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Improve the look of your shack without spending a
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by N3GPU on November 19, 2001
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My wife's comment: "If his shack looks better now, I'd hate to see what it looked like before." Spoken like a true non-ham-wife-of-a-ham!
Seriously, I did the same thing. Bought an O-Sullivan hutch unit to put on top of the existing shack desk. Easily and safely holds a couple of rigs, tuner, amp, PC & monitor, other accessories, and also helps contain the cable mess.
Here's another hint. Order something -- anything -- online from Staples, and they will start e-mailing you coupons every month. Typically it's $10 or $20 off on a $100 purchase. Just got one yesterday for $30 off on a $150 purchase. You can use them in-store or online. Staples ships free on orders over $100. Nice to have one of these units come to your door -- they're fairly heavy and unwieldy - rather than having to lug it from the store. I used one of my first $20 coupons on the hutch. Also, if you go into one of the office superstores and ask for a catalog, it will often have a $-off coupon you can use immediately.
73 - Paul N3GPU
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RE: Improve the look of your shack without spendi
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by N5NJ on November 20, 2001
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I admit that photos of my shack during a contest does not portray much of an "improvement". I can tell you that my wife was most happy to see the old home-made stuff I had on it's way to the garage and the new computer furniture on it's way in.
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Improve the look of your shack without spending a
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by W1RJ on November 20, 2001
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Um, what happened to the second 850?? ;-)
Actually I have been considering this exact unit for some time now. Thanks for the article and the positive comments on it's worthiness for ham shack use. Time to take the plunge, I think...
73 Bruce W1RJ
[email protected]
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RE: Improve the look of your shack without spendi
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by AB5XZ on November 20, 2001
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One thing you can do to get back some "real estate" on the desktop is to replace your full-sized PC keyboard with a "compact" keyboard. This type of keyboard has the page up/down keys and the numeric keypad folded into the rest of the layout (access them with a [fn] key).
Fry's and some others now have such keyboards at $20 or so.
73TomAB5XZ
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Improve the look of your shack without spending a
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by ke3q on November 21, 2001
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Well, the price certainly seems right! At one point I thought I'd put my monitor(s) at eye level, thinking that would be the best ergonomically. After trying it I found that looking straight ahead put a strain on my neck, that it's a much more natural position to lean somewhat forward when reading something, like reading a book, so I now put my monitors (typically two), right in front of me at table top height. Cutting a hole in the desk, like news anchors have them, and recessing them would probably be even better. In any case, I don't think having your monitor up on the shelf is optimum. I realize you have to, though, because this sort of unit is really too small to be optimum for contesting. You have a shortage of tabletop space.
I think you need 18" or even a little more from the edge of the table to the front of your radio -- these commercial computer desks don't have enough depth for that. Big, flat, typical household interior doors really are pretty effective. To improve on that, I keep talking to countertop and kitchen design folks to see if I can get a "scrap" piece of Corian to make a nice desktop out of. Unfortunately, Corian is so expensive that a desktop would cost well over $1,000 I think, but it should be a really luxurious material for a ham desktop.
For casual operating and if you don't mind a lot of clutter, these computer desks may be okay. Otherwise, they just don't give you enough space.
Oh, once I put two monitors directly in front of me, I put radio A to the left of them and radio B to the right. Amps, accessories (switch boxes, wattmeters, etc.), and rotator control boxes can go on the accessory shelf above.
I've been looking for those small keyboards for years (casually), since seeing them in the presentation at Dayton about VS6WO's great station (he also had a pair of 9" computer monitors -- bigger isn't necessarily better). The tradeoff is that I use the oversize insert and plus keys on the numeric pad a lot (in CT insert sends the exchange and plus sends the end of QSO message). More cumbersome key stroking to get insert and plus would be bad. What we need is the small keyboard with a big insert and a big plus key somewhere, or to outboard them somehow, which might be best of all. Anyway, thanks for the suggestion about Fry's, which I've never heard of.
73 - Rich, KE3Q
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RE: Improve the look of your shack without spendi
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by N5NJ on November 21, 2001
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Rich:
My monitor as shown, is at a height where the midpoint of the screen is just below my eye level.
The top of the 850 is just 12.25 inches from the table top.
There is 19" from the front edge of the table to the front of the shelf that the 850 is on. The shelf is 6.75" high, and 23.5" wide and 14.5" deep. So, from the front edge of the table, straight back through the shelf is 31.5".
I think the photo makes it look a lot smaller than it really is.
I also like everything in reach, so it makes it look extra cluttered I suppose. I don't want room to spread out, as I don't want to have to move to reach anything. For me, having everything close, lets me do just that.
I don't have my amplifier here right now, but I have an Acom 2000A, and it goes on a roll around printer stand that is from the same series of furniture, and the little controller unit fits in nicely on the desktop - along with all the other stuff you see there.
This is an interesting discussion and I think there's a point where personal preference takes over.
73,
Bob N5NJ
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Improve the look of your shack without spending a
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by w4atl on December 4, 2001
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I have a similar hutch in my home office/shack that I share with my wife. Take a look at it in the User Profile on this website. Click on the W4ATL call sign or go to the Contester Lookup windo and enter W4ATL.
My wife likes the nice clean look and I have tried to hide the wires as much as possible. She has a similar station on her side of the room (no radios though.)
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Improve the look of your shack without spending a
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by k4ro on December 22, 2001
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Nice setup there. You may have a look at my Office & Home Depot special
setup at the link below. It is a large O'Sullivan desk, with a shelf I built from
lumber. The shelf is quite strong, and can easly support two amplifiers.
I prefer the monitor on the desk right in the middle, with the radios to either side.
Single photo of desk:
http://www.k4ro.net/tcg/image/k4ro_tour/station10.jpg
Station description and link to complete photo tour:
http://www.k4ro.net/k4ro.html
73, -Kirk K4RO
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RE: Improve the look of your shack without spendi
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by N1MM on December 27, 2001
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A more expensive (but better quality) option is to find an L-shaped desk at a **used** office furniture store. I was able to find two 6' x 30" desks that bolt together with single & double pedestals for about $550. These are Steelcase units, so they will last longer than I will.
I had previously built a 6', 3-shelf unit for holding the equipment.
Since I am long-waisted, I put the monitor in the corner and the keyboard on top of the desk. I am able to rest my arms on the desk while typing, which prevents strain (for me). YMMV.
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Improve the look of your shack without spending a
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by n1ye on January 17, 2011
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Good Article. Especially with contest stations that tend to have more radios, boxes, and wires, it is always a challenge to find the balance between a station that "looks" good and one that is actually functional and "feels" good over a 48 hour contest.
GL, 73
Gene
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