Power Distributor - Bespoke option? (UK)

Hi all,

I'm building a flypack of sorts based on an SKB Studio Flyer.

It's got 2 rack units in it in which I've mounted (on the Teranex Mini Shelves):

1x ATEM TVS HD
1x Web Presenter
1x HyperDeck Studio Mini

That means I have two thirds of one unit free and I'm considering what to fill the extra space with.

One thing I'm not enjoying is having so many cables coming out of the case which, depending on where I'm working, can be a hassle. So rather than 3 x kettle plugs + a MacBook Pro MagSafe adapter I was thinking of getting a power distributor to fit in the remaining space. I've seen lots of 19" options such as the T.Racks 8 USB but guess what - finding something that's the same dimensions as the ATEM TVS HD is pretty much impossible!

So I've been thinking of getting one built - a friend is an engineer who does this sort of stuff and knows plenty of fabricators to build the case to the right measurements.

Before I pull the trigger - is anyone in the same boat and has anyone else found something that fits the bill? I.e. two thirds the size of the 19" instead of full width? My design brief to the guy so far is:

Dimensions (same as the ATEM)
Front: 2 x USB ports, 1 x master on/off switch (optional: 4 x individual switches)
Rear: power inlet, 3 x IEC 60320 connections to power the BMD modules, 1 x UK plug socket to hook the laptop into.

I guess another question is - would anyone else want something made at the same time? It's not exactly cost efficient getting this hand made as a one-off! So if anyone wants to share costs then drop me a note.

If anyone has anything else they'd recommend instead of the power distributor, let me know. I figure I already have plenty of micro converters and can't think what I'd really instert in the space except for an audio mixer but that must be even pricier to get built than the power distributor so I've written that off for now.

Thanks all,
Ed

You might be able to find a 1U half rack width power distribution unit (although it might not have USB power output or a lot of fancy features).

You can also get IEC320 C14 to C13 power splitter cables (2-way, 3-way, and even 4-way splits are pretty readily available). That would allow you to have just a single power input for all the rack mount items, and be much less expensive than a power distribution unit (although maybe not as clean of a solution).

If you do go with a custom solution, keep in mind that all of the Blackmagic 1U height units that mount to the Teranex Rack Shelves have a left to right airflow pattern (air intake on left side, output on right side). So it's important not to cover these vents. If you build a custom unit, you would probably want air vents on the sides that match the Blackmagic ones and also maybe an internal fan.

All of these units also have a front lip where the front bezel/panel is a bit taller than the rest of the unit. This works perfectly when mounted on the Teranex Mini Rack shelf to result in a 1U height (1.75 inch/44.5 mm). But if you are building something custom to fit on the same shelf, you would have to account for the thickness of the rack shelf, and make it a bit shorter than the standard 1U height.

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the quick response. Yep, am factoring in the fact the unit would need to be slightly lower than 1U to take into account the mini shelf. I've also seen half rack units with PDU but that would be slightly too big for my use case, right? i.e.

Shelf 1: ATEM (2/3rds) + HyperDeck Studio Mini (1/3rd)
Shelf 2: Empty (1/3rd) + Empty (1/3rd) + Web Presenter (1/3rd)

I'd considered the splitter cable but I guess there were a few features I would like (USB would be nice but a switch would be great, surge protection etc).

What I hadn't considered was the left to right airflow. It also might be a bit tight to fit a fan in there as well as 4 units + usb + switch etc. I'll chat to my engineer friend and see how much space we have to play with. Thanks for the heads up.

I presume on that note that the intake/output vents match exactly on all BMD devices in this range? So putting them next to each other is the logical thing to do in the first place and there's no specific order to do it in. I've seen plenty of BMD Teranex mount stuff inside this particular case before and there's a little space on the edges on the inside of it once things are mounted so presume all OK on that front and I just need to be careful not to break the loop with any PDU.

Thanks again for getting back.
Ed

Here's a fairly wild thought.

What about finding a cheap second hand (maybe even "broken") ATEM TVS HD to use as a case, rip all the innards out and take off the front and rear panels and replace them with what I'm after. Perfect size, already has the air vents...

I know nothing if not how to complicate a situation.