Would you like to build The Best Ham Radio Shack Operating Desk?
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- Опубліковано 3 січ 2023
- In this video I describe a DIY desk that is extremely flexible, easy to build and reasonably inexpensive.
The only DIY skill you need is the ability to drill holes in wood!
It uses material intended for kitchen worktops -- and there are lots to choose.
If you ask your supplier, they will cut them to size for you (often for a small fee)
Decorating trestles are used to support the desk and it is finished in a durable 'oil' rather than a varnish -- so it ages well and is easy to clean.
More details have been uploaded to my Web site: g4abx.co.uk under the 'How to' tab.
I will also upload a support video in the next few days that describes 'why' my wires are such a mess and why yours should be too!
73
Bruce
Web: g4abx.co.uk
Twitter: @G4ABX - Наука та технологія
Great idea using those threaded rods and bolts like that to give you nearly infinite adjustability with those shelves. Nice work! Thanks for sharing your ideas. 73!
You are welcome. Sharing is what this hobby is all about :-)
73
Bruce g4ABX
I bought 30 stainless steel "all thread" pieces years ago and now, I finally know where I will use them! Great idea! Thank You!
Delighted i've sorted out your stock :-)
Best wishes
Bruce
I'm a tall guy , the closest I've come to a small desk that I can fit my legs under was a card table I bought at a garage sale!! This is a GREAT idea!!!
It certainly gives you flexibility.
The desk height is determined by the height of the supporting trestles -- and you can buy these with adjustable height. They are a bit more expensive but for a small desk, you will only need 2 rather than 4 of them :-)
73
Bruce G4ABX
g4abx.co.uk
@G4abx
Excellent design! I might incorporate some of those ideas for my desk. Thanks!
Delighted to have published some ideas other folks can use.
Enjoy
73
Bruce G4ABX
g4abx.co.uk
@G4abx
Great Video! I was just looking at what to put together for my new equipment as I'm just getting started and this looks like a great solution that would let me adjust and expand as different pieces of equipment are added or moved. Really appreciate you showing this.
Evening Brian
It was a great idea thought up by my Wife after we had been doing a bit of unrelated DIY.
Yes, it's very customisable and you can size it to use 'standard' wood from Kitchen suppliers -- or whatever you can find.
Have fun.
73
Bruce G4ABX
g4abx.co.uk
@G4ABX
Outstanding Bruce, definitely doing this on the next reshuffle.
Thanks Colin
It was my Lovely Wife's original idea -- and its now a reality.
Its amazing how we all put up with 'make do' for so long -- when you really can have something that's bespoke, interesting -- and expandable for the want of a bit of thinking and a few £'s :-)
73
Bruce G4ABX
g4abx.co.uk
@G4abx
i like velcro for the cables/wires. Much better then zip ties IMHO
Steve.
Velcro is a great idea for cable ties. Its not permanent and can easily be changed as you alter stuff.
Just make sure you don't tie you mains leads into your signal or antenna connections!
73
Bruce
g4abx.co.uk
@g4abx
This is brilliant!
Thanks Jonathan.
its always great to get comments
73
Bruce G4ABX
Thank-you great idea good layout for your kit. Thanks
🎯 Thank you for sharing this, I know what I will be doing during the winter months! Looking forward to the next video on the build of it, absolutely awesome idea!!!! 73s from over the pond.
Gazza.
Thanks for your comment.
There are a few more details on my web site g4abx.co.uk
73
Bruce G4ABX
That’s a brilliant idea Bruce!! 73s Gm4zji Chris
Thanks Chris!
Its been a long time in the making -- and refining but I thought it was now complete enough to share with folks who maybe want to build their own bespoke desk :-)
73
Bruce G4ABX
g4abx.co.uk
@G4abx
Great idea, thanks for sharing.
You are very welcome
Best wishes
Bruce
Nice shack. Thanks for posting.
Grimsby Ontario Canada
Thanks. Its taken a while but the Desk has brought it all together
73
Bruce G4ABX
Very nicely done!
I really like the idea of using all-thread and wingnuts to adjust the shelving height.
Again, congratulations on a very nicely organized shack.
Best regards,
Greg KT4RAM
Thanks Greg.
It was an idea that came from a bit of unrelated diy -- and it does work well -- with, as you say, the ability to adjust pretty much everything.
73
Bruce G4ABX
g4abx.co.uk
@G4abx
I like it! Thank you!
Thanks Barry.
If I can pass on some ideas -- then that's great.
The design was the idea of my lovely Wife -- so I can only take a bit of the credit :-)
73
Bruce G4ABX
Bruce this is very good. Appeals to the orthopaedic surgeon here! A really simple but effective way of building a custom desk with flexible height-adjust. I am glad the back of your desk looks like my mess. I will be keeping an eye out on your website. Access to the back of the desk is useful - I am often squeezing behind my desk to plug in new stuff.
Thanks a lot! Tom M0RMY
Thanks Tom
There will be another video shortly explaining why the back of my desk looks a mess -- and why yours should too!
its all to do with Science!
The parts details are now up on the Website: g4abx.co.uk
Look under the 'How To' tab.
Happy New year
73
Bruce G4ABX
@G4ABX
g4abx.co.uk
Ingenius idea that looks really cool!!! Thanks for sharing! 73, K8JLW
Thanks Reid.
On my website you can see a smaller version using lighter materials -- but still works really well for any kind of Desk/Shelving you need
73
Bruce G4ABX
g4abx.co.uk
@G4abx
Genius!
Thanks Joe.
It's my Wife who is the genius. She thought up the idea after we had been doing a bit of DIY :-)
Works for anywhere you need to adjust stuff.
73
Bruce G4ABX
g4abx.co.uk
@G4ABX
Just great to see approach the Hobby in a cost saving way. I try and make my hobbies self funding. However gone are the days of army surplus ham rallies. Ex pmr stuff etc. Cheers from old George a diy Ham Radio guy returning to the Hobby now retired.
Hi George and a Happy New Year.
There really isn't a need to spend BIG bucks on the Amateur Radio hobby.
From desks to rigs.
I'm helped by the fact that I run QRP -- so don't need amplifiers or BIG Atu's.
I also try and build stuff myself whenever I can -- it keeps the 'little grey cells' exercised.
Have a great 2024
73
Bruce
You have the best intro! 72
Thanks Trevor.
Credit goes to my lovely wife who composed, played and mixed the track.
We both did the graphics.
73
Bruce G4ABX
g4abx.co.uk
@g4abx
Very nice! The wood can be anything, from plywood to 1x6 or whatever boards, or the very strong kitchen counter material. To me, the use of the threaded rod is the brilliant part! Wonderful!!! 73 WB2SMK
Thanks Mark.
Always happy to provide a bit of inspiration.
73
Bruce G4ABX
g4abx.co.uk
@G4ABX
Thanks for sharing, Bruce. For me the main transceiver needs to be more up from the desk to keep my back upright. 73 Hermann DK2BE
Good afternoon Hermann.
In that case, you could place the main transceiver on the shelf where my ancillary equipment is mounted.
My monitors are held on 'arms' fixed off the main desk and can be moved to wherever is comfortable
The beauty of this design is you can choose -- and change -- where everything goes without needing to start from 'scratch'
73
Bruce G4ABX
g4abx.co.uk
@G4abx
I found your channel because of a 'short' that you posted about this desk. I LIKE it! I posted on that short about the possibility of using the rods to help with grounds for all the gear but I'm not really seeing any grounding done. I know that the wall outlets technically have a ground but in America, that's a pretty crappy ground! I don't know how building wiring is done in the UK but in America the wall grounding is a tiny little wire that finds it's way to the breaker box. The little wire may be part of other circuits and is usually tied to the neutral bar in the box. Various types of metals are used for all of this and then a single, thicker copper wire goes to a single Earth ground. If you are lucky, it's a dedicated ground rod but some older construction uses the old iron water pipe for a ground! By the time the Electrons try to navigate this 'obstacle course' of connections and crap, your expensive (and sensitive) equipment been fried by a surge! I have all of my antenna coaxs, radio cases and internal wiring all tied with heavy copper wiring and connectors. This is all connected along a large copper pipe at the bottom rear of the rack and has a very heavy lead to ground. That heavy lead takes the shortest route possible through the wall and straight down to it's own dedicated grounding rod. That grounding rod is also tied by more heavy copper wire to the houses original grounding rod around the corner. Thankfully, I haven't lost any of my radios to lightning or a surge, yet. I also have a large knife throw switch that disconnects the main power and the electricity goes through a couple of powerful surge protectors in series, then the UPS and then to power strips for the equipment. When I'm not running my rig, power is turned off. The large knife throw switch won't let even lightning jump it in the Off position. I've seen lightning 'Jump' through a regular wall switch that is turned off.
Anyway, nice desk idea/construction and I hope folks may have gotten a little useful ideas for grounding their rigs. Greetings and Take Care from an American Ham! -John
A comprehensive reply John :-)
In the UK, our mains wiring is considered 'some of the best' in the World -- but I agree, for a good RF ground for your kit, you should not rely on it.
I have an 8 ft copper pipe driven into moistened ground immediately where external cables enter my shack.
Coax braid is also grounded at this point and a ground braid from this Cu rod enters the shack and is the single point to which all my kit is grounded -- a 'Star' connection.
It works well and I have never had any issues with RF, lightening or any other kind of mains borne interference in the shack
I also agree that grounding to water pipes and the like should be avoided. (They may be GAS pipes!)
The stainless steel rods of the desk are not used for any electrical connections as they can be undone and moved whenever you have a new piece of kit to accommodate.
Thanks for your input
73
Bruce G4ABX
g4abx.co.uk
@G4abx
ua-cam.com/channels/U7ZhTyWhcnU-to8LpC18XA.html@@G4ABX Hello, I have seen and am using 1/2" copper pipe in the shack walls this is brought out to grounding buss bars at various points. the whole installation is then grounded to copper (???) spikes that are in the ground around the shack exterior. I am also going to advise that you get the whole idea verified and checked by a qualified electrician in your jurisdiction. (UK in my case). getting this wrong can be very very fatal - two veries
This is an excellent idea! My desk is growing because my rig is expanding and I think this can do the job. My only question is if the shelves can support considerable weight as many of my radios are old from the 70s and they are about 20 kgs each. Have you tested if they are safe with this method? This modular idea really is superb.
Sound like.listening to survival documentary cool !
Glad you liked it
Best wishes
Bruce
I'm interested to see how those shelves react to lateral force. It looks like they make develop quite a significant amount of movement due to not having any diagonal support. Have you tried a good whack from the side ?
I need to make a desk, both to house my gear and to work on. Small assembly work. It will house some decently big power supplies, linear and switching. So need to be reasonably sturdy. This video is interesting as I work out what I want to do.
For now I have an old kitchen worktop ontop of several wooden "horses" forming a right angle. It has worked for the last 9 months and served me well. But soon I will be moving the shack and need to upgrade. This video came at a good time.
The desk is VERY stable
You obviously need to size the stainless uprights for the correct weight the desk will be carrying -- so don't try 8mm dia if you have a linear on the top shelf!
12mm rods are VERY strong and stiff and don't move at all! (Just try sawing them!)
Like everything in life its 'horses for courses.'
The main desk is not secured to anything -- not the trestles that support it or the rods that support the shelves or the wall the desk is against.
Good design, weight and gravity do all the securing needed.
73
Bruce
@G4ABX
g4abx.co.uk
Take a look at my new 'Shorts.' ua-cam.com/users/shortsY6jqJPPv2oc?feature=share
It should answer your question.
73
Bruce G4ABX
g4abx.co.uk
@G4abx
I am actually in work with a wood crafter who is trying to help me re-design my 10 ft space. How deep is your shelves if I may ask?? Love the video and the gear on them. 73's KC0QNA
Of course you may ask Don :-)
The main desk is a kitchen worktop -- so 600mm deep and 3000mm long
The Shelves are a thinner piece of kitchen worktop cut in half (down its length) to give 2 pieces, so 300 mm (ish) each in width, and 3000mm long. One of these was then cut in half again to give 2 x 1500mm shelves for the shorter versions.
That was the cheapest way to buy the wood I needed.
73
Bruce G4ABX
g4abx.co.uk
@G4abx
Is there a way to put in TELIVE innto this distro?
Hmm.
I don't understand the question?
Please expand.
73
Bruce G4ABX
g4abx.co.uk
@G4ABX
how many cup holders?
As many as you care to fit :-)
73
Bruce G4ABX
Nice shack. Yes a pencil (with a eraser) I too find is better. HI HI 73 Leo k
Hi Leo
I tend to use a Pen -- and re-do the sketching. That way I can keep track of my original 'nonsense' and come up with something that works!
73
Bruce G4ABX
g4abx.co.uk
@G4ABX
''👍- 73''
If you cannot move easily behind your desk, you have failed to provide 4 making any changes easily. IF ham shack with equipment pushed against the back wall, then I know not a real ham uses it because you cannot get behind there and make the changes you know are coming with wires and so on.
I wrote an article with pictures and gave it to all the ham magazines but nobody picked it up and published it. I used 4 by 4 posts and carefully measured so my desktop would be at typing height/ also called writing height/ which you can find scientific measurements on the web.
I used a piece of rounded front cabinet top material with a slick finish in my choice of colors-- don't use glaring glaring white-- cures off white or cream or otherwise but no reflecting white.
I made the cross shelves well supported out of the wire frame plastic coated material that is sold to go into new construction as a closet shelf........ Ideal for strength but does not stop air flow.
My height measurement included my addition of heavy duty rollers on the bottom of each leg... Where's foot stomping locks on them.
My article in photos or on an old computer that are tough to recapture, so you just have to use your good imagination........... Ohh and do not shove the back against the wall!!!!!
you need to cut down on intro to video
Hi Ted.
Do you mean the music/Intro or the initial 'chat?'
Thanks
73
Bruce G4ABX
g4abx.co.uk
@G4ABX
Ignore me if you like, love your content, but try sitting back in your chair or move away from the camera when doing your intro
Good advice is never ignored!
Its a new position for the Camera - so lets see if I can improve that on the next video -- which is related to this one
Thanks for the feedback
73
Bruce G4ABX
@@G4ABX Relieved you took the feedback in the way it was intended! de g5vhf
We all learn all the time. I'm no expert at this UA-cam stuff -- and what's important is how it is perceived at the receiving end!
So thanks again -- and do check out my next video to see I've taken your advice :-)
73
Bruce G4ABX
Nice set up! 73 de VK2AOE.
Many thanks
its taken a while but the shack is coming together :-)
73
@@G4ABX Here is my shambolic shack makeover! 🤡
ua-cam.com/video/KWQwTx3uMJU/v-deo.html
You should see my construction bench when I'm in the middle of building something!
You've managed to create order on yours. That's what its all about
73
Bruce
g4abx.co.uk
@G4abx
Thanks for the idea, I've been putting off building up as my woodwork skills aren't 100%, this however is very achievable 🙂
Many thanks, de EI2JHB
Leonard. My woodworking skills are not that great either -- so I got the wood supplier -- (Kitchen Worktops) to pre-cut the wood for me. No cutting needed by me at all!
Drilling the holes is very achievable :-)
Have fun
73
Bruce G4ABX
g4abx.co.uk
@G4abx