MikeB Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 I found this humorous: http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2009/05 ... art-6.html Link to comment
Sub-Routine Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 Hey Mike, that first picture brings back some memories. About 15 years ago we were auguring holes for a sight barrier across the street from O'Hare Airport. We stayed late to complete the job and on the last hole we turned up a phone cable. A BIG phone cable. My helper declared "I haven't seen that many colors since the '70s!" I laughed so hard I lost my breath We were almost 12 feet from the minefield of marks the phone company had made. It took them over 3 days of 24 hour work to reconnect some 50,000 pairs. Rand Link to comment
IndyMike Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 Mike B, The amazing part in many of those photo's is that they are out in public. I have an old high school buddy who still works as a lineman for the local utility. He's a crew foreman but still likes to show that he can climb poles. I think I'd be safe in saying that he would pass on most of the poles shown (nor would he allow any of his crew near them). Back in the day, I was involved with a number of hot test setups for Jet engine controls. This was a combination of control mode and instrumentation wiring, plumbing for hot jet fuel and hot air (take the referenced pictures and add in a lot of plumbing). These setups resemble some of the scenes from the first Alien movie - we probably could have leased some of the test cells and saved the Producer a ton on his set costs. The difference here is that these test cells were contained by 3 foot thick reinforced concrete walls (blast doors on one side), and protected by three separate fire systems including Cardox (floods the area and removes the oxygen from the room). We did have a small "incident" in the early 70's where we lost an engine exhaust stack (burned through) and toasted a box car on the rail line behind the plant. Luckily it was just a box car and not one of the anhydrous ammonia or propane cars that regularly pass by. Even so, the railroad was a bit miffed for some time. For my part, I've been slowly upgrading my structured wiring panel in the basement. Eight years ago I purchased an 18" panel and then began running the RG6 and Cat5. In the end, it became obvious that I had been a bit optimistic that I could fit everything in an 18" panel. Fast forward to present time and I'm finishing the basement. I need to provide terminations for all this wiring so I can drywall this section. I added another 18" panel above the original for the terminations. My router and DSL modem will be in a separate "closet" to the side (12-2 run to the right in the photo). The ISY and security are again in another dedicated panel under the stairs. The hardest part in all of this has been verifying and labeling the cable runs. I've found runs in locations where I've had to ask myself "what was I thinking?" (my daughters bathroom). My current problem is that I am again 100% utilized on the RG6 terminations (and close on the Cat5). I forgot to apply the time tested rule of engineering estimates - detail the required resources and double them (engineering margin), then double them again (management margin). Link to comment
aLf Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 IM: How did you get pictures of my basement? Looks just like my box. I wish I had your ambition and your spare space. aLf Link to comment
MikeB Posted May 10, 2009 Author Share Posted May 10, 2009 Maybe this thread should have been called "show us your rack". Here's my contribution: http://www.techav.com/misc/rack.jpg http://www.techav.com/misc/panel.jpg I wish I had more time to keep things a bit more tidy, but it could be worse... Link to comment
IndyMike Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 aLf, I suspect all of our basements look like this at some stage in the game. Unfortunately, poor planning on my part placed this panel in what will become a finished area. I've sidestepped part of the problem by framing an equipment closet a couple feet to the right. My wire runs for the original panel wouldn't reach the closet, so I was forced to terminate the runs as shown. My ambition is entirely manufactured. The Boss lady has informed me that I can't start restoration of my '70 cutlass convertible until the basement is finished. I have a photo of the car on my desktop for inspiration when the going gets tough. IM: How did you get pictures of my basement? Looks just like my box. I wish I had your ambition and your spare space. aLf Link to comment
IndyMike Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 MikeB, Now that's a "RACK". Do you mind elaborating on what the Star Trek cast is switching? Is that plumbing for water cooling that I see on the lower right? Maybe this thread should have been called "show us your rack". Here's my contribution: http://www.techav.com/misc/rack.jpg http://www.techav.com/misc/panel.jpg I wish I had more time to keep things a bit more tidy, but it could be worse... Link to comment
MikeB Posted May 10, 2009 Author Share Posted May 10, 2009 Actually, that's for my oil tank. You noticed the names! Kind of an inside joke with a couple guys that work with me. Those 4 servers currently run my in-house AD, Exchange, data server, media server, web server, backups, and whole-house audio, and one is a test server for random stuff I don't want to put on our live servers. Link to comment
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