnInPaso]

Hey Mike, your rack setup looks terrific. Some really innovative ideas in there too.

I started racking my equipment a couple of years ago and will be updating/changing my setup in the spring or summer.

 

[N1SQB]

Excellent details!

Mike, thank you for your detailed responses. You've given me a lot of food for thought here.
Can't wait to see your scanner rack build next. I'm planning a MAJOR shack overhaul this spring. I'm trying to get different ideas and pointers. I'm starting from scratch. I think I'm gonna go the rack way at this point. I don't have a separate room per say for scanning so I have to get creative.

Manny

 

[HummerMike]

Hey Manny .... Thanks for the favorable response. I don't have a separate room. All three cabinets will be side by side. My total shack size is 9' X 12'. This is my main reason for the Rack setups.

Mike

 

[wbswetnam]

The Rack Shack... sounds like a great name for a topless bar.

 

[N1SQB]

Mike, one thing I have not seen on your set up as well as Rich N9JIG's nice rack set ups are external speakers.
Every base radio / scanner I have in line, has it's own external speaker. Not sure how that would work out in a rack system other than making a separate speaker rack. Here's what I'm talking about:

Manny

 

[N9JIG]

I have not needed external speakers on my racks. There is usually enough wiggle-room to allow decent sound to escape from the regular speaker in the radio. External speakers usually just add to the clutter. It can also affect the ability to quickly determine the talking radio. With so many radios I depend on the direction the sound is coming from to help determine the source, an external speaker can confuse the listener as the sound comes from someplace other than the radio itself.

 

[N1SQB]

I have not needed external speakers on my racks. There is usually enough wiggle-room to allow decent sound to escape from the regular speaker in the radio. External speakers usually just add to the clutter. It can also affect the ability to quickly determine the talking radio. With so many radios I depend on the direction the sound is coming from to help determine the source, an external speaker can confuse the listener as the sound comes from someplace other than the radio itself.

I see! Well Rich, I guess it's different strokes for different folks. I have been monitoring this way for years. I guess I trained my ears by now because I can quickly tell where the sound is coming from as I tend to sit right in front of the radios. After my previous post I came across this:
4 Speakers 8 ohm Rack Mount - Fits Collins & Many Radios with 3.5mm Jack | eBay
Never even thought one of these existed.

Manny

 

[N9JIG]

I have his rack for Icom radios, it fits R7000, R8500 and IC746's as well as others. It has a speaker and it works well. He makes good stuff, I have had several of his rack items over the years (as an aside, the owner is one of the former principals of the old EEB store from VA...)

In my first rack mount system I had a single bay CentraCom rack, and I finagled 4 speakers onto a panel and used them for various radios. It did sound better than the internal speaker but over the years I found I could do without.

On your system I like that the radios are right under the speakers and that they are color coded. I have been using color tape for my systems recently. Each of my power supplies and multicouplers have an assigned color and all the leads from them are so noted. This way I can quickly trace issues. I do the same when I have multople mics, when I had 2 CDM's and the Kenwood, all used Cat-5 connectors so I color coded the extensions to tell them apart.

 

[HummerMike]

I'll post some pics of my speaker set up Sunday Evening. Headed out to a New Years Eve Party Weekend. My Motorola has a front firing speaker. The three Kenwood TK radios have each a 4X6 speaker sitting just under the first radio tray. The audio is fine sounding coming from this set up. There is about a 1/4 inch gap between the first panel and the box frame. Just using the built in speaker on the 450. The sound is fine from it. The 450 will soon be going away in favor of a FT-590 in place of it.

Mike

 

[flythunderbird]

Mike, you have a very impressive setup. I have been looking at that exact rack and was wondering how you like the slight slant the front of it has. Do you prefer it to a rack that is straight-up-and-down?

 

[HummerMike]

Hello Glenn ...... I looked at both straight and slant. I worked on a lot of old Motorola Centracoms back in the day. All of them were slanted. I decided to go with the slant. I really like it. I would guess that the slant is around 15 - 20 degrees. Mine is the 8 space and is 19" tall with the feet and 18" without the 4 feet. I took my feet off. It makes it real easy to slide around on the desk to get to the back for changes without the feet. They do make a 12 space rack that is around 25" tall. Most scanners and mobile radios will fit in a two space panel. Smaller HF rigs take a three space panel. I think the larger rigs such as the pro series Icom's would take a 4 space panel.

Mike

 

[dsalomon]

Very nice setup and very clean wiring. I've long wanted to do something similar in my shack. Your great setup and description gave me some good ideas. Thanks!

So, I'll share what I've done for my home brew rack setup for field deployment...

Attached are a few pictures of my Grab-N-Go rack for Field Day and Emcomm work. It's a home brew rack made to hold just what I need for quick field deployment for HF/VHF/UHF work. The bottom shelf contains a small MFJ power supply, a Super PWRgate for battery charging and backup, a N8XJK Boost Regulator to ensure everything gets the necessary voltage, a multi-meter, and a Anderson Powerpole power distribution panel. I have a 70aH battery that connects to the battery terminal of the PWRgate. That allows me to use AC if available and will switch automatically to battery on AC failure or if not available. From there, it's routed through the Boost Regulator, which is set to full time boost so voltage is always adequate, then routed to the distribution panel, where the equipment is connected. The top shelf contains an Icom IC-7100, LDG auto-tuner for HF, a microHAM USB III digital interface (not really necessary anymore, since the IC-7100 has built in digital capability - this is left over from when the radio was an IC-7000), and a Byonics TinyTrak 4 for APRS. There's also a goose neck light for working at night. You can't see it well in the pictures, but there are handles bolted on the side. The kit can be deployed in under 5 minutes, plus antenna set up time. I have various antennas for field work, both for HF and VHF/UHF. The kit can either sit on a table, or in a remote position - the IC-7100 head has a long extension. I can just remove the head off the top, set the kit on the floor and put the head on a table.

I use this setup every year for Field Day, as well as for EMcomm and ARES work. This is an easy, quick setup for net control for ARES events.

73 - David, AG4F

 

[N1SQB]

On your system I like that the radios are right under the speakers and that they are color coded..

Now if I could just remember what each color meant...:roll: LOL..
That's one of the roadblocks to switching over to rack systems. I love the radio right under the speaker set up. I'm gonna have to get creative. Maybe a home made custom built rack set up. Using rack mounts and face plates but on a desk platform....Hmmm

Manny

 

[N9JIG]

These rack pieces are ripe for innovation. You could use the same type rack pieces I use, with 2 radios, but instead of stacking put them side by side. Use angle bars to hand them off a shelf above. Under or above the radios you could make a custom piece of wood, metal or even plastic to mount the speakers.

 

[N1SQB]

These rack pieces are ripe for innovation. You could use the same type rack pieces I use, with 2 radios, but instead of stacking put them side by side. Use angle bars to hand them off a shelf above. Under or above the radios you could make a custom piece of wood, metal or even plastic to mount the speakers.

That's kind of what I had in mind actually Rich. I'm definitely going with the rack pieces you guys are using. I love the look. The rack rails are easy to cut / trim. I have plenty stock left over from when I designed and built a recording studio set up. Hmm. You and Mike have me thinking.Wood is my choice of material as it is easier to stain, paint, trim etc.

Manny

 

[HummerMike]

A little update and a picture of my internal speakers. Also while I had the radio face off, I changed the radio out to the TS-570. About 10 min. to swap radios. On the second picture, you can see the speakers under the tray. On the last picture you see the 1/4 inch gap between the bottom tray and the case. Very good sound from this. I just have a separate speaker for the TS-480HX.

Mike.

 

[kindr1978]

thats a sick setup, where does the output of all of that go?

 

[K5MPH]

Love the Rack Concept Michael looks nice and clean inside and out.....

 

[HummerMike]

Well, thought I would post a little up date to the Racks. Have the second rack finished and completely redid the first rack. The second rack holds 5 Radios.
The first close up pic shows The Motorola Micom 2ET HF Rig and the Kenwood TS-480HX HF & six meter Rig.
The second close up pic is of the Icom IC-M710 HF Rig
The third close up pic shows the Motorola XPR5550 for DMR and the Icom IC-706mkIIg for HF also.

 

[HummerMike]

The original Rack now holds the following. Three Kenwood TK-*90 series. The TK-890 for 440, the TK-790 for Two Meter and a converted TK-690 for Six Meter. Very proud of the TK-690. The second pic shows my three scanners. The GRE410, GRE400 and Uniden 996P2. The top two spaces will hold a Motorola CDM1550 for 220 and another rig still to be determined. I have done the conversion on the CDM1550 220 rig to cover the 220 ham band, I have converted it to do the wide split and have changed out the 4pole and 6 pole filters to the "E" wide band filters. Works great. Just waiting on the Troy faceplate to come in.