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Need some advice from the Rack Mount experts

post #1 of 13
1/12/13 at 11:56am
Thread Starter 
I have gotten a lot of ideas and advice over the years from searching these forums, but haven't posted too much. Now I need some specific help, and thought I would put it out to the Rack Mount experts.
I want to add a Pioneer Elite Blu ray (BDP-62FD) to my rack. It will, according to Middle Atlantic custom face plate chart, take 3units of space. I only have 2u left blank...so what to do?
The PS3 plays Blu rays just fine except it is extremely loud! The fans kick in and I have to keep raising the volume...plus I am not crazy how my remote (Harmony one) interacts with it. I think the BDP-62FD would
provide at least the same picture quality with much better remote control interface and it has to be way quieter than the PS3....plus I can get one for a good price.
The only option I see is to find a bottom drawer that takes up one less unit of height and shift everything down to give the 3units needed. Problem is that this drawer is full of PS3 controllers, cables, DVD's etc which would have to find another home.
Plus it will probably be expensive because I remember years ago the current drawer was not cheap. The AppleTV takes two face plates but is very small. I have been unable to find a custom face plate and shelf
online that would only take up only one unit?

Any thoughts would be appreciated!



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post #2 of 13
1/12/13 at 12:42pm
The drawer has to go.
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post #3 of 13
1/12/13 at 2:30pm
I disagree - the drawer is too useful!

How do you control the setup now? Do you have an IR repeater or other control system? Is there access behind the rack?

I ask because the simplest thing to do is pull out the AppleTV completely, and just hide it inside the rack. It's not like you're connecting to it directly or it has any pretty displays to look at. As long as you can control it without seeing the IR eye on the front, the only reason you need to get to the unit would be to reset it (can you even do that without accessing the back anyway?).

I've got a number of components, like the Ethernet switch and the Global cache GC-100, that are essentially "infrastructure" pieces, and they just sit on top of other components inside the rack wherever there's no vents or heat being generated. I even used some Velcro to stick the Ethernet switch to the underside of one of the shelves.

So if you pull the 2U AppleTV out and the 1U blank above it, that frees up your 3U without sacrificing the useful drawer!

Jeff
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post #4 of 13
1/12/13 at 2:44pm
jautor's got a point. Drawer's are mega useful. You can get a generic 2RU rack drawer for $70 on Amazon... I'm not sure if your controllers will fit in it or not but if they will then you can sell your 3RU drawer and get all the space you need.

Is that a Mac Mini near the top taking up TWO RU? Why not just stack it on top of something behind a faceplate. That's what I do with mine.
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post #5 of 13
1/12/13 at 2:50pm
Thread Starter 
On top is the AppleTV and it is controlled by IR not RF so it needs line of sight. There is access behing the rack and I like the idea of hiding it inside the rack, but that would require replacing current remote with RF or getting IR repeater which would still require some "eye" in the front of the rack for the later option. I think RF could get expensive.
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post #6 of 13
1/12/13 at 3:26pm
Buy a rack vent http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/555-15460 put it in that single space between your AV Receiver and the PS3, then place the Apple TV behind it. The IR should work through the vents without any problems. That will free up the 3 spaces you need at the top.
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post #7 of 13
1/12/13 at 4:05pm
On the line's of jautor's suggestion: Why not suspend the Apple TV behind the vented panel top of the MA rack? You could remove one bar of the vented area to widen the receiver area.
Maybe even add some black tape or material to the front of the AppleTV to sleath it.

Or consider an Oppo Bluray player @ 2U of height.

As for cooling, are your top vents blocked behind? If not, these vents could be short circuiting your cooling.
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post #8 of 13
1/12/13 at 7:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by bundi View Post

On top is the AppleTV and it is controlled by IR not RF so it needs line of sight. There is access behing the rack and I like the idea of hiding it inside the rack, but that would require replacing current remote with RF or getting IR repeater which would still require some "eye" in the front of the rack for the later option. I think RF could get expensive.

Aha! I figured you were controlling it via some other means. I should have thought of that. Is that the first-gen Apple TV, I guess?
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post #9 of 13
1/12/13 at 7:23pm
IR repeater systems aren't expensive, and each component can get an ir emitter, and you could put the ir receiver up front. Beats aiming a remote at the av rack.

Middle Atlantic also does custom faceplates, so you could order a 1U plate and shelf with the AppleTV cutout profile if it doesn't exceend 1.75" of height.
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post #10 of 13
1/13/13 at 1:08am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bundi View Post

On top is the AppleTV and it is controlled by IR not RF so it needs line of sight. There is access behing the rack and I like the idea of hiding it inside the rack, but that would require replacing current remote with RF or getting IR repeater which would still require some "eye" in the front of the rack for the later option. I think RF could get expensive.

Cheaper than anything, including a blank plate:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=109&cp_id=10110&cs_id=1011009&p_id=7537&seq=1&format=2

Poke the wire out and stick the eye to a component, vent panel, etc.

But the suggestions to place the AppleTV behind a vent panel, or buy the excellent Oppo BD103, are both good suggestions. I'd recommend doing at least two, if not all three. You want to have a few U left over for the next upgrade / addition! biggrin.gif

Jeff
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post #11 of 13
1/13/13 at 6:40am
Thread Starter 
Ok, now we are thinking outside the box...I knew I would get some creative suggestions. I like the idea of hiding the AppleTV behind the top vent and using the IR repeater. (there are two fans in the top of the rack enclosure, so heat shouldn't be an issue). I thought about the Oppo, but I like the uniform look of keeping it Pioneer, plus I use the A/V Control app which would only work with the BDP-62FD. But just to be clear about Tedd's suggestion...I've looked at getting a single unit faceplate and I was told that they (Middle Atlantic) don't make 1U custom face plates. Does anyone have any different personal experience? BTW, I held on to the AppleTV with the hard drive because I just liked photos and videos on the system to avoid the buffering issue while streaming. I just thought it looked way better with the aluminum face than the black plastic box, and it has analog outputs which allow me to run music to Zone 2. If anyone knows away around that, let me know and I would probably go ahead and upgrade to the latest AppleTV to get 1080p and Airplay since it will be hidden behind the vent? ---Thanks!
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post #12 of 13
1/15/13 at 9:03pm
Bundi, regarding your comment to using the apple TV to stream pics and video, why not use the PS3? I stream video, music, photos, all served up from my windows 7 machine. I have very limited knowledge regarding apple products, so this comment maybe off base.

But if you have a windows 7 machine, streaming to the PS3 is soooo simple.
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post #13 of 13
1/18/13 at 8:18pm
Thread Starter 
No windows 7 machine...just iMac. I decided to go with the hidden Apple TV behind the rack and this IR repeater Link
So far everything is working great, except when I added BDP-62FD to my Harmony one it doesn't include discrete on/off cones? Come on Logitech...hex codes are posted on Pioneers website --- Weak!
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