Showing off my 6500

Rich McCabe

If we had an off topic I would have posted this there.  But am totally loving my new 6500 and put together a quick shack video that includes a little bit of the flex.

https://vimeo.com/119497119

The little Icom is feeling neglected.

EA4GLI

Very nice!!!

SteveJ

Very nice station, Rich. I especially like the Icom 7800.  That is one beautiful radio.

Ted_Spiegel_NX6C

I like your editing that showed some interesting parts of your station. 
    To me a memorable shot is the operators hand operating the key with the Flex-Control handy.  By itself it would have been interesting.  The easy listening music playing while the different systems were shown set the stage so that when shot came up of the key and Flex-Control it became more than interesting, it became  memorable.
Thanks!

Steve W6SDM

Very nice video.  Even nicer station.  How do you keep it so neat and clean?  Mine is that way once a month, right after I clean it.  As soon as a contest or DXpedition comes along, it becomes a disaster area again. 

That looks like a comfortable place to spend a lot of time.

k3Tim

Great looking station!

Thanks for the post.

73's
k3Tim

DrTeeth

Too tidy, worryingly so. Very nice setup indeed

Rich McCabe

Thanks Everyone.  The tidy part is continual improvement thing. Obviously I custom built the desk and have learned the pitfalls from previous attempts. 

Tried to make it so everything has its place. There are wire ways under the desk. One for coax and one for audio, data, etc.  Have a rig runner for power on every level so all the power cables are as short as possible with powerpole connectors.

Course I have moved stuff around to get things in the right spots (different from original plan). One thing nice about the flex is you can put it anywhere !

And, the entire setup was done in 3D CAD to build from.  Here is where I started locating equipment.

Much easier shuffling equipment in CAD

DrTeeth

Stop it, hihi. I am getting jealous. I'm tempted to post a photo of my shack. Remember the untidy one (Oscar) in 'The Odd Couple'? He's my hero!

Rich McCabe

Laughing at Guy !

Well in my experience your "oscar" method works better.  The neater I do stuff the more challenges I have.  I admire those that don't suffer from my neat issue.

I totally missed the K.I.S.S. program in school. I don't seem to build anything unless it has a million mitered joints and 100s of tiny pieces to sand and stain !

Cal N3CAL

Nice video and nice setup Rich!   The only thing disturbing in the video was seeing the 6500 parked on 14.313!  Gosh! 

Rich McCabe

Cal, was more interested in running the camera than rig. So have no idea what I was listening to.

So thats my disclaimer

Tom - WQ5O

A very FB shack!  I lean towards the "Oscar" end of the neat scale.  Drives my XYL crazy!  LoL!

Richard McClelland, AA5S

Perhaps some of the 'Oscars' on this message board can put up pictures of their shacks.  Mine is pretty messy but it won't stand out with the competition here.

DrTeeth

<Felix> Oscar, Oscar, Oscar! </Felix>

Under the **** in front of the monitor on the right, is the laptop I use to run SSDR every day. Cleaning the computer room/shack has been an ongoing project for the past 12 years.

Once I am back at work, I hope to tackle the RFI on the main PC and have a proper dual monitor setup.

I bet these photos make a lot of you feel better about your shacks.

Cheers

Steve W6SDM

Those Huggies aren't for you, are they Guy?  

Rich McCabe

I keep mine out of camera shot.

And thats not as bad as I expected Guy. If you would trade off the Flex for a legacy radio you could add wires.

DrTeeth

No, my former little babies are now teenagers, thanks for reminding me ;-).

Mind you, I should get them for contests so I don't have to leave the shack.

DrTeeth

The Flex ain't going anywhere :-), as long as 1.4 sees the light of day this year ;-).
I am a World Class procrastinator, cable tidying is on the looong list of things to do.

Rich McCabe

Well just as  a FYI you can buy about 75' of velcro on amazon for about $17.00.  Much cheaper than buying the individual ones.  Glad you are keeping the flex

Jay Nation

Rich
I do like Velcro, but I also like, http://www.tecratools.com/product1243.html . Cheaper and actually easier to work with, And looks neat and clean, depending on your lacing/knot- tieing skills. http://www.tecratools.com/pages/tecalert/cable_lacing.html  Give's it all that Telco relay rack feel. Works great inside PCs for cable management too.

The twines still availble from several online sources, and one roll will last you a long time.
Jay - NO5J

Rich McCabe

Yes it will but I would think that would be more for permanent stuff?  Moving radios and cables usually needs quick undo?

Jay Nation

No need to lace the entire length, in fact a single wrap with a square knot. is all you need for temporary work. Easier to remove too, just cut the string. It's a semi-lost art. 
Sometimes the Simple/Cheap/OldSkool way, has advantages. ;0)

DrTeeth

Jay,

You'd make a good dentist; you have done a very nice continuous suture.

Jay Nation

It's all in leaving enough slack, and hiding the slack you leave, enough. ;0)
Also, The fact that it's "waxed" string is important, that makes it easier to tie the knots one handed. handy when you can't squeeze both hands in there, or need to hang onto something to avoid electrocution.

Jay Nation

And http://www.earth2.net/parts/?route=course/90402014/question/ ;0)

KY6LA_Howard

Lacing is far too permanent and far too much work... I buy rolls of 50 Velcro Straps specifically designed for cables at Home Depot for $5.27

http://www.homedepot.com/p/VELCRO-Brand-8-in-x-1-2-in-Reusable-Ties-50-Pack-90924/202261940

They are totally reusable, easy to use, quick to install and uninstall and frankly look very clean and modern...

DrTeeth

$16.74 for 100 in the UK. I bought them, they look to handy to pass up on. May even score some goodie points with the XYL; she is the 'Felix' to my 'Oscar'.

K1UO Larry

Ha..haven't seen that sort of cable stitching since my Phone Company Equipment Installation days.

Jay Nation

My Shack is a permanent installation, The more permanent the equipment the more likely that it's laced. the older laced cabeling gets newer bundles attached to it, all bundled separately. the separate bundles are ony single wrap tied to the existing bundle, Temporary/New equipment doesn't get tied or laced at all, until I decide it looks like a rats nest and do some more cable management. It take some time to decide the best location for each piece. I just try to keep the wiring off the floor as much as possible. The main shack desk is in the middle of the room I don't like trip hazards, all the feedlines exit the desk on the left side of the desk. Between the wall and the desk is a 15" deep set of wire bakers rack shelving, that I use for storing things that don't require cableing, books/VOMs/Junk that I don't need on the desk to operate. So I dont have 360' access to the desk. The feedline routing that needs support is supported on one end by the panel, the other end by the desk. Balanced lines  are just strung direct from the entrance panel to the equiment and hang free. There's a separate boat anchor credenza that runs along the wall on the chair side of the desk. Equipment with knobs and buttons that need attention sit on the desktop the rest migrate to the credenza. It's really just amp and tuner and power supply on the desk the 6500 sits on top of the AT2K in the center behind the keyboard, power supply to the left and amp to the right. Monitors attached to a dual pivot arm support hang just above the 6500. The shack is 14'x18' separate from the house, Entrance  panels in the center of each wall were roughed into the framing when the shack was built I've got attic and subfloor crawlspace access, adequate lighting and a whisper quiet/no rf ductless heatpump installed.  It's not perfect, but it's adaptable and premanent. The desk has clean side, and a side I go to to hunt rats and reseat cables. It's all in the slack, slack is a lifestyle.

I've got plenty for now. The rats take care of themselves without much extra attention. 

Jay - NO5J