Travel case Rack Mounting

Michael Coslo

I'm building a rack box setup for my portable contesting efforts in my RV. I bought a 5 high carpet covered rack form eBay. Anyone have experiences good or bad doing such a thing?

I'll have my 6300,  autotuner, and Alinco Switcher, for three of the five rack heights, perhaps a two meter FM as well.

I plan on installing a fan on top for cooling. Any thoughts, good or bad?

MarkN7MHB

this is how I mounted my flex 6500.  Astron PS on top and a Furman power **** on the back.  The shelf is to mount and dual band later on.  I may switch out the single PS for a dual one.  This is a Gator 6U rack.  I did not use a rack mounted fan because the flex fans on the side pull air in and expels it out the back. this is the short rack.  Even the regular size you can't put the fan behind the flex.  to many connections to work around.  I also mounted a grounding **** on the rails in the back.  I mounted the flex on the bottom because it is heavier then the Astron.  The rack and shelf came from Amazon.  The Astron from DX Engineering.  I ordered a bag of screws from Amazon.  the ones that came with the rack had plastic washers that deformed.  Its still a work in progress.

Michael Coslo

Okay - that will be a similar mount except for the case. Thanks much.

HCampbell WB4IVF

Get shelves with the knurled front and rear edges.  The cheap ones without the knurled edges may sag in the middle.  Also, all of my accessories (switching PS, autotuner, SWR/power meter) are mounted with Industrial Strength Velcro.  It holds them securely, makes very easy to rearrange/add/remove items as needed, and a little goes a long way.

I have the same case as Mark, and agree with his comment about a fan.

Howard  

WA6HTP - Juan Rivera

Michael,
As mounted, your equipment may not survive typical air transport.  If you want to have everything installed in a rack during shipment then you should use a case that has a shock-mounted rack assembly inside the case.  The rack assembly must have shock mounts in all eight corners and the mounts need to be sized for the sprung weight of all your equipment plus the weight of the rack itself.   You also need to insure that all of your equipment is supported in the rear and not just by the rack ears in the front.  Consider the forces on the equipment if the case is dropped upside down for example.

An even safer shipping method is to ship each piece of equipment in a separate case that is foam lined on all sides with at least two-inches of foam.  Again, the foam that is selected needs to be based on the weight of the equipment.  Check  ATA Specification 300 - Category 1 for airline industry standards.
Juan - WA6HTP