RE-Reworking My Small System... AGAIN

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Yep!!’[emoji1]... That’s the one I ALMOST ordered... BUT, I did get it on eBay.[emoji4]


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Mine shows free 1-day shipping .. the China one must have been real cheap .. :)
 
Mine shows free 1-day shipping .. the China one must have been real cheap .. :)

The one coming from China is USB 3.0. The sole USB port on the Surface Pro is USB 3.0. My Hub is USB 3.0. I don’t NEED USB 3.0 right now, but in the future... who knows???


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Oooooo.... That’s a NICE one![emoji4]


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I figure with the controller, external drives, wireless mouse, etc. I have cables going everywhere. This even allows me to hook up a karaoke monitor easily.
 
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I figure with the controller, external drives, wireless mouse, etc. I have cables going everywhere. This even allows me to hook up a karaoke monitor easily.

OK... I ended up ordering this one too[emoji1]...

Unitek USB 3.0 6-Port Hub + 1 Charging Port

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XKZLZXL/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_bKXABb9137DD4

... Don’t need the charging port, but the built-in Ethernet Adapter on it will allow me to eliminate one more internal component. So... I’ll end up with a couple of spare 2 Port USB hubs and an unused 4 Port USB hub and a USB Ethernet adapter, but that’s OK. Perhaps I use them in the NEXT system I build.[emoji6]

Of course, that means my layout changes. I redid my drawing, and I’ll make my mounts based on the sizes of the new hub and the elimination of the Ethernet adapter.
 
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I got my mounting platforms made...

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...and painted on one side. With the items I ordered, I think I can easily mount them all on the three platforms, then screw the platforms to the shelf.

While I was cutting wood, I went ahead and cut the pieces to build the little mobile platform to make my table more mobile when using it in my office...

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... Just need to add the casters, but the little square plastic cups I ordered (that will be attached to the platform to keep the table legs in place) have not come yet. They were shipped from China a couple of weeks ago, but who knows when they’ll reach Oklahoma?[emoji1]
 
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Same ole’ song; different verse... I guess it wouldn’t be a Bobcat project if everything went according to plan.[emoji1] I got my mounts painted and started to affix Velcro straps to the first one (that holds the Disk Drive Enclosure) with a staple gun, and I ran out of staples. No big deal... I have a box of staples, so I pull it out and open the box and then... CR@P!!!... the staples all pour out the bottom of the box onto the hardwood floor and the strips shatter into little pieces flying everywhere. So I crawl around on the floor collecting all the little pieces, trying to preserve the larger sections and discarding the single staples that separated from the strips. I think I got them all, but I’m sure I’ll know soon enough if I didn’t, because I’m usually barefoot when I walk around in the house.

So I get another box of staples out, and CAREFULLY open the box, making sure not to allow any of the strips to fall on the floor this time. I load the stapler, and... CR@P!!!... The staples won’t come out... until I fire it into the air, and then a single staple goes flying across the room and lands who knows where???... So after crawling around on the floor for five minutes looking for the misfired staple, I try to staple my Velcro strap on again... It works... sometimes. I check the box of staples to make sure they’re the right size... Yep... size is right for the staple gun. So I take the stapler apart to see if I can figure out what’s wrong with it. This is the same stapler I used when making my Facade, and it gave me no problems at all. Couldn’t find anything wrong with it, so I put it back together. Still only works intermittently. Guess I’ll buy a new staple gun today. Can’t complain about how long this one lasted... it has to be close to 40 years old.[emoji1]

It took a little time, but I was able to get the Disk Drive mount finished, as well as the mount for the Ethernet Switch and Controller Power Block. Can’t do the third mount (USB Hub and Sound Card mount) anyway, because I ordered a new USB Hub, which won’t be here until next week....

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SOoooo....[emoji1] In the meantime, I figure I’ll work on the mobile platform for the DJ table... I got it glued and screwed together, and all that’s left to do is screw on the casters... WELL... if I can find the screws. I looked EVERYWHERE... but the STUPID box of screws is nowhere to be found. I ONLY have a few places it could be, and I checked them all about a dozen times before finally giving up. It makes me CRAZY when I can’t find something I KNOW (think) I have. So... looks like when I go to the hardware store to buy a new stapler, I’ll get a box of screws too.[emoji1]
 
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This rack shelf is pretty much ready to go in (mounted in the rack)... well... except the USB hub I ordered AIN’T here. Amazon says; “Arriving Tuesday”, but it hasn’t even shipped yet, so I’m not too optimistic.[emoji1] If I put the 4 Port Hub and the USB Ethernet adapter in temporarily, I’d just have to pull the shelf back out to mount the new hub. Not sure I wanna do that, but I am kinda anxious to get it all put together to see what I’ve got.

I got the ports on the patch panel labeled yesterday, and got it (the patch panel) mounted in the rack. I also got the casters bolted to my mobile platform (for the DJ table). I think I might even have a solution for the table leg cups (to keep the table from sliding off the platform), so we’ll see if I can pull that off today. Gettin’ close to being done![emoji4]


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Couldn't you purchase a USB hub at just about any bestbuy?

Yep... but not a 6 Port USB 3.0 hub with built-in gigabyte Ethernet Adapter. I already have a 4 Port hub, but it’s one port shy of what I need. The built-in Ethernet Adapter on the 6 Port hub I ordered will actually eliminate the need for one port, though, so I’ll actually only end up using four of the ports on the NEW hub... when it gets here.[emoji1]


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Got tired of waiting for my little square plastic feet/cups (for attaching to the mobile table platform to contain the four table legs) to get here from CHINA[emoji3]... so I made my own. Not plastic, but aluminum with wooden bottoms. I had some aluminum tubing... cut it to size... filed down the edges... a little construction adhesive to attach the wooden bottoms, and voilà!!! [emoji3] When the construction adhesive dries, I’ll drive a screw through the bottom of each cup, just for a little added strength, and it should be ready to use.[emoji4]

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OK... Works perfectly![emoji3]...
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... Probably would have been a little easier if I hadn’t tried to put it under the table with my small rack, headphones, tools, and other stuff still sitting on the table top, but we gotter done![emoji3]
 
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Wow... That’s kinda weird; checked my Amazon orders and my 6 Port USB Hub FINALLY shipped. That’s not the weird part.[emoji1]... Instead of scheduled delivery on Tuesday, it says “Arriving Tomorrow By 8:00 PM”. I don’t believe it, but that would be great.[emoji4]


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I was pleasantly surprised to receive both the 2 Port USB hub (which I no longer need) AND the all important 6 Port Hub (with built-in Gigabit Ethernet adapter) today. They both arrived in the mail around 2 PM. Took a little finagling, but I think I’ve got everything arranged on the rack shelf...
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... Now I just need to get everything secured and mount the shelf in the rack.[emoji4]

Too bad the 6 Port USB Hub came with a 4 foot long USB cable. Most USB hubs have really short, permanently connected cables to attach the hub to the source. Not this one... long removable cable. Now I have to order a short one. I have plenty of short USB 2.0 cables, but no short 3.0 cables. The 4 footer will be OK temporarily, but a short one WILL be coming.[emoji1]

I try to color code my wires, but I can’t always. I like to use red for network, Black for audio, and white for USB, but sometimes I can’t find the color I want in the right length cable, so I get what I can get.
 
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Got everything hooked up... well... except for the cables for the monitors (from Booth Out on the controller to the XLR jacks on the patch panel). It would be ever so nice if everything went perfectly, but it rarely happens. The 1/4 connectors coming out of the controller are in the EXACT same spot as the microphone connector on the bottom of the top hinged rack panel, to which the Bogen microphone is connected. So the hinge panel doesn’t close. Not a big problem... a couple of 90 degree 1/4 inch adapters would fix it, only... I don’t have any. CR@P!!![emoji1]...

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Oh well... I ordered a couple and should have them on Tuesday... same day as the short USB 3.0 cable.[emoji4]


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... Started testing the main system, which had not really changed except the output from the controller now goes into the mixer prior to going to the speakers. Shouldn’t be a problem; right???... WRONG!... I was getting audio OK, but the MIDI control was not working right... sliders were missing (on the GUI) and I couldn’t control the volume from the controller or use the cross fader. That’s not gonna work. Messed around with the setting, which had changed for some reason, and got the sliders to appear, but not ALL of the controls worked right. Since my Large System was set up next to my small one, I did a setting-by setting comparison, but that didn’t fix it. Did several resets and reboots, but no luck. The Large System worked fine, so I switched controllers... same result... Large System still worked right, and Small System didn’t. Not likely a computer hardware problem, so I re-imported the MIDI map... and that fixed it... WEIRD! Probably something got messed up because the computer had been disconnected from the controller while I was making all the changes to the system... not sure. I’ve powered everything off and on a few times, and it seems to be holding the setup now. I’ll have to keep retesting before I’ll have confidence in this system again.

Haven’t tested the backup computer or any of the other changes. That’s next, but probably not today... Having company over for dinner tonight, and I need to start cooking.[emoji4]


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My dinner guest has departed, so I had a chance to do a couple more tests. My backup PC (Surface Pro) works great. The USB Hub and all the components plugged into it work just as they should, even the built-in gigabit Ethernet Adapter. That’s a big plus![emoji4]... The Traktor Audio 2 DJ Sound Card works fine, and the headphone jack on the top hinged rack panel works too... first time I’ve actually tried it, and it works beautifully. I think we’re gonna be happy with this system.[emoji4]

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Edit/Update: Bluetooth works too. Had no reason to think it wouldn’t, because I had already tested it before attaching the receiver to the Top Hinged Rack Door, but it’s good to know I didn’t screw anything up when wiring it all up for real.[emoji4] Need to test microphones next, then the last auxiliary input, which is intended for use with my laptop as yet a second/third backup.

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