Hey Guys. I'm relatively new here, I've just recently joined, but I have been lurking for awhile. I figured it's about time to introduce myself as well as get some comments on my first rack. Whether those comments are good or bad, doesn't really bother me, I'm just looking for some constructive criticism!

If you want to skip my intro that's fine, there are pics at the bottom!

Anyway a little bit about me.

I'm 23 and have been playing with most things mechanical/electrical for pretty much as long as I can remember. I've done lots of different things from wrenching on cars to technical theater to computer repair/networks. Hell I had the tia568a/b color code memorized since I was 13 :). I've also built my own WiFi antennas and have stretched a point to point link 2 miles. (I probably could have gone farther if I had a place to test it)

I've had some interesting jobs in the past, but the most notable are the 2 years I spent with a cable contracting crew where I was a supervisor for the last year I was there. I also did a lot of commercial installs including lots of 8+ line telephony installs. I could go on an on about that crazy job, but I don't want to bore anyone. Lets just say I learned a lot, and really liked the field, but just couldn't take the aggravation anymore. That job however sort of led to where I am now.

I was called one day while out in the field and asked if I could pick up a Commercial reconnect. I wound up doing the job and meeting my current Boss's wife there to get his cable up and running. After talking and leaving my cell phone number with her, one thing led to another and here I am trying to learn all sorts of new things.

I've been to a week of Crestron Training, and that just about blew my mind.
I get how it works and why it works, and I was able to get through the training fairly easily, but when It comes down to it, I don't think I am the programming type. I sure like to work with the stuff though.

Anyway I can talk more about what I have done and I am doing later. Time to get to the goods.

I just finished this rack up, it took me around 4 days along with some other projects at the house mixed in. I could probably do it faster next time, but I enjoyed doing it and am fairly happy with the way it came out.

Top to bottom Equip list is

LG bd370
LG bd370
SA 8300hd
SA 8300hd
Audio Request 4 output music server
Crestron AV2
Crestron PAD8
Crestron AMPX12x60

And there is also a CENIDOC that sits on top

each blu ray and cable box are for 2 offices (his and hers)
the rest is for 5 zones of audio (we prewired for some extras)

Things I would like to have done differently (some of these things were beyond my control though)

I would have like to been able to use lacing bars
I would have liked to have a bit bigger rack for better thermal management (We are going to add fans to the closet)
I would have like to have some different length interconnects so I could have laced them better from the PAD8 to the amp
I would love to do custom length power cords and interconnects
I think the last thing (and I can probably still change this) is to put a blank between the AV2 and the request server. There is a blank below the amp that doesn't really need to be there because there is a good amount of space in the bottom of the rack anyway. I should be able to shift everything down and then install the blank between the two.

Anyway on to the pics!










and some more here.....

Also there is a TPS4000l in the living room and a TPS4000 in his office. Now we are just waiting on the program.

I could probably write a bit more but I don't want to bore anyone....sorry for the long post. I'm looking forward to your comments!

nice job brougham! looks good. you could definately work for me. how many hours do you have in the closet from the point when the wires were there and waiting for you?

Your first rack? Wow looks like a killer system`.

So why can't you use lacing bars? Your deepest piece is the Request and from the pic it looks like you have room. You should have clearance behind the amp as well if you lose those bulky banana plugs. Then just order an extra set of rack rails!

Also, if you are going to do thermal management you're going to have to run your cables through the knockouts so you can put the rear door on.

I started on a Thursday probably around 9 am worked till 4ish had that Friday off and worked around the same hours the following Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.

There were some other projects mixed in, such as straightening up the network and phone wires in the basement and getting an access point mounted. As well as programing an mx850 for the TV in his office. So I probably had about 25 or so hours in the closet (And I do mean in the closet the rack only extends past the closet about 6 inches...I had to compromise wire length out of the rack to get enough in the rack)

The only wires that are super short are the HDMI's to his TV.. you have to roll the rack back while you are in the closet, plug them in, and then sort of jump over the rack. A little wacky but it works!

Thanks!

Yea I hear ya on the Banana plugs, but I kind of like them due to the ease of serviceability.

Yea to do proper thermal management you're right, once we get some venting into that closet though I am thinking it should be ok.

The decisions for lacing bars and an extra set of rack rails were kind of beyond my control if you get my drift.....

As far as it being my first rack, it's true. I have just taken what I have seen here and in person and tried to put my own spin on it doing the best I can.

I have also kept in mind the lack luster racks I have seen...especially in person.

Hopefully you guys are checking out the rest of the pics...there are about 24 in total I believe.

Very nice first rack plus there won't be any moths in there :-)
Next time insist on custom cabling, you'll be amazed at what that will do for you. Your work is better than many that I have seen who have been the field doing racks for years. Keep up the good work and enthusiasm!

Bravo!

Oh yeah...been there a time or two. Well, hopefully she lets you get what you need to finish what you've got. Looks like there's still a few connections to make. Enjoy your project.

A+ for puttig a label on everything. You wont ever kick yourself for having more labels than you need :). I noticed some sharpie action on some of the cables. Use labels there instead. Also.. use white text on black labels for the front of the rack so they blend in better.

Home run your cresnet cables for each device in the rack. Its perfectly fine to daisy chain but you have plenty of space on the C2NHBLOCK troubleshooting will be easier later if you run into a problem.

I see a jagged hole in the top corner of the cedar closet. Looks like a bunch of 1 inch holes next to each other where the cable comes out. Use a bulk cable wallplate to clean it up.

Why are you using universal remote control base stations? Should have used a crestron RF base station and made those remotes part of the crestron system. I know theres an upfront cost difference but if your boss adds up the labor involved in programming & integrating 2 control systems vs using one it all works out to be the same IMO.

I cant tell if your using electrical tape on the cable boxes to hold the emitters or not. If your not interested in opening the cable boxes to hide the emitters inside use hotglue to hold them on. It looks better and hold better than the electrical tape will.

Cat5's & cresnet on the back wall. Put that stuff in the rack so that your bundle of cables comes straight down the wall in a neat bundle and goes directly to the rack. Use a rack mount patch panel to handle every cat5 in the house & rack & mount the crestron power supply & C2NHBLOCK to a CNXRMAK. Mount both of these to the back of the rack facing out. This keeps the back wall clean & gives you one less point to worry about as far as things being pulled loose when the rack gets rolled out. [Link: crestron.com]

About lacer bars.. Less is more. I put 1 bar per component and i line it up with the bottom of the shelf o i have room to get my hand in there later if i ever have to service it. I learned my lesson with using 2 many lacer bars once. It looked awesome but good luck getting to your connectors :).

About custom length interconnects. I use liberty compression fittings with mini cable. Easy to manage and less overall bulk vs using RG59 or RG6.

I would probably have put the request unit right under the BD players so everything with a drive was up high. I always have a 1U space above and below amplifiers so IMO its good that you have that space there.

I know this is nitpicky stuff but thats because your work is pretty damn good. I would like to show you pics of the racks i wired @ 23. It would give you something to laugh about :).

Bravo indeed!
I am very impressed at this being your first rack and you can consider that in itself a resume. I agree that Custom cables and power cords are the way to go in the future.
Nice work kid!

nice analysis 39 i agree with everything. nothing agrevates me more than swiss cheesing holes instead of the proper size hole saw or what have you. every HVAC guy i have ever seen swiss cheeses holes for there line set. it drives me crazy. why cant they carry a damn self feed vac style bit? JM2C!

Thanks for the response Stamp.

Yea the holes in the top of the closet are something aren't they!
We actually had the electrician on the job run the wires. It was a fairly sizeable remodel with a lot of retrofit. We could have done it, but my boss works with this sparky quite often and they were slow so they got the work.

The house is actually going to be knocked down in 2 years (crazy isn't) and rebuilt, so certain things had corners cut.

I definitely here you on the labels, unfortunately I can only work with what was provided to me from you know.....
I'd love to use white labels with clear heat shrink, or something like that...any suggestions?

You are so right though. white on black would blend so much better.

Oh no... no etape on the front of the cable boxes, just a dab of hot glue. I did pop the faces of the boxes and saw that I could put the emitter there, but I wasn't sure of exact placement or any possible IR overload so i figured the first time I try putting them inside shouldn't be in a rack where It's a little harder to remove the component and play with it. It is definitely on my list of things to try though.

Good Idea with the home running all Cresnets to the block, but I had limited supply of cresnet.

Actually that patch panel is just for the closet, the main houses patch panel is in the basement. This panel is wired to the basement. I used the panel because his office data and phone were run to the closet instead of the basement, so I decided to run everything in the closet to a patch panel. I guess it was sort of an extra step.
It definitely would have been cool to have a bigger rack to have all the cat5's from the house run right to that closet!

as far as the URC base stations, those are for the two offices local systems. Her office doesn't even have audio or a touch panel so the mx850 makes sense for her. For his office you are right it should be on the Crestron. However My boss or myself Can't program....although he did think that I could after just one week of training.
Plus the Client just wanted a simple remote for his tv/cable/bluray.

I didn't think of putting the request up high...that makes good sense!

Thanks again for the positive response.

I am not taking any offense to anything...just taking it to the brain for the future! live and learn haha.

I approve. :)

First rack? Nice work!

Man, improve on that and you are gonna send some folks on here running for cover!

Sparky normally pulls our cable for out of town projects so i understand. The bulk cable plates are cheap and they work great for cleaning up the ugly. Customer is probably waiting for the market to pick up or one of his kids to graduate and move out or something like that.


50% of the time i print out the labels on a 8.5X11 sheet and the other 50% of the time i use a ptouch printer. Using the PC printer for labels is faster than using a DYMO or Brady and just as convenient when you need to do a bunch of labels. Problem is that most label makers i have used including the ptouch.. the labels start coming off.

By far.. the easiest & best way to do a large number of labels is to print them out by the sheet at the shop. These panduit labels have some sticker shock at $150 a pack but you get 5000 labels. The cost is less than DYMO cartridges and you definatley save money on labor by using a spread sheet and hitting "print" vs using a DYMO and typing all those labels in by hand.




One thing i can say from personal experience is that i rarely have any IR issues with Crestron. I havent ever had to play 'work around' with the emitters. I hotglue them right to the IR receiver and they always work.


I'm not alone! LOL I cant tell you how many times i get to the end of a job and i am a few feet short.


Yeah.. about that.. :) I have been working with Crestron for a while now and my best attempt is a System Builder project. I don't have the attention span to learn programming.

Im not saying that using URC was a bad choice just that the AV2 can handle all of that gear. The MX-850 will communicate with the Crestron system via an RF gateway. Theres a zip file in the yahoo crestron group files section under "hacks".


A good rule is to put anything the client needs to touch in the same area and have it at a height so they can reach and see the drive tray. Its not a big deal in a rack that size.

I have been stealing IR codes from Remote Central for years and posting now and again under a different user ID. I wish i would have started asking for help back then.

But like i said.. and im not just being nice.. That's really good work. I would guess that your 3rd rack will put most of us to shame. Hopefully your boss keeps your budget tight so i don't feel so bad about being bested by a guy 10 years younger than me :).

Interesting point.

No one ever talks about the price of labels or the "cost of labeling".

Mike