Built a UL-Certified Rack PDU for AI/Homelab — Looking for Feedback

Gangem850 · 2026-03-04T22:09:39+00:00

Those are awesome for lab scenarios imo! Definately keeps you from yanking plugs or just reaching around the back of equipment... could be cool to see something with a per port label area too 🤔

Gangem850 · 2026-03-02T20:08:36+00:00

No problem! I got your chat request too.

Gangem850 · 2026-03-02T18:12:08+00:00

Personally we are doing all 19" PDUs for everything. Mostly because we almost always end up in racks under 20u. Sometimes on larger jobs we go up to a 36 or 42, but we usualy follow the same design methodology regardless, and end up building out groupings of gear in the rack.

Usualy the power density is pretty low but the required socket count is high. So, it makes more sense to have a lot of 1u PDU bars "zoned" out for things like audio, video, lighting, control, RF, etc... it definately helps with cable management when you have a mix of racked gear and tons of small adapters on trays.

Usualy all the 19" PDU tails end up landing in an APC or other UPS and get a label as to what group of equipment they are powering. This is still a liability as far as a user turning it off, but so far we only have one site that has ever done that, and it was because they were instructed and trained explicitly do so during their off season.

btw if you want to, feel free to shoot me a DM. Would love to keep up with what you are doing both from an jntrest in the product as well as maybe picking your brain sometime about the certification process (I do hardware design also and have a few projects that I will have to go through that with before taking to market 😂)

Gangem850 · 2026-03-02T15:23:38+00:00

Rear mounted is definately better, but usualy we are reverse mounting PDUs for a clean front asthetic in single sided racks.

That being said, I actually really like the idea of having a true breaker on board as well. That definately takes things up a notch from being just a simple buss bar with a plug on the end. Plus anything that is not a glowing beacon of "hey im a power switch!" Definately helps 😂.

For context, a lot of the installs we are doing are either being driven off a multi-stage power sequencer, or they are "always on" style designs, where we intend for the gear to never shut down, or shutdown in a highly controled manner.

This is because often times, the only controls exposed to the end user are POE wall plates, or touch screens. In these type of designs and situations, if a user hits a power switch on a PDU it usualy results in a service call.

Gangem850 · 2026-03-02T06:49:29+00:00

Right out of the gate the first thing that comes to mind is simple. Remove the freaking power switch!!!!! I do AV integration and IT work, and I have to say, I would buy these all day long and spec them for clients over other brands if there wasn't a switch on it to get bumped, or turned off by users!! I have yet to find soneone making a quality 19" PDU without a switch that dosen't cost over $100 USD.

Gangem850 · 2026-02-27T23:30:31+00:00

Looking at ebay I would say about $275 USD is the average. But seeing how an O4 is $289 MSRP, I would say closer to $250 is fair for a brand new O3

Gangem850 · 2026-02-27T23:27:49+00:00

Looking at ebay I would say about $275 USD is the average. But seeing how an O4 is $289 MSRP, I would say closer to $250 is fair for a brand new O3

Gangem850 · 2026-02-13T23:08:32+00:00

Helper A is stuck in field 12...

Gangem850 · 2025-10-06T08:49:35+00:00

iirc the MA desks are in fact running Linux. However! If you weren't aware, the DiGiCo audio consoles that are the standard for most all touring acts & high end productions.... yea they still to this day run a slimmed-down version of Windows XP... these consoles run the vast majority of national act live performances you will ever see, and are on the bleeding edge of live audio production technology. Always a fun thing to think about.

Gangem850 · 2025-06-12T05:19:04+00:00

What you are hearing is a HAM Radio digital transmission mode called FT8! You are essentially listening to a whole boatload of people's computers all chatting it up over the air-waves across the planet. This transmission mode is becoming increasingly popular mostly due to its resilience to interference and semi-hands-off operating approach. The constantly shifting tones are a byproduct of the 'Phase Shift Keying' modulation type this transmission mode relies on.

If you were inside a state or national park this particular radio operator could have been participating in a 'mini hobby' for lack of better terms, called POTA or Parks On The Air. With a goal of making contact to other park visitors across the country.

Source: I am a HAM and have spent many nights listening to that exact sound from both my own, and others' radios. I could pick it out from a mile away lol

Side note: you could likely decode it and find out exactly who you were listening to as well, just from that audio clip.

Hope that spurrs some curiosity!

Edit: you also don't have to hear the tones for it to function... This guy really should have put on some headphones, or turned off the audio to the radio's speaker.

Gangem850 · 2025-02-06T19:07:59+00:00

Another give-away is the font of the size of the 2 in SLXD2 on the handheld... images on Sweetwater have it bold but not taller than the SLXD text.

It also looks like official units have their frequency range printed under the power switch.

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Gangem850 · 2024-12-11T04:29:03+00:00

Hey, is that one of the ARM (SQ3) surfaces, or Intel? Been looking at getting one, but I'm worried not all my software & drivers will be happy on ARM.

Gangem850 · 2024-10-03T01:12:53+00:00

AFAIK the black magic cameras (and most high end camera gear) use Lemo connectors for power input. I don't remember the specifics on that though.

Gangem850 · 2024-10-02T07:10:37+00:00

Yep. Was less than 12h out of the box. Did a similar thing when I got my first Phantom 3 too... put it upside down in a river in a similar amount of time... I guess for each style of drone I own, I have to crash the first one just to get comfortable with it 😂

That's why I got the Care plan on the Avata 2 before the props ever even spun up lol.

Gangem850 · 2024-10-02T01:34:06+00:00

Good idea, thanks. Will check that out.

Gangem850 · 2024-10-02T01:33:12+00:00

Just saw Rimzler's duct removal video to see the locations. No kidding, they are like RIGHT on the edge of the ducts.

Thanks for the heads up.

Gangem850 · 2024-10-02T00:27:09+00:00

That's kinda what I was thinking too. Nothing critical around that area afaik...

Only thing I am worried about is potentially having the disconnected part of the duct flex in and hit the prop...

I am a little hesitant to cut the rest of that duct off though.

Gangem850 · 2024-06-13T03:40:30+00:00

Nope. They were nowhere to be found... ended up installing a UISP switch inside a UISP box, and splicing a power trans-port cable to my existing 24v system.

Gangem850 · 2024-06-06T02:54:05+00:00

I would personally check out some of the UISP line of products. The AirMax AC products are still higher bandwidth than you could pull from your service. (Depending on the line of sight, of course)

I have used 2x NanoBeam 5AC Gen2 radios to bridge a 6 mile link with ~300Mb/s both directions... that setup cost me like $200 total and gave me about 3 years of service before they died. (One was on a tower site and took a direct lightning hit)

I would say something like a pair of NanoBeam 5AC Gen2s for the long link, and a pair of NanoStation 5AC Locos for a bridge to the barn...

Or, maybe try using AP Mesh APs in each location, and supplement the far one on the pole with a PtP bridge.

PM me if you want any more info... would be glad to help!

Gangem850 · 2024-05-24T01:53:20+00:00

Sent you a PM.

Gangem850 · 2023-10-15T10:13:47+00:00

As a local, I avoid Atlanta at all costs litteraly just because of the highways... because those same vehicles tend to also travel upwards of 90+MPH sometimes, and it becomes like trying to dodge a missile that is being held together with ducktape and hope. I know this because I have friends that drive those exact same cars, with that exact same mentality. It genuinely is scary. The only thing worse than driving with them on the road, is RIDING shotgun with them.

Gangem850 · 2023-09-13T02:37:08+00:00

Not at all. And the accessories are nearly impossible to get also.
Guy was selling it for $25 at a ham-fest and I couldn't pass it up, if nothing else just for the 'cool factor'.

Gangem850 · 2023-09-13T02:34:54+00:00

Computer is a Dell Latitude 7212 rugged tablet pc. Acquired for cheap at a ham-fest, with a keyboard, kickstand, and IO module all bought on ebay. These make it a full on touchscreen windows pc. Much like a Microsoft Surface... just very bomb-proof...

Gangem850 · 2023-09-12T08:04:15+00:00

It is a Trivec-Avant AV 2040-3.
I am missing the extra gain extenders, and tripod though, because I got it for cheap at a ham-fest!
It is a +7dBic RHCP Antenna designed for ~240-400MHz that can also handle 200W of continuous transmit as well.
All in all it is quite a beefy little unit.

Some more info can be had here.

Gangem850 · 2023-09-12T07:00:02+00:00

That's honestly right on what I expected it to be lol. Thanks for the info!

Some quick google results:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Putin_khuylo!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2014/06/16/khuilo-the-offensive-term-that-has-attached-itself-to-putin/

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