So over the last couple of years I realized that these days I really do not need the couple dozen scanners that I used in the past. I have pared things down to what I actually use all the time. In addition I have obtained a few new toys that serve a purpose.
First off a little bit about the layout of the office. It is perfectly laid out for my needs. It is off the living room and I have my desk placed so that I can see and communicate with the wife while she sits in the living room, it helps us to keep doing our own things while still being together. In addition the TV monitor for our security cameras is easily visible from her favorite seat on the couch so she can see if something is going on around the house. We have specific reasons for this.
In addition to that monitor I have 2 additional wall-mounted TV's that I use mostly for entertainment. I usually run live streams of rail-cams or airports but can also watch TV or movies if I want. All 3 screens are 4K 50-inch displays.
My main desk itself is devoid of radios save for the control head and mic for my main HF rig, an Icom IC-7000. I also use it for 2M and 440 work, including a couple local nets I participate in. The desk itself is a SecretLabs Magnus ProXL all-steel standing desk. It has a neat wire channel at the back to hid wires (I hate seeing wires). I do run ProScan to watch the scanners and log activity from my desk.
Slung underneath the right side of the desk is my main PC, a homebuilt beast with a Ryzen-7 7800 CPU, Asrock Radeon RX6600 GPU, 64 GB of RAM on an Aorus X6700 Elite MB, with 16TB of SSD storage. It drives three 27-inch Acer Nitro 170 Hz HD monitors. The monitors are on SecretLabs arms, I am waiting on the parts to use a single pillar to support 4 monitors. Under the desk on the left side is a UPS to protect the PC.
The Radio Desk is my wife's old standing desk. When the motor gave out I used it as a workbench in the garage for a while and will probably replace it with a HomeDepot cranking desk that is a little wider and allows it to sit lower. The casters on the new desk would allow me to easily swing it out to work on the back of the cabinet, but for now this smaller desk is working well.
On the desk is my 4u/3-bay AudioRax Slant cabinet that I have used before. In the left bay are 4 BCD536HP's. In the center bay is my Zetron Model 27 audio controller. In the right bay is an SDS200, BCD996P2, AnyTone AT-578UV-III and a 50-amp Astron power supply with meters.
On top of the cabinet from left to right are my Icom R8600, Scanner Master RH200 prototype, Motorola Astro Railroad Spectra (reprogrammed to also include some 2M frequencies), my IC-705 and my SDS100 and stand.
Inside the cabinet is a Stridsberg 8-port multicoupler, a 13-port USB hub and a PowerPoles block.
On the back wall left is a drawer cabinet with a 4u AudioRax Turret Rack. This has my network switch and firewall as well as an SDR streaming system I host for a friend. There is a Noctua fan to keep the SDR's cool, they really run hot without it.
Next to that is a Husky (HomeDepot) toolchest. In the drawers are my portable radios, some small tools, computer cables and the like. On top are some of my portables that had desk chargers, including my Icom R30, AnyTone AT-D878UVII (I have 3...) and an Icom ID-52A.
On the back wall are oversized prints of the charts for 3 airports (PWK, ORD and PHX) as well as the propeller from my dad's plane.
I still have several radios available or set up in the garage., like another SDS200, a BCD160DN and a couple 996XT's and BCT15X's. As for other handhelds I have a 436, a BCD325, a 125 and a BCD260DN as well as a pair of Icom R5's and my IC-7300.
This smaller shack seems to fit my current needs. I use the SDS200 to monitor the local P25 systems, the 536's are used for things like local aviation, CloseCall, railroads etc. and the 996 is used mostly for GMRS monitoring.
The RR Spectra is used to monitor my local BNSF Road channel and sometimes on the 2M nets. It has remarkably good transmit audio and I am lucky to have a friend who can program it for me. I got it at a hamfest a while back for $20, the seller had no idea what it was and was happy that someone could use it. It was in pristine shape. I modified the power connector to PowerPole and added an on/off switch.
For the future I suspect I will be getting a new maxed out Mac Mini soon. It will become my main desktop computer and I will move the existing PC to the other desk. Via RDC I can still maintain a watch on things from the main desk but will likely put a monitor on the radio desk to support the radio programming and ProScan. I am still a Mac guy at heart and while the last two years of using a PC as my main computer has been fine I really prefer the MacOS lifestyle.
Let's see how long this layout lasts!
First off a little bit about the layout of the office. It is perfectly laid out for my needs. It is off the living room and I have my desk placed so that I can see and communicate with the wife while she sits in the living room, it helps us to keep doing our own things while still being together. In addition the TV monitor for our security cameras is easily visible from her favorite seat on the couch so she can see if something is going on around the house. We have specific reasons for this.
In addition to that monitor I have 2 additional wall-mounted TV's that I use mostly for entertainment. I usually run live streams of rail-cams or airports but can also watch TV or movies if I want. All 3 screens are 4K 50-inch displays.
My main desk itself is devoid of radios save for the control head and mic for my main HF rig, an Icom IC-7000. I also use it for 2M and 440 work, including a couple local nets I participate in. The desk itself is a SecretLabs Magnus ProXL all-steel standing desk. It has a neat wire channel at the back to hid wires (I hate seeing wires). I do run ProScan to watch the scanners and log activity from my desk.
Slung underneath the right side of the desk is my main PC, a homebuilt beast with a Ryzen-7 7800 CPU, Asrock Radeon RX6600 GPU, 64 GB of RAM on an Aorus X6700 Elite MB, with 16TB of SSD storage. It drives three 27-inch Acer Nitro 170 Hz HD monitors. The monitors are on SecretLabs arms, I am waiting on the parts to use a single pillar to support 4 monitors. Under the desk on the left side is a UPS to protect the PC.
The Radio Desk is my wife's old standing desk. When the motor gave out I used it as a workbench in the garage for a while and will probably replace it with a HomeDepot cranking desk that is a little wider and allows it to sit lower. The casters on the new desk would allow me to easily swing it out to work on the back of the cabinet, but for now this smaller desk is working well.
On the desk is my 4u/3-bay AudioRax Slant cabinet that I have used before. In the left bay are 4 BCD536HP's. In the center bay is my Zetron Model 27 audio controller. In the right bay is an SDS200, BCD996P2, AnyTone AT-578UV-III and a 50-amp Astron power supply with meters.
On top of the cabinet from left to right are my Icom R8600, Scanner Master RH200 prototype, Motorola Astro Railroad Spectra (reprogrammed to also include some 2M frequencies), my IC-705 and my SDS100 and stand.
Inside the cabinet is a Stridsberg 8-port multicoupler, a 13-port USB hub and a PowerPoles block.
On the back wall left is a drawer cabinet with a 4u AudioRax Turret Rack. This has my network switch and firewall as well as an SDR streaming system I host for a friend. There is a Noctua fan to keep the SDR's cool, they really run hot without it.
Next to that is a Husky (HomeDepot) toolchest. In the drawers are my portable radios, some small tools, computer cables and the like. On top are some of my portables that had desk chargers, including my Icom R30, AnyTone AT-D878UVII (I have 3...) and an Icom ID-52A.
On the back wall are oversized prints of the charts for 3 airports (PWK, ORD and PHX) as well as the propeller from my dad's plane.
I still have several radios available or set up in the garage., like another SDS200, a BCD160DN and a couple 996XT's and BCT15X's. As for other handhelds I have a 436, a BCD325, a 125 and a BCD260DN as well as a pair of Icom R5's and my IC-7300.
This smaller shack seems to fit my current needs. I use the SDS200 to monitor the local P25 systems, the 536's are used for things like local aviation, CloseCall, railroads etc. and the 996 is used mostly for GMRS monitoring.
The RR Spectra is used to monitor my local BNSF Road channel and sometimes on the 2M nets. It has remarkably good transmit audio and I am lucky to have a friend who can program it for me. I got it at a hamfest a while back for $20, the seller had no idea what it was and was happy that someone could use it. It was in pristine shape. I modified the power connector to PowerPole and added an on/off switch.
For the future I suspect I will be getting a new maxed out Mac Mini soon. It will become my main desktop computer and I will move the existing PC to the other desk. Via RDC I can still maintain a watch on things from the main desk but will likely put a monitor on the radio desk to support the radio programming and ProScan. I am still a Mac guy at heart and while the last two years of using a PC as my main computer has been fine I really prefer the MacOS lifestyle.
Let's see how long this layout lasts!
I'm still using the Havis 24" Mobile Console as a desk tower with 7 Radios and scanners.
