2u and 3u rack bags / antennas

[the source]

Hey,

 

I'm thinking of installing 4x sennheiser em500 g2 receivers in to a 2u rack bag. It wouldn't be a problem if I kept the antennas inside the zipped up bag would it? I figure it's only foam and plywood.

 

I see the sennheiser rack mount means I could put the antennas next to each receiver, so they stick out the front, but it would mean using a 4u rack instead. It would be much nicer to conceal them, and the 2u is much more compact, which is important.

 

And any preferences on the makes of 2u and 3u rack bags, so far I've seen only a few online.

 

James.

[MarkPAman]

:P

 

I figure it's only foam and plywood.

 

And PSUs & mains & signal cable. All in a small space. May be OK, though not ideal.

 

My rack bag has rack strip front & back. With this you could mount antennas & outputs on a panel, which may be better.

[Shez]

I see the sennheiser rack mount means I could put the antennas next to each receiver, so they stick out the front, but it would mean using a 4u rack instead. It would be much nicer to conceal them, and the 2u is much more compact, which is important.

 

Or you could just get the ADU and mount the two antennae next to that on the front. You'll only need a 3u case and it'll likely perform better than eight antennae tucked in the back of a case together.

[the source]

Thanks so far guys. Mark, what make is your rack bag? As I'm not sure the ones I've seen have rear racks too. I've seen online ones made by Proel, Warwick and LD all around £30-50. One did say front rack only - and I presume they all are. But I'm not totally against a hard case which are probably easier to find with both front and rear racks.

 

I've never used rack mounts before so its all new to me. So, how do you fix things on to two rack mounts facing each other in an enclosed case or bag - don't you need access from behind to hold the bolts still while screwing in from the front? Does that question make sense?

 

Smart idea to put the antenna rack mount on the rear rack. But 4 of them in a 2u - what do I do with the mains and audio cables?

 

The ADU Shez mentions I haven't really looked into. So far my employer's have me using 3x receivers without any need of a booster - and I did read a thread here where a booster actually caused problems with interference so I am rather put of the idea. Looks like it might be worth looking in to if its reliable tho' as it would be great to have just two antennas... and as a huge added bonus, it also has 4 power-out cables to feed the receivers. (The big plug on the receivers drives me mad - especially when there'll be 4 of them).

 

Compact, tidy and portable is what I'm after...

 

I was intending to stick 4 receivers in a 2u rack bag/case as mentioned. And, a 3u rack mixer (Alesis MultiMix) in another 3u rack bag/case. That way, being seperate, their versatile should I need to tuck the receivers out of the way (once set I don't need the them readily to hand).

 

But... both would only take up a 1/3 of the bag's depth. Would it be a crazy idea to have one single 3u bag/case, with the 3u mixer in one end, as planned, and 4 receivers, and ADU in the other end. That would leave half a rack mount to put the 2 antennas. Inside, the 4x power cables out of the ADU can be gaffa taped to the inside-bottom and distributed to the 4 receivers. The audio cables can be gaffa taped to the inside-top.

 

But where can I feed them out of the enclosure so that I can plug in? With that combo, I would have 2 XLR outputs, a few spare XLR inputs, and 2 power cables (the mixer is IEC and the ADU is a small power tip I don't know the correct name of). It would be very nice to just have one single power cable.

 

The only thing I can think of, is another rack panel, that carries XLR's patched inside to the mixer channels, and the 2 different power inputs. But, that would mean moving up to a 4u which is just a few inches too much. And I bet its asking for trouble to put mains/sound on same rack panel. Alternatively, one of the rack bags I looked at had a zip-pocket on the top. Might be a bit messy, but could I cut through the fabric and plywood, and make my own whole, inside the pocket and then feed through the loom of cables so that there stored in the pocket. And then I'd just have to unzip the pocket and plug in to the XLR's... But it would be hard to keep distance between the audio and mains.

 

Sorry to over-complicate things...

 

James.

[MarkPAman]

I'm pretty sure the bag is unbranded, but I'll have a look next week if I can.

[the source]

Thx mate, unbranded is even better. I don't want one with any logos anyway, so I can get my own branding on it.

[MarkPAman]

Ah, what I meant was that I may not be able to tell you who made it. I've had it too long to remember which company supplied it.

[Shez]

I did read a thread here where a booster actually caused problems with interference so I am rather put of the idea. Looks like it might be worth looking in to if its reliable tho' as it would be great to have just two antennas... and as a huge added bonus, it also has 4 power-out cables to feed the receivers. (The big plug on the receivers drives me mad - especially when there'll be 4 of them).

 

I believe (although I stand to be corrected) that the ADU is a passive splitter, which means you'll get some insertion loss because of it. I've hired a four way rack like that before, which had boosters inline with the two (standard telescopic) antennae mounted on the front. That worked fine for me (or at least it did after I turned one of the boosters around so it was the correct way around...)

And yes, those wall warts are annoying.

[Soundie]

Hiya,

 

 

We have a 4u rack bag (solid cases with fabric covering and fabric front/back) that we keep 8x ways of radio mic receivers in. We have a couple of 4x ways screwed into the bottom with the wall warts wedged into. The antennas are then just left as is on the back of the units, it does create a fair mess in the back, but once they are in it isn't too much of a problem.

 

We then have an 8 way multicore that stays permanently connected to the outputs of the unit and a single mains lead from the 4 ways, these are cable tied to each other, there is about 1.5m length on them both. We take this rack out with us to various performances regularly and I find it to be a quick and easy setup. You open the back of the rack, grab the mains and multicore, plug them in, velco the case's back up again and its fine. If in a particular rush, in a somewhat exposed location on a stage, you can then leave the front and back zipped up (as long as you don't need to see the displays) and it is just 'another box with cables'.

 

This means that you hardly ever see the back of the units, yet they are easily accessible if there is a problem. We usually then just sit the rack on an x-type keyboard stand in the wings, or at worst, on the floor near the stage.

 

I've not had many problems with the reception with it as described above (in fact, none with new sennheiser 300 series, only with our old single diversity ones), I do realise that this isn't ideal with all the antenna sitting next to each other, crossing over etc. but what we have works fine. The most important thing I find is to insist that the radio mic recievers go on the stage, not at the desk out front, despite how many 'other people just put it there'.

 

 

Hope that helps

[stoneworld]

I would go for putting a blanking strip on the rear and mount all your antennas on it, if cost allows put a 1U strip for XLR and Powercon, then velcro the PSU's inside the bag. Alternativly a flying power lead with wall worts inside the bag and some permanantly wired XLR with short lenghts to reach stage box / mixer. Definatly have a strip with BNC's to mount your antennas or even extend them into an ADA etc.

 

Haven't had much luck with those rubberduck antennas and beltpacks unless they are sitting back stage.

[the source]

Thanks guys. I get the point you would need to boost 2 aerials trying to compensate for 8. I would like to try it with the ASP, boosters and one set of rack-mounted aerials instead of the paddles. Or mount all 8 aerials on a blank panel as Stonie says.So far, I've used 3 receivers, so 6 aerials, with no problems). However, it's the 4 wall wartsStonie, what you mean if cost allows... if I'm buying 4 receivers, the cost of a blank panel and some bnc's isn't going to break the bank. Did I miss something? And what do you mean a Powercon? And a flying lead? Do you mean a bog-standard entension cable?I think I'll go with the ASP and boosters - at least to have much tidier power cables.I found the following pic of something I am after, only I'm 6 months late on the sale... http://www.butterfliesmedia.hyperphp.com/example.jpg It uses an ASP and 3 receivers. Looks very tidy and smart! Apart from building something like this, with 4 receivers, I want to go one step futher I want to put a 3u mixer in the other end! http://www.butterfliesmedia.hyperphp.com/office.jpg is an example of my "mobile office" so you can see why I'm so conscious about saving space.Soundie, your post is comforting, that at least in your situation you have had no probs with all the wall warts in the bag together with all those aerials. Usually, I throw 'em all in a bag under the table - something I am trying to avoid.Ideally, a 3u shallow flightcase or shallow rackbag with a 3u mixer facing me. 4 receivers, asp, and 2 aerials on the rear. Then I could either have 2 power cables (the ASP and Mixer), 2 XLR's Out, and a few spare XLR/Jack inputs to the mixer. Be nice to go up to a 4u and have the power on a panel on the rear, and XLR in and Outs on the front. But I don't really have the height available to me.Sorry...The pic is http://butterfliesmedia.hyperphp.com/example.jpg and http://butterfliesmedia.hyperphp.com/office.jpg

[smalljoshua]

And what do you mean a Powercon? And a flying lead? Do you mean a bog-standard entension cable?

Powercon is A power connector like IEC or CEE Form connectors but is able to fit in A standard XLR type cutout.

 

BTW the blue connector in this pic is powercon

http://butterfliesmedia.hyperphp.com/example.jpg

 

Josh

[the source]

hmm, well for some reason the pic only works when you click the link, and then refresh the page.Thx smalljoshua. I should have googled before asking! It looks like thats what they're using in the example photo I posted. I thought it was just a special 4-pin XLR mains. So any ideas how on earth they converted that to power an ASP, or any of those evo receiver boxes? Which come with a standard plug or wall wart to a small 2mm power tip.In addition the mixer I want to house in the same box is IEC output.

[smalljoshua]

The Panel Mount Powercon Socket is Just terminal on the back so get a Long 6Way extension lead cut the cable about a foot from the sockets and connect to the Panel mount socket then with the rest of the cable with the plug and connect that to a Powercon Plug.

[stoneworld]

what they said is what I meant! I don't think you will have problems with the wall warts being inside the rack but mount your antennas high so they get a better clearance of any metalwork.

if you can fit an antenna distribution/amplifier in the box as well you can always remove the antenna from the rear and run coax to paddles as an alternative.