Spacing on Rack Mounts

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mesboogie

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What determines if a rack-mountable unit is a 2-Space, 4-Space, etc. unit?

Pretty stupid question huh? If the vertical distance between the centerline of the holes on my unit is 3", does this make it a 2-Space? I want to by a small rack bag and/or stand for my Pod Pro (see my thread in "The Rack" regarding my unbelievable deal) and am unsure how this works.

Yes, I'm a newbie. The question proves it.

Thanks!!

-mesboogie
 
Hey, nobody was born knowing this stuff! Don't sweat it...

The EIA rack standard is that a single space is 1.75" high overall. For a single rack space, that is 2 holes on 1.25" centers within a 1.75" overall faceplate. For a double rack space (a "2-slot"), it is 2 holes on 3" centers in a 3.5" overall faceplate. A 3-slot is "officially" 2 holes on 2.25" centers in a 5.25" faceplate, and that's where it gets wierd. 4 slots is 2 holes on 4" centers in a 7" faceplate!
5 is 2 holes at 5.75" on centers, 6 and 7 are rediculously freakin' complex and too hard to type, and everything else is a combination of 1 through 7: except when it isn't, in the case of the JAN military specs defined for the B-17 bomber radio racks (no shit) back in World War II.

Anyway, that's why it appears that there are 3 completely unrelated sets of holes drilled in relay rack mouning rails, not just one. Given that this has its roots in the military specs, believe me when I tell you that it wasn't _intended_ to make sense to mere mortals like us...

Aren't you glad you asked? (;-)
 
Thanks for the history lesson. Your answer was very thorough and most helpful. I spent 9 years in the Navy working in the engineroom and would have never guessed the specs were military-related. In hindsight, the complexity certainly points to milspecs.

-mesboogie
 
Y0 MessBOOGIEWOOGIE:

GO NAVY AND THEY DID. BEAT ARMY.

Green Hornet
Former CT2 USNR-R
 
Cool. I was an MM1 as the end of my final enlistment. Left after nine years to become a college teacher/consultant. Earned my degrees on active duty.
 
hey - do we need an Old War Vets Forum here ;);) i heard today that the internet was originally designed to fuck the Ruskies with a message system they couldn't crack! It does seem to act like it was designed by the miltary :D

cheers
john
 
How about the actual spacing of units in the rack themselves
for cooling purposes. I would ass u me that most suff can be just stacked on top of one another, how about my adat, also
should any equipment be seperated from each other due to any other considerations, magnetic etc.
 
Since it looks like there is some discussion going on here, let me add this inquiry to the mix.

I'm looking for a decent setup for storing the little bit of equipment I have. Specifically, I'd like a stand that will support my Behringer 802 mixer and my Line 6 Pod Pro (with at least a few opening rack-wise in case I decide to add something later).

Suggestions?

-mesboogie
 
You can build a nice one out of wood, the drummer I play with did and painted it black and it looks very professional. He is a Carpenter though but it cant be to hard.
 
That seems like a pretty good idea. I'd probably still need to buy some rails though--pretty inexpensive mail order. I've looked online for some small setups; they tend to be in the $130 - $170. Probably not bad, but more than I'm willing to pay. Right now both items are resting on a table and are fine.

-mesboogie
 
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