Introduction |
This page describes several simple home made shelving to support my radio, test, and computer equipment. They were all built at different times, but are similar in design. The best part about them is you don't need lots of expensive tools or skill to put them together. I will simply describe them in the order that they were built.
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Desk Shelf Layout |
This drawing shows a scaled layout that I use in my shack. The drawing uses the same scale factor as the other drawings on this page. It is assumed that the shelving is sitting on a desk and uses the two shelves detailed in the sections below (Equipment Shelf and Equipment Shelf Addition). It's my current layout, but can change at any time as I move equipment now and then. Now, don't believe that my desk is as neat as the drawing shows. The spaces between pieces of equipment are havens for assorted items like clocks and flash lights.
You can probably recognize from the lables on the equipment listed. The top shelf has a all band setup with a ICOM IC-735, and it's associated PS-15 power supply. The IC-735 does have a SWR/Power meter, but the FWD/REV controls are on the rear of the unit and difficult to access So I use a Heathkit HM-102 Power/SWR Meter with the Dentron Jr. Antenna Tuner.
On the lower shelf I have my Heathkit HR-1680/HX-1681 twins, plus the matching HS-1661 speaker. The power supply for the Heathkit twins sits behind the Heathkit speaker, and is not visible. What you might not recognize is the item labeled McGohan. The McGohan is a small MS-103 10 Watt Public Address Amplifier. This amplifier has controls for multiple inputs plus Bass and Treble. For the most part, all audio is routed through this amplifier. For a speaker I use the "center" speaker from a Surround Sound system. This helps enhance voice quality.
Mounted under the lower shelf is a unit named "Key/Audio". This is a home brew switch box that allows me to select an Audio source and a Keying source. Under the "Key/Audio" unit is a "wireless" keyboard. When not in use, I slide the keyboard under the shelf. The empty space on the left is for storage. Mostly I keep my CW keys and Keyer in there.
With the shelves and equipment left/right centered, there is about 12" of desk space available on each side. On the left of the lower shelf, although not shown, is a Belden 10 outlet 120 VAC power box. Everything that needs 120 VAC is pluged in there. Also not shown, on the left of the shelves, is my desktop computer (Compaq Presario SR1230 NX) and a 15" flat screen monitor. That's not the best computer setup, but it works.
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Equipment Shelf |
| Lumber Dimensions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Nominal | Actual | Actual - Metric |
| 1"×2" | 3/4"×1-1/2" | 19 × 38 mm |
| 2"×4" | 1-1/2"×3-1/2" | 38 × 89 mm |
| 2"×6" | 1-1/2"×5-1/2" | 38 × 140 mm |
| 2"×8" | 1-1/2"×7-1/4" | 38 × 184 mm |
| 2"×10" | 1-1/2"×9-1/4" | 38 × 235 mm |
As you get more equipment, you often need a convienent method of placing everything on your working desk at arms length, without taking away the surface area of the desk. If you just stretch your equipment across you desk for say 4 feet, you lose a lot of surface area. Wouldn't it be better if you could still have 4 feet of equipment on the desk, and still have the surface area below the equipment available for use.
That's what the drawing is for. It really only consists of 5 pieces of wood, some wood glue, and about 20 screws. This shelf is very strong allowing you to support even heavy old boat anchors. There is one top piece and four identical legs. The shelf top is a board that is 47-1/2" Long, 14-3/4" Wide, and 3/4" Thick and is available in Home Depot. It is with their speciality wood selection and pre-finished and ready for painting. The legs (4) are 14-3/4" cuts from a 2"×6" board. I used surfaced (sanded smooth) lumber so the actual dimension is 1-1/2"×5-1/2". After cutting, I only applied a light sanding, to freshen the surface. The actual size for the legs then turns out to be 1-1/2"×5-1/2" High, and 14-3/4" Deep. The 14-3/4" dimension is the exact Depth of the shelf top.
The shelf top is drilled with 5 evenly spaced holes, per leg, to accept 1-1/2" to 2" flat head screws. I simply used some "drywall" screws that I had available so I made sure to use a counter-sink on the holes. Then the shelf top will be a smooth as possible.
The distance from Leg 1 to Leg 2 (left space) is 11-1/2". The distance from Leg 2 to Leg 3 (center space) is 18-1/2". And, the distance from Leg 3 to Leg 4 (right space) is 11-1/2". If you add the width of each leg (1-1/2" times 4) to the distances between the legs, you will get exactly 47-1/2", or the width of the shelf top. The empty space between Leg 2 and Leg 3 (18-1/2") is different from the other spaces, for a good reason. I have a chassis that is 10-1/8" x 2-3/4" (W×H) secured below the shelf top. That chassis is what I call my Key/Audio Switch. That leaves plenty of room to slide a computer keyboard underneath the chassis. Since I don't need the keyboard available all the time, it is a convienent way of getting it out of the way.
The spaces on the left and right can be used to store a variety of things. I use the one on the left to hold a key and keyer. They are already hooked up, so I just have to slide them out and they are ready to use. I use the space on the right to hold my log book, a pad of paper and a few index cards.
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Equipment Shelf Addition |
This shelf was created as an addition to the previous equipment shelf. It was built several years after the first one, but used similar materials. The shelf top is exactly the same as the first shelf, but I needed a little more space than the first shelf.
The first shelf used 2" x 6" blocks for the legs and provided about 5-1/2" of space below the shelf top. The shelf addition uses 2" x 4" blocks, 14-3/4" long, to provide 7" of space (3-1/2" per 2" x 4"). While 7" doesn't doesn't sound like much, it is plenty of room to fit most all band radios. In the drawing I show the original shelf with the addition on top. I purposly added a small space between the lower and upper shelves. I did have some equipment that was slightly taller than the 7" space provided. But I was able to raise the shelf addition by simply adding some felt pads under the 2" x 4" legs. Depending on the pads used, you could gain another 1/8" to 1/4" of space. That could make a big difference in your equipment arrangement.
It is important to note that neither the shelves are secured to the table/desk or the shelf below it. While the shelves are relatively light, they stay in place very nicely once equipment is on the shelf. On the top shelf I have a ICOM PS-15 that weighs in at 18lbs (8.8kg). This kept everything in place very nicely.
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