[R-390] Rack Mounted R-390A

[Tim Shoppa]

"dr7zyq" <dr7zyq at imbris.net> wrote:
> future212 at comcast.net writes:
> My question is about mounting R-390A's in a rack. I have heavy duty
> sliders, but there is no built in holes for standard sliders in
> R-390A's. I'm thinking about making a side plate to secure the radio to
> the sliders. I know that I can secure an R-390 using the front rails,
> but would really like to be able to slide them out to work on or remove
> them. What is the best way to mount them?

FWIW: My yellow striper from Fair Radio had "extra" holes in the sides
which had obviously been used for mounting rails in its previous life.
They were simply drilled and tapped into the aluminum sides, and not
done awfully professionally either.

That said, what I do: Put angle-iron on the inside of the racks.
Align so that bottom sides of the R-390A sit on the angle-iron and you
can secure it in with the front panel screws. Note that the front panel
screws do not really support the unit, that's reserved for the angles
that the radio sits on. The screws are just there to stop it from
sliding out.  Allow a lot of space on the top
and bottom to remove modules etc. I would say at least ten inches
on top and bottom at the very minimum. If you can make it twenty inches.

It is very difficult for me (and I'm not a small guy) to lift a
R-390A overhead myself. I would never recommend that anyone try
it. Realistically you probably don't want to mount it much over
waist-height. Put speakers and lightweight stuff up top.

Putting it in over waist height is possible if you lay the rack
down, bolt the radio in, and then tip it up. This can be done by one guy
with a six-foot medium-weight rack. For your heavy duty racks it
may not be feasible. This is also much more reasonable if you
take the modules out (especially the power supply!)
and then put them back in after the mainframe
is secure and at the desired height.

Replace angle-iron with aluminum angle if you wish etc.

For ultimate deluxe arrangement, put delrin strips on top of the angle
pieces to make it easier to slide in and out. But in case you didn't get
the hints, always make sure you can get in to align and swap around
modules without having to take it out of the rack. With a little luck
you'll be able to put the mainframe into the rack and not remove it
for years.

And I fully agree with the others: do not slide anything heavy out
of a rack on rails! Many racks originally had anti-tip features such
as lead weights on the bottom or legs that came out the front and
helped against tipover. This is not a hypothetical risk!

Tim.