ecps92
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Retirement suites you well, you should go into Radio Room design
Scott's Radio Room for 2023
- Thread starter KC1UA
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Ironically I was just revisiting the idea today. I think what I'm going to do is buy a 3rd party vertically adjustable monitor stand for each to bring them down to eye level. My other issue with that involves speakers, not only the 8 scanner speakers that sit on the top of the console, but also the two Bose Companion speakers that are shared by PC #1 and PC #2. Still a work in progress. I'd use wall mounts but the idea is to keep the entire desk/console self-contained so when I move it all of the cabling stays in place. That's also a problem for the speakers. I tried to use one of the Behringer mixers but unlike Rich and others I had a hell of a time with it, especially with the SDS200.
I have stored the mixer myself and reverted back to the internal speakers on my rack. I was thinking a bit about some changes here when the kids move this fall and with your situation I had a couple suggestions to consider.
1) For the external speakers consider putting the 8 smaller speakers for the scanners in front of the chin of the rack cabinet below the radios they connect to. While you might lose a little space on the desktop you could probably move the console back an inch or so to overhang the back edge to make up for it. You might need a couple new rubber feet or relocate the existing ones.
2) Consider a bracket on the right and left sides to hold the scanner speakers on the sides of the cabinet.
3) How about a shelf on top of the monitors? I have a couple of these, I use one for the DVR on my home cameras above the TV that allows me to view them as well as one for a clock and the streeming device on another TV. You can also use a laptop shelf on a monitor arm.
4) Maybe a couple small clamp-on shelves on the sides of the desk for speakers.
5) Place the larger speakers on their sides and cozy up the monitors to the top of them or even slightly in front, using the monitor arm. Covering a 4th of the speaker is not going to really detract from the listening experience.
On my 3u cabinet I clamped the monitor arm (Secretlab MAGNUS Monitor Arm | Secretlab US) to the cabinet itself, it appears to be plenty strong enough to hold 2 27" monitors. This arm has a fairly wide clamping base to spread the weight. Before that I found that the included stands on the Acer Nitro's allowed vertical adjustments to just under an inch off the desktop, I went with the arms to clear off the surface for stuffage like my Airpods, cell phone, remotes and a USB hub.
1) For the external speakers consider putting the 8 smaller speakers for the scanners in front of the chin of the rack cabinet below the radios they connect to. While you might lose a little space on the desktop you could probably move the console back an inch or so to overhang the back edge to make up for it. You might need a couple new rubber feet or relocate the existing ones.
2) Consider a bracket on the right and left sides to hold the scanner speakers on the sides of the cabinet.
3) How about a shelf on top of the monitors? I have a couple of these, I use one for the DVR on my home cameras above the TV that allows me to view them as well as one for a clock and the streeming device on another TV. You can also use a laptop shelf on a monitor arm.
4) Maybe a couple small clamp-on shelves on the sides of the desk for speakers.
5) Place the larger speakers on their sides and cozy up the monitors to the top of them or even slightly in front, using the monitor arm. Covering a 4th of the speaker is not going to really detract from the listening experience.
On my 3u cabinet I clamped the monitor arm (Secretlab MAGNUS Monitor Arm | Secretlab US) to the cabinet itself, it appears to be plenty strong enough to hold 2 27" monitors. This arm has a fairly wide clamping base to spread the weight. Before that I found that the included stands on the Acer Nitro's allowed vertical adjustments to just under an inch off the desktop, I went with the arms to clear off the surface for stuffage like my Airpods, cell phone, remotes and a USB hub.
I've considered the speakers in front of the console and wasn't happy about it but I may revisit that. I can move the console back about an inch as it is. I may just do that. Side brackets may work for the Bose speakers.
I'm planning on doing a complete re-wire starting next week anyway. I've got to the point where I need to, and I've got some type of ground loop issue (for lack of a better description) that seems to be causing me a considerable amount of interference. Further, I'm up to 3 SDS200's now and despite using shielded Cat 6 cable for their short runs to my Deco mesh system they are causing an abundance of interference when using their LAN connections. One of them is using the Vonets Ethernet to WiFi converter but even it seems to generate QRN.
I'll have a plan for both monitors and speakers before I start this project though; it's going to be one that takes some time. I do like that monitor arm setup.
I'm planning on doing a complete re-wire starting next week anyway. I've got to the point where I need to, and I've got some type of ground loop issue (for lack of a better description) that seems to be causing me a considerable amount of interference. Further, I'm up to 3 SDS200's now and despite using shielded Cat 6 cable for their short runs to my Deco mesh system they are causing an abundance of interference when using their LAN connections. One of them is using the Vonets Ethernet to WiFi converter but even it seems to generate QRN.
I'll have a plan for both monitors and speakers before I start this project though; it's going to be one that takes some time. I do like that monitor arm setup.
Decided to move the speakers to the front and happy that I did. It really doesn't cause any grief for me as far as desktop space goes. Also, replaced the stock monitor mounts with some pretty inexpensive but simple and effective mounts. Results shown below. I'm much happier with the height of the monitors now; a lot easier on my neck to be certain. Next up: rewiring!
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serial14
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Nice setup... I keep pondering a desktop rack like this or @N9JIG setup. Very jealous of the 3x SDS200's. Goals to live up to 
What type of interference are you getting on the SDS200 LANs? Interference to other systems? Interference to all your scanners and receivers?
For lack of a better spot, currently my SDS200 and 15x/996 scanners are in my network rack with ethernet cabling going all over the place. I haven't specifically noticed any issues, but I also haven't gone looking. I'd actually be surprised if I didn't see anything. I'm curious to hear your symptoms so I can be more mindful of my own setup.
Inspired by your multicoupler thread and @prcguy many threads on the topic, I'm getting close to having enough mini circuits components to expand my RF distribution approach.
What type of interference are you getting on the SDS200 LANs? Interference to other systems? Interference to all your scanners and receivers?
For lack of a better spot, currently my SDS200 and 15x/996 scanners are in my network rack with ethernet cabling going all over the place. I haven't specifically noticed any issues, but I also haven't gone looking. I'd actually be surprised if I didn't see anything. I'm curious to hear your symptoms so I can be more mindful of my own setup.
Inspired by your multicoupler thread and @prcguy many threads on the topic, I'm getting close to having enough mini circuits components to expand my RF distribution approach.
I think my solution to this will be the rewire and some appropriately placed chokes. They introduce varying levels of "hash" and vertical lines to the FFT of my Airspy/SDR# setups. It definitely has something to do with the CAT6 cable. If I disconnect it from the scanner the interference drops. Different length cables may work also; I've solved interference issues numerous times by changing cable lengths. Hard to say what the quality level of these cables is as they came from Amazon. I may have to experiment with some others of known better quality. I use a TP-Link Deco wireless mesh system with three hubs, each hub has three ethernet ports.
Yes, they are clamped to the back of the console. Very easy to put together and set up. For the short $$ I paid for them I'm happy. Each monitor has an individual mount, I chose not to use the double mount with arms.
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