Hey man....I'll give you a breakdown of everything I own to make music. But you have to be aware, that there is a HUGE learning curve to home recording...and until you get proficient with your DAW and learning about all sorts of settings and how to set up your audio and workflow and what cable gets plugged into where and yadda yadda, you will find that there are days where it can get aggravating. And then once you finally get the hang of it, and you can record something with somewhat ease, you will find that it sounds like garbage, and then you realize you gotta learn all about mixing, and the struggles that comes with.

So first and foremost, just make sure you are aware that even if you had all the money in the world, it's going to take a good chunk of time before you feel comfortable and etc.

BUT,

here is a list of everything that should help you get started.



I assume you're a guitarist yeah?

First off, just buy the full version of Reaper. It's $60. It's worth it.
Also, for drums, I use Steven Slate Drums...The full kit is worth it..but if you want just the $40 version, that will work also.

For an audio interface, the best quality/bang for your buck would probably be something from Focusrite

And then you will need a set of monitors as well....again, the best quality/bang for your buck IMO is a set of these

And then of course you're going to need things like cables, etc.

XLR cables for mics,

balanced cables for connecting things like your interface to your monitors, etc,

get some instrument cables as well if you don't already have some,

A good surge protector as well, can't recommend this one enough, it has rotating sockets so you can fit everything on it.



From then, its just a matter of how much money you want to spend, and what all you want to do.

How do you plan to get your guitar tone. Are you going to mic a cab? If so, look into something like an SM57. If you wanna do it the cheap/free way, be warned you will be dealing with a latency issue. USB interfaces have latency, so monitoring your tone can cause some issues sometimes. You plug in your guitar raw straight into the interface, and throw on some plugins on the track that give you your tone. If you want to hear just a raw, clean guitar, there won't be any latency. But if you want to record while hearing your distortion, the computer has to take your clean signal, process it through the plugins, and then back out to the monitors, so there will be a split second of latency if you don't have things set up correctly and if your pc specs arent up to par..and even so, you never can truly get to 0 latency without spending some SERIOUS money.

If you have some extra money, I would highly recommending getting something like this eleven rack...I personally use this. You can bypass the latency issue by choosing what you monitor on the interface...do you want to monitor what is coming from the input (the eleven rack) or the playback (the computer) or a blend of both. So essentially i can just listen to my guitar live as I'm recording straight from the Eleven Rack, but i'm not acutally 'monitoring' it in Reaper. By doing so, my guitar doesn't have to travel through the computer and back out, thus no latency. You can really get some great tones out of this thing also...I like to call it the 'Poor Man's AxeFX'. Here's an example of something i'm working on...both using the eleven rack and the steven slate drums, so you can get a sense of the quality of the drums and guitar tone. I have done some slight eq'ing and stuff, but nothing dramatic.

Of course you don't need something like that for guitar, there are plenty of plug ins that are free that can help you with tone.

And lastly, as far as plug ins go, if you dont wanna mic a cab, or use something like an eleven rack, just search on youtube "free plugins for metal guitar" or "free metal guitar plugins" or whatever, and just watch. Youtube is your friend when wanting to learn about how to use reaper and finding plugins. I know for a fact there are full playlists out there to learn how to use reaper properly, from start to finish. So consider looking for those.

For other basic plug ins like EQ, Compression, Noise Gate, etc, I wouldn't worry about those. Reaper comes with like 13 or so of it's own plugins. They honestly are some great plug ins as well, and are all you really need.

Here's a picture of my set up, with all the stuff I suggested in this post.


Hope that helps.

...For those environments, with substantial grounding work done, these products can prevent direct lightning bolt damages (for the most part). However, if you want an a low latency (<=1ns) and unlimited capacity (akin to joules), then the BEST option is a BUNCH of avalanche diodes, in a series. This is what ZeroSurge/BrickWall/SurgeX (and some others) make (they also make MOV-based btw, so read the product descriptions carefully!). The avalanche diode ability to react at lower voltages (akin to the clamping voltage for MOVs) is also stellar, as I've read some reviews (by [WireCutter](https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-surge-protector/)) achieving cut-offs of surges past 140v (recall: 120v is the desired voltage for most of North America) and they'll last virtually forever (there are no MOVs to burn out, thus no joules). They're hopeless against direct lightning bolts however, so just be clear about that. With enough of them in series though, unless your home is the preferred path of least resistance underground, then lightning bolts a half mile away or more should be totally fine, I'd think. Depends on how many are used in the device, after all. Similarly, you can get stellar results with a series of high-capacity MOVs, but they'll never achieve the <=1ns latencies. So, what are you worried about? That's the question you have to answer. I think a highly rated MOV or stellar number of avalanche diodes are both great solutions, with the latter requiring no upkeep (no need to replace MOVs, because there are none), but typically costing way more. Personally, I think the real winner is the avalanche diodes in sequence. For a video from a vendor (read: biased, but still informative) [watch a MOV vs AD surge demonstration](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RixUrc-FRcM).

2. Beyond these topics of protection are functionality. I'm not referring to the number / spacing of ports (although important), but rather filtering. When looking at UPS+SP hybrids, you'll see some offering sinewave protection - you want this, if you plan on streaming audio or experiencing static in audio you play (or are worried you will). However, they won't necessarily filter all electricity, likely just when operating off of the UPS' battery. Which brings the next topic of UPS - how does it bring power to your devices? There are three methods, but two most common approaches are: A) Outlet charges battery and devices, but switches to battery mode when the outlet goes out. B) Outlet charges battery, which in turn powers devices. The former may result in a brief "flicker" (or complete device turn off, if very old or extremely sensitive, not something most people should experience). Frankly, I feel the latter is over-kill (and due to extra heat from power conversions it means you'll have an always-on fan running, which could be loud to you, depending on placement). I state it's over-kill because, frankly, if your power goes out, if, in the worst likely case of a monitor flicker, you'll have just received a visual notification that your power went out and you may want to investigate everything is fine. Better UPS devices should raise an audible alarm, but it's a nice 2nd catch if it doesn't work. Plus, if you're maxing out the wattage on your computer setup, then your batteries might only last 2 minutes, so you probably need every second of that reminder to save your work and gracefully shutdown! Finally, there are some extra features to consider, such as USB ports, coaxial cable ports, and landline telephone ports (they're not able to support the high-speeds of Ethernet like you'd want for watching netflix or playing games, so don't try that!). The USB ports are simply a "nice to have" for some (if you plan to have it within reach, as opposed to tucked behind a desk/couch, because USB wires aren't rated to work when run very far, fyi), while the other two are certainly things you use. Having surge protection on your coaxial cable and/or landline ports may help with some surges, but various people have studied this and concluded it offers no real benefits, because this has to do with surges from outside your home (e.g. lightning strikes), which are already too intense. However, you CAN resolve the coaxial surge for as cheap as \~$5 if you ground it directly to the earth with a device like [this](https://www.amazon.com/Ground-Weather-Perfect-Vision-PVGB1HFWS/dp/B075J32VFK) or (even better) [this](https://www.amazon.com/TII-Broadband-Satellite-Lightning-Protector/dp/B0016AIYU6). Sadly, apartment owners with bad landlords may be out of luck. Credit for the aforementioned product ideas goes to the commenter "always-learning" on the WireCutter article I linked-to earlier. He goes into WAY more detail about all things surge-protection, than even I do in this verbose post. He also addresses how some zip codes will have laws requiring companies (e.g. Comcast) to install these grounding blocks at apartments and houses, so it may have already been done for you (or you can try calling and asking). If you understood everything I just wrote, then go read his comments and have your mind blown further! He's clearly a 100x more knowledgeable than I am. Here's a snippet: "*J. Rudy Harford invented Series Mode Filters and holds several patents for it. He improved upon the technology twice with Wide Voltage (operating) range and Total Surge Cancellation (TSC) Technology. Harford also started his company called Zero Surge, Inc (which makes the Brickwall Series Mode Filters). In the early days Zero Surge also made the SurgeX products. SurgeX licenses the technology from Harford. One has to give SurgeX credit for mass marketing Series Mode filters. Their Advanced Series Mode filter technology is TSC (no difference), but SurgeX also adds ICE (inrush current elimination) as well as COUVS (Catastrphic Over/Under Voltage cuttoff) technology to many of their products that are geared for audiophiles or professional concert venues, etc ... You can't go wrong with products from either of the 2 companies (3 brands). If you want new Zero Surge contact them at their factory. Ask to speak to Donna especially if you want a price on their TSC models (it may be cheaper than a used SA-15).*"

I recommend making sure you have several items:

• Hamper (foldable or collapsible is best for college students.)
  
• Laundry bag (Just in case you don't want to carry your hamper to your laundry facility, or your hamper isn't carry friendly.)
  
• Desk lamp (any kind should be fine, so that way if your room mate is sleeping you don't have to have the entire room lit up)
  
• Power strips (you never know when you're going to need to plug something in, and you might run out of wall plugs)
  
• Change jar (spare change is always useful especially when ordering food, so you can give exact change. Don't forget to tip! You can make one of these yourself for basically free minus the cost of a bottle)
  
• Desk organizer (To keep your class syllabi in, as well as any returned papers. It's very easy to lose all of that stuff, and you never know if you might need it again during the semester.)
  
• Flip flops/shower shoes (keep them cheap because they're only for the bathroom, chances are that bathroom will be shared by you and several others, and most likely won't be the cleanest place)
  
• Healthy (ish) snack foods (whatever foods appeal to you really, but that's a start for some ideas, trust me healthy food is good, you don't want that freshman 15 to catch up to you too quick now!)
  
• Alarm clock (or you can use your phone which is what I ended up doing last year, but make sure it doesn't die!)
  
• Headphones (so you don't annoy your roommate with your choice of tv/music/movies/etc.) Here's three more headphones for variety, all of which are great for the price range. Klipsch, Vsonic, Sony(these Sony MDR-V6 go on sale every so often, they were literally just on sale for $54 and are absolutely fantastic for the price range)
  
  That's basically everything I either wish I had brought, or found very useful. Oh yeah, don't forget your cell phone, cell phone charger, laptop/desktop and appropriate cables. Also don't forget to do your laundry somewhat regularly, and that includes your sheets!
  
  Would you like a falafel with that?

We really have been outjerked by Reddit. For all the XBONE jokes and Snowden this, Obama that, atheism memes the other, they are now jerking about how a baby born dangerously premature is neither a hero nor a heroine. Yet when they throw some change to someone to buy a Mountain Dew while rocking some scruff, they are the world's greatest hero.

Fuck it, I'm going on a rant.

Search 'Hero' in Reddit, sort by Top. #3 result: A Redditor brings a power strip {extension cable} with him to the airport, calls himself a HERO for providing others with the facility to charge their mobile phones.

pic

What's that you say, this self-aggrandising wannabe was downvoted to hell and back for misusing the word, and every comment called him out in Reddit's characteristic snarky and pedantic manner?

>You sir, are a great humanitarian.

Not in the top comment he's not.

Nor in the next 5 top comments, then we hit this:

>You could be a capitalist and charge money for the use of the outlets.

And our hero's response:

>> I was thinking the same thing. I figured I could get at least $5/outlet. And maybe $20 for my chair that was within cord's reach.

>>I could probably have got $30-$40 for the strip when I left and let the next person charge people to use it. My concern would be that i will be flying through the airport next week, and I might see my power strip still being used in one unbroken chain since I left it, only now it would $20/outlet and I would really need a charge.

Our hero would price gouge people at the airport. Oh teh downvotes. lol jk, [+204, -26], they love him and his gouging.

And I promise, the praise continues.

>I, too, travel with a power strip and am thus hailed.

Now others want to be praised for their heroism too!

Ctrl+F 'Hero': let's find those comments quoting the dictionary definition of 'hero', and how this guy doesn't qualify.

>Ok so we call them power boards in Australia. I was imagining you striding through an airport ripping your clothes off. I couldn't imagine why. EDIT: I could understand the hero part though.

Stripping off your clothes in the airport = hero. Premature baby successfully fighting for her life = fuck you.

>Be a real hero and get this one...

The size of the power strip determines the size of the hero.

>Most of that is just USB cables plugged in. If you really want to be the hero at the airport, bring a multi-port USB charger too.

Multi-port charger = heroic. Just more of the same. No-one calls him out.

This is just... I'm just baffled by this. She was a little baby girl at death's door, and the pedantry over the word 'hero' is everywhere, and upvoted to the top. He let people charge their fucking iPhones so they could play Angry Birds on the plane for slightly longer, and everyone agrees he's a hero.

Now we move into /r/theoryofreddit territory: why? Here's my theory: these kids can't ever be a premature baby girl, so they don't want that to be associated with heroism. They can, however, bring an extension cable to the airport, so they want that to be the mark of a hero.

I'll stop here because the only thing left to write is how Redditors are the lowest form of - you know what, don't start me. </rant>

Yeah, I bet I know what happened. I'm guessing you probably don't want to wait around on Comcast to fix this? Comcast's tap down at the road is probably fine but there's a decent chance that the lightning fried a splitter in your house. Does Comcast lock the house box in your area? It's your wiring, and you're on the hook for anything that happens to it, but some cable companies are douches and will try to keep you out of the house box. Open up that box and you'll see two things, the cable from the street goes into a device that grounds the outside and connects with a copper wire to the ground rod for your electric service, and a splitter or two hooking up to all of the outlets around your house. With any luck, those two things will be separate, that'll make it simpler. The splitter can be used as a ground block, and there's nothing wrong with that, but we want a separate ground block so we can use a lightning arrestor.

As for the lightning arrestor, TII makes a good one. Really you just want to grab one of the gas tube lightning arrestors, and make sure it's one that has a ground connection on it, not one that just uses the jacket for a ground. This is what you'll probably see grounding your cable right now, you basically just replace this device with the lightning arrestor.

As for the splitter, you may find one, you might have 2 or 3, it depends on the house and how it was set up. You probably have a failed splitter, it's pretty simple to replace but make sure that you replace any splitters with the exact same type of splitter that it had originally. So if there's 2 2 way splitters, don't just replace it with a 3 way splitter and call it good. You want to keep the signal levels where they're currently at. Each splitter essentially splits the incoming signal evenly across the ports so when it was set up the cable installer might have set it up such that your internet connection is on the line that goes straight to a 2 way splitter connected back to the ground block with any TVs hooked up to a 4 way splitter under that 2 way splitter. For TV, you don't have to worry about signal strength balancing too much unless you have like 8 or 10 outlets all around your house, in which case you would probably need an amplifier. The important thing is that your internet connection needs to get the same amount of signal that it's getting now. So if it's getting 25%, less could cause service issues. Counterintuitively, more signal could also cause service issues, just keep it the same, because getting it right might not be easy to measure with your modem and it's more complicated. Just look in the box and go to Lowes or Home Depot or something like that and get an identical splitter. You don't have satellite so as long as the splitter is good for 5MHz to 1000MHz you're fine.

Also, you need all of this to be weatherproof and while the enclosure will keep out rain it won't keep out all moisture. If you take any weather seals off the old splitter or ground block, put them back on the new splitter exactly how you took them off. If the splitter is currently being used as a ground block, you'll need to separate this out to put in the lightning arrestor so don't forget that you need another short coax cable. Make sure it's at least RG-6 and don't just grab a long one, it's not going to fit, You want something real short like just 6 inches. Unfortunately, you're going to have a tough time finding a tiny coax cable since pretty much no one ever needs them. What the professionals do is just make the cable, it's really quite easy once you get the hang of it, and usefull if you ever want to do stuff like add an outlet in a particular room without having to pay an arm and a leg to Comcast or someone else. If you want to make your own cables, you need the tools to do so. Don't get any crimp on tools, they're garbage connectors and they'll frequently pull right out. All of the professionals just use compression connectors, they're only a little pricier, but they actually make a decent termination which is never going to happen with crimp connectors. You need a compression tool, a coax stripper (not strictly necessary, but if you're doing more than a single connection it's totally worth it), and some decent sidecutters or linesman pliers, or even just any old wire stripper. So long as you aren't just trying to use some kitchen scissors it'll work fine. Then for the cable itself you can buy a spool of RG-6 for ~$30 and then just make sure that whatever compression connectors you get are made for the cable you're using so don't try to use regular RG-6 connectors for quad shielded RG-6. Also, you can get quad shielded RG-6, it's better for noise, but I'd recommend against it, certainly if you've never messed with coax before. You'd also need a special tool to prep the cable with quad shielded RG-6 whereas it's just optional with regular RG-6. Really it's optional with quad shielded, but it's such a pain that I wouldn't want to deal with it without it.

Really what it boils down to is that first, replace the busted splitter or call Comcast to do it. Then replace the ground block with a lightning arrestor and if you need a 6" cable, just buy it off Amazon if you don't want to learn how to install coax elsewhere in your house as well. There's also the chance that Comcast's equipment fried so you might wanna just say screw it, call Comcast and have them fix the busted splitter or their equipment.

Okay, I've read through the other comments and feel I still have something to contribute as I've just set this up for my parents and plan to run it at my place some time in the future.

• PoE Switch - If you want to use a PoE switch, you have to get the PRO APs, the LITE and LR only support passive PoE. I was lucky enough to have inherited a Cisco SG300-10 802.3at PoE+ Switch from my former employer when they shut down. It's very convenient to use, but not a necessity. The PoE Injectors that come with APs have a nice mounting plate so that you can attach them to the wall/shelf/what-have-you. If you're dead-set on using PoE, Netgear has some decent, inexpensive offerings. 8-port PoE without VLANs $80, 8-port PoE with VLANs $100. If you're running out of outlets, and are on a budget, I would suggest buying a bigger power strip (Belkin makes a nice one I've used in a lot of applications) (or, if you're moving to rack mount, a PDU plugged into a UPS)
  
  
  
  
• Patch Panel - For flexibility, what you'll want to look for is a keystone panel and then populate it with your own jacks as needed. (If you want to throw in Coax you can, and if you want/need a phone jack in there, just use another CAT5E)
  
  
• Rack - Based on what you said, I think you are looking for something like this? You could also look at making a lack rack, if you're into DIY.
  
  
• Additional thoughts - If you are sharing the internet connection with your tenants in the basement, you may want to look at using a "proper" firewall that can VLAN them onto their own subnet, and keep them out of your internal network (for security reasons). When I set up my parent's network, I put all of the "Internet of Things" devices (thermostat, sprinkler controller, solar monitor, etc) on their own subnet and VLAN because they are something that I have very little control of, and I see as being a big network risk. Just my $0.02
  
  Let me know if any of this didn't make sense to you.
  
  Cheers!
  
  Edit: additions in bold above

Here you go.

I made some very large improvements for slightly more.

• • -
    

    PCPartPicker Part List
    

    
    

    Type|Item|Price
    

    ----|:----|:----
    CPU | AMD - Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor | $329.00 @ B&H
    Motherboard | MSI - MPG X570 GAMING EDGE WIFI ATX AM4 Motherboard | $209.99 @ B&H
    Memory | G.Skill - Aegis 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory | $52.99 @ Newegg
    Storage | HP - EX920 1 TB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive | $108.99 @ Newegg
    Video Card | Sapphire - Radeon RX 5700 8 GB Video Card | $349.99 @ Newegg
    Case | Cougar - MX330 ATX Mid Tower Case | $44.99 @ Newegg
    Power Supply | SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply | $76.98 @ Newegg
    | Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
    | Total | $1172.93
    | Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-07-15 23:55 EDT-0400 |
    

• • -
    Breakdown:
    
    You seem like the kind of person who rarely upgrades, someone who favors doing it long-term (4+ years) rather than short-term (1 to 3 years). If it's possible, I suggest getting the R7 3700X; it's got a LOT better single-core and multi-core performance than the R7 2700X, and may be more what you're looking for. The R7 3700X's much high single-core performance also means much better performance across the entire Adobe suite. The very impressive multi-threaded performance should also be excellent at streaming for a very long time, especially since you just want to do 1080p and don't mind going down to 720p later down the line.
    
    I'm assuming you want the B450 Gaming Pro Carbon AC because it comes with Bluetooth and Wifi. I swapped in an X570 that gives the same features. If you want to avoid the headaches that have been prevalent throughout r/buildapc as of now, get X570 instead, if you want to use Ryzen 3000 out of the box with zero issues. However, if you're patient, you can save $49 by updating the BIOS by using USB BIOS Flashback, all you need is a flash drive. But then again, you may want to use X570 if you want to use multiple very fast NVMe SSDs, but the majority of people don't need this.
    
    Cheaper 2x8GB 3000MHz CL16 RAM.
    
    Much faster 1TB NVMe SSD for $21 less.
    
    Upgraded the GTX 1060 6GB to the RX 5700. The RX 5700 is on the same level of performance as the RTX 2060 Super/RTX 2070 for only $350. If you chose to get the B450 mobo, you can even squeeze in the RX 5700 XT, which is on the same level of performance as the RTX 2070 Super/GTX 1080 Ti/Radeon VII/RTX 2080 for only $400. I strongly recommend waiting for aftermarket versions of the RX 5700/5700 XT to come out in mid-August for better cooling, lower temps, lower noise, and better performance.
    
    Swapped in the MX330-G for much better airflow, this'll make your components run much cooler.
    
    This 550W Gold PSU is more than enough for your PC; it also comes with a 10 year warranty.
    
• • -
    Q&A
    
    > I would also like to know any options for power surge protection. My current computer got wacked by a sudden issue with our powerline which would provide power intermittently. This has caused it to be able to operate but freeze and BSOD out of nowhere. The HD also 'creaks' so this just signals the effects of that event.
    >
    > I want to avoid that from happening again on this new build, so any suggestions would be great.
    
    A simple surge protector like this might be what you're looking for in case of another power surge; after several surges, it'll stop working, and you'll need to get a new one (there's usually a built-in indicator that says whether or not it can take any more surges).
    
    Maybe consider also getting a UPS (uninterruptable power supply) just in case a power outage happens; this'll allow you to back up important data so you don't lose it.
    
    Both a surge protector and a UPS would be good ways to protect your investment.
    
    > Another detail that may help: I also would like to stream my art. I can do that already without much an issue but there is definitively a minor lag (both in the program and the stream itself). This has caused me to just do webcam streams. Looking also for a setup that helps with video editing for future tutorials I have in mind (via Premier Pro/ After Effects).
    
    The R7 3700X should alleviate any lag problems with your art streams (what is your old CPU anyways?).
    
    I mean the R7 2700X will too, but the R7 3700X has that extra OOMPH for the long term.

When I travelled several European/UK countries from Canada I charged my various devices with this power bar and 3 in 1 adapter

http://www.amazon.ca/Belkin-3-Outlet-Travel-Charger-Protector/dp/B0015DYMVO/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1412369721&sr=8-5&keywords=belkin+power+bar

http://www.amazon.ca/Targus-APK01CA-World-Travel-Adapter/dp/B000ES6KPM/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1412370031&sr=8-4&keywords=travel+adapter

I have been extremely happy with them, since I can simultaneously charge all my devices at once and no worries about voltage issues/power surges since it has a surge protector. The usb ports are super handy since I only need to carry the various wires, and no wall attachments. It is also useful for charging phones for new foreign friends. The only drawback is the size. It isn't very heavy, but can be clunky to carry around. I found carrying all my wires, plugs and adapters in a zippered pouch was a very convenient solution.

The adapter is really down to personal choice, but I quite like how sleek and compact the Targus is. Most people I know recommend buying the cheapest adapter, since you will always lose them, but for me having a compact universal charger was worth the money. Bonus with this adapter is if you are just going out for the day and want to only bring your adapter and phone charger along it is a much easier to throw in your bag then a huge all in one square adapter

Just my 2 cents, but I have been very happy with my set up over the last 5 months travelling.

It sounds like you're wanting to mount a wall outlet + USB outlet into your table, and then run a cord from the table to the wall outlet, right? I'm considering doing this for a project as well and am definitely going to use a usb wall outlet, and then strip an extension cord (or get one of those fancy braided fabric cords), to run from the table to the wall. It will require wiring, but I figure that's an important skill to learn, as I can add similar outlets all kinds of places like my computer desk, workbench, or the wheeled kitchen island. There are lots of guides out there, and even though it's new to me, I'm sure it can be learned if I put some time into it. I'm getting over the fear of cutting my fingers off in woodworking by learning best practices and learning respect for the tools, I can do the same with electricity (and zapping my whole self, not just my fingers).

I'll also be able to add light switch boxes to homemade gizmos like on all of Matthias' machines. I really like how he has set up one switch to turn on both his sander and dust collector!

If you're hell-bent against wiring, you could try something like one of these travel surge protectors, mine has been good to me for years worth of use, but I feel like the trouble of mounting this elegantly would be much more hard work than learning to wire an outlet!

Those flat things, are good for 5-10 miles at best to work the way they are advertised, ie: connect and get 100 channels! Reality, is that they can perform decently at about upto 20 miles or so if you have an amplified one, and stations and conditions. I happen to be 20 +- miles from my local TX farm. With a cheapo flat flimsy plastic thing with an amp. I got 28 of 55 channels in my zone. Some were pixelly some would work at times. Some would come and go depending on placement of the anntena. It was enough to convince me that going full OTA would be worth the investment.

So what you need to get is a nice decent antenna.

This will be a good one for you:

https://www.amazon.com/RCA-Compact-Outdoor-Antenna-Range/dp/B0024R4B5C

I have it and it performs, outstanding! I get 55 channels, out of the 55 in the area. There are few more LPTV's in another direction, which are more jesus freaks so I don't care.

I get one station which I didn't even think would come in regardless of the various sites, at about 50 miles. Mine is located 15 feet up using an old DBS J Pole mount, and a pole extension. No preamp. This antenna includes the mount. I personally would suggest that you also get:

https://www.3starinc.com/satellite-dish-antenna-swaged-ground-pole-mast-166-od.html?filter=%26fd9%3D51

And use it with the mount included with the antenna. Fit the pipe into the mount, use a rubber mallet and drive it in. THEN drill a hole through the mount and pipe. Tighten up. Then mount the antenna to the top.

To point the antenna I'd split the difference and aim it about 30 degrees MAGNETIC. You can get a decent compass application in Google Application Store for your phone.

That should cover the bases for all the major stuff. Big5, and the important subnets like Cozi, Decades, AntennaTV etc..

Be sure to run RG6 cable.

Inf FL I would also strongly suggest this for lighting:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0016AIYU6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Along with PROPER GROUNDING rod and grounding of the mount per NEC and local code!

No one told me this when I started so I'll tell you:

I think we should specify here that "server rack" and "network rack" are built differently. If you want a rack for networking and just the 24 port switch and patch panel, you'd look at something like this. If you're wanting to eventually put a full-length server in, you'll need something like this instead the difference being that the second one is built to support the length and weight of a full server.

Keep in mind when you purchase a server you'll need to buy rails that attach to the rack for it. The server then sits in the extended rails, which slide back into the rack.

Startech makes pretty good stuff, IMO. I've seen them on here before. I have the four post rack that I linked to in the second post and it's served me well. The best thing you can do however, if you have the room, is to jump on craigslist and see if you can find an enterprise getting rid of their rack. Generally those are worth thousands new and the companies are selling them for $40, or something ridiculous like that. I didn't have access to a truck, so that's why I bought mine.

Note that with the large rack you can add networking equipment too, and can also get shelves to support things that aren't rackable.

For power you can either get a rackable UPS or power strip.

Hope this helps. Have fun.

Here's a handful of things a lot of new folks neglect:

Read reviews of the departure port (e.g., Ft. Lauderdale or Boston). Some ports are a pain to get to, get in and out of, and have little amenities (seats, bathrooms, parking, HVAC). If your cruise is slightly delayed due to customs or whatever, it can make the start of your trip miserable.

Cruise.com offers some of the best deals and bonuses out there.

As for viruses, wash your hands, be defensive regarding personal contact with strangers, door handles, elevator buttons, and use the hand sanitizer wherever available. Cruises are no better or worse than airlines or college dorms, in the sense that you get a diverse group of people together and people are bound to get sick, but a little prevention goes a long way.

Don't overpack. Take advantage of laundry deals onboard mid-week if you're worried about running out of clothes (often $20 for all you can fit in a paper laundry bag).

Consider getting something like the Belkin 3-Outlet Surge Protector. Rooms on ships have limited outlets, and having power plugs and USB plugs is really useful if you have phones, cameras, ebooks, whatever.

Do the math on drink packages ahead of time (wine, alcohol, or soda), and remember that 15% gratuity is tacked on to all purchases. Sometimes the packages can be worth it, but you may find out you have to drink a lot to break even.

Consider trying traditional cruising first...set dining times, the same servers all week, getting dressed appropriately. Yeah, it may seem a little odd, but it's good to know if you do/don't like it before you pursue a non-traditional approach like Norwegian.

Be careful not to buy drinks in "souvenir" glasses...it's costs you several dollars more and you'll likely not actually want them (some people do, though).

Check out cruisecritic.com for bunches of info.

Don't be shy about exploring the ship and telling people you're a first-time cruiser. You'll get plenty of advice - some of which may actually be useful!

A warning: Once you go for a balcony room, you'll never go back to porthole / interior room again. That said, interior rooms are awesome for sleeping, since you'll never see the light of day.

Don't expect to spend a ton of time in your room, so don't worry about the room quality too much.

Room service (barring certain items) is still free/included and nearly 24-hours on most cruise lines. Order breakfast on a port-day will not get you off the ship faster...going to the buffet or dining room is almost always faster.

Don't be shy about dinner seating...sit with other people...you may meet some interesting folks...that said, don't be shy about asking to be moved if they're complete jerks.

Vampire Power

like @totally_rocks talked about, vampire power is a thing. Stuff like microwaves, TVs, subwoofers, printers etc all use power while doing nothing. It's smart to measure both stand-by power and full on power usage.

https://smile.amazon.com/Belkin-8-Outlet-Conserve-Protector-F7C01008q/dp/B003P2UMNK/
Although mine has a 10 hour button that automatically turns back off, but basically the same. We have the DVR connected to one of the "always on" outlets so it will still record shows. But TV, receiver, subwoofer, roku, blu-ray all switched.

Or if you have appliances in, say, the kitchen, you can use a single outlet one like this:
https://smile.amazon.com/Belkin-Conserve-Socket-Energy-F7C009q/dp/B003P2UMS0

If you're techie, look into Z-wave or like Kasa Smart Home stuff. They have all kinds of home automation things, including power outlet triggers that you can turn on and off based on any number of criteria (time, just got home, motion detected, etc).

I have a Kasa wifi bulb on my front porch and have it set to turn on at Sunset at full power until like 11pm, then dim to 1% all night to save energy, but not at the expense of a security deterrent. Then turn off at sunrise.

Merry Christmas OP!

I'm trying to get DJ equipment to start my dream of being a DJ. It's kinda already started because through lots of legwork and thrift-store shopping I managed to get some barely-passable home audio stuff, but it can't take the strain of DJing and can't be used for anything larger than ~40 people. I've had to turn down gigs because of it and judging by how frickin' hot it gets after I play for a few hours, it's going to be dead soon.

I made an Amazon list of what I need to buy to be at a semi-professional level. The cheapest thing that's independently useful would be the microphone, I believe, but literally anything is greatly appreciated, even if it's just a cord for something I don't have yet or something. The speakers are the most important thing by far, but they're extremely expensive.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004QJOZS4/ - Dynamic microphone (the condenser mics pick up all the background noise and are way more prone to feedback)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0006NMUJA/ - Pop cover that would fit that mic

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Q802USB - Mixer (without it the speakers and stuff won't work)

https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/traktor/dj-software/traktor-pro-2/ - Professional software (the one I currently use is free software lacking a lot of the functionality of this)

https://www.image-line.com/flstudio/ - Production software

https://www.amazon.com/Akai-Professional-MPK-Mini-Controller/dp/B00IJ6QAO2/ - Cheap keyboard MIDI with a drum pad to use with FL Studio

https://www.amazon.com/JBL-LSR305-Professional-Studio-Monitor/dp/B00F1DEI8G/ - Monitor speakers

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000068NW5/ - Cords for the montiors (I'd need 2)

https://www.amazon.com/Mackie-Speakers-Speaker-Stands-Travel/dp/B00M0EHEJE/ - Mackie Thump15s w/ cases and stands

https://www.amazon.com/Male-Female-Cables-long-cables/dp/B01IDI5OE2/ - Cables for the speakers and subwoofer

https://www.amazon.com/Mackie-THUMP18S-1200-Watt-18-Inch-Subwoofer/dp/B00IN2WHFI/ - Subwoofer

https://www.amazon.com/Stage-SS7745-Adjustable-Subwoofer-Attachment/dp/B002M8GBT2/ - Stand for the subwoofer

https://www.amazon.com/Stage-LS7730-Lighting-Stand-Truss/dp/B00119MJM6/ - Lighting truss

https://www.amazon.com/LaluceNatz-Lights-Multi-effects-Control-Lighting/dp/B011QEVO44/ - Colored lights (it would need 2)

https://www.amazon.com/Roxant-Super-Bright-Activated-Adjustable-Control/dp/B01LVXCDKX/ - Strobe lights (2 as well)

https://www.amazon.com/Large-Stage-Light-Party-Lighting/dp/B012TZCJHU/ - Hooks for the lighting (1 per light, 4 total)

https://www.amazon.com/Security-JFDWOPHT-Stainless-Safety-Lighting/dp/B01CSO5IIY/ - Security hooks for the lights (to save the lights if they fall from the hooks)

https://www.amazon.com/Furman-SS6B-Plug-Surge-Protector/dp/B0002D017M/ - Powerstrip (I'd need 2)

https://www.amazon.com/MAGMA-75541-Control-Stand-Controller/dp/B01MFHGS06/ - Laptop/controller stand

https://www.amazon.com/Numark-NV-Intelligent-Dual-Display-Touch-Capacitive/dp/B00M85GCTI/ - 4-deck controller

https://www.amazon.com/Magma-MGA47982-CTRL-Numark-Controller/dp/B00RK9Z40K/ - Case for the controller


Not going for a sob story here, but rather explanation of why I don't have money to spend on this stuff - I've got no family and I've got Lyme's Disease which I wasn't allowed to treat back when I had a family (strictly against modern medicine) and now can't treat because of an error made on my government-provided health insurance that's so far been going on for 8 months and is yet to be fixed. Lyme destroys your joints, so standing and walking for a retail job (not yet out of college) is extremely painful for days afterwards. Once I get treatment I'm going to put my nose to the grindstone and get two jobs to finance it, but still, anything helps. If you go through my post history you'll see mention of a few Christmas gifts, specifically a set of headphones, and those are from friends. I really really really appreciate them because they put a lot of thought into them and read reviews and all, but I wound up not being able to use them, but instead returned them and spent the money on a professional set of headphones, which is why there are no headphones on that list of links.

I'm using this one.

I'm certainly no electrician but I do try to google with just a little more effort when it's electric. It's been a while since I brought everything down so I'm really not that comfortable only assuming that I'm hovering around 7.5A. If I was constantly sitting just below 10A I don't think I would be very comfortable with it, given there are at least 4 other outlets sharing the breaker. Someone else would probably have a much better answer than me if you want more info about a safe power draw. As for the PDU I bought... I was happy but after looking at the link again I realize that mine isn't the model with a surge protector and now I'm wondering if a break and inline fuse is enough for me now :P

I'll go ahead and give you links to Amazon, but they're available everywhere. Tripp Lite, as /u/Knobodycares said, is a great brand. They're most known for their server racks, and UPS systems, but more importantly their PDU (power distribution units), which is what you need.

Their best (pricey but best-in-class), is the Isobar line. 4 outlet, 6 outlet, 10 outlet. They shutdown when a surge which would otherwise fry your equipment occurs, instead of simply allowing the power through.

Their other models, 7 outlet, 8 outlet, 10 outlet, are also much better than your average retail brand, and are generally cheaper. They all come with some form of insurance, as-well.

These are only a handful of options, check out the rest here.

The other advice here is good on specific cabling and what not. I'm going to give my somewhat ghetto homeowner approach.

Your goal here is to have everything work right. A digital device (whether it's a TV box or your cable modem) is generally going to be more picky about signal quality than an analog device. Each split, unless put through a powered splitter, will somewhat degrade the signal. Therefore you want to have as few splitters as possible before any important devices (like your cable modem). All else being equal shoot for that, but don't kill yourself at first trying to perfect it.

If you hook up everything and it works, don't worry about it. If you have any questions or concerns, you can usually use your cable modem as a poor man's signal tester. You can plug it into the coax, then plugin your computer into the ethernet jack and visit the cable modem's diagnostic page and see the exact signal quality. Your TV or cable boxes may also do this. For example I have an HD Home Run prime as my main cable box and the diagnostic page displays this for me:

• Signal Strength 100% (2.6 dBmV)
  
• Signal Quality 88% (27.3 dB)
  
  I ended up having some issues when I installed my HD Home Run so I bought this powered splitter for like $45 and have been flawless ever since.
  
  Bonus tip: Make sure your coax is grounded going into your house and also run it through a surge protector before it gets to your cable modem. $500 of fried home electronics taught me this lesson the hard way when lightning struck a puddle right next to my entrypoint into the house. After that I went whole hog and got one of these lightning protectors too

$35 is expensive for a surge protector, but this one is quite good:

http://www.amazon.com/APC-P11VT3-Performance-SurgeArrest-Protection/dp/B0012YLTR6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1420586922&sr=8-2&keywords=surge+protector+apc

This is definitely overbuilt it protect against even strong surges. It's better to fry a $35 surge protector than a $700 computer.

That's interesting.

I just realized my original comment may have been misunderstood.

The "sense" socket that I described is not actually switched off at any time. The idea is that whatever is plugged into that socket gets continuous unimpeded power so that the IR detection is powered up and you can use the remote, at which point the board's current sensing notices the extra power draw and switches the other sockets on. And to clarify, the TV goes in the sense socket, the backlight power supply goes in one of the switched sockets.

For context this is the cheapest one I found on Amazon, just to identify what one looks like (it labels what I'm calling the "sense socket" the "control socket"): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JPDYYSM

I'm also very curious about what you said about the TV. It sounds like you may have gotten those two buttons to push out of the service manual, and already done that digging. What's the actual error code? That's fascinating and I wonder why it's happening.

Finally, if you do decide the relay solution is the way to go, you may end up appreciating posting to /r/electronics - finding 12V that's only energized when the rest of the TV is on sounds like a small rainy day project :P

I live in the Tampa Bay Area of Florida and it is considered the lightning capital of the USA. I installed a whole house surge protector at the main electrical panel box where the power enters my house. Home Depot sells 2 excellent Square D models to do this. One model costs about $32 and the other model costs about $100. (You only need one.) The whole house surge protector will give some protection to hard to protect devices like refrigerators, microwave ovens and washers and dryers.

Then my computers and electronics are plugged into APC surge protectors. The whole house surge protector will knock down the voltage from a huge power surge like a nearby lightning strike to a level that a normal surge protector power strip can handle without catching on fire.

Whole house surge protectors @ Home Depot: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Square-D-36-kA-Single-Phase-Panel-Mounted-Type-1-Surge-Protective-Device-SDSA1175/100209321

And here: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Square-D-80-kA-Home-Electronics-Protective-Device-HEPD-HEPD80/203540660

APC Surge Protector @ Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/APC-Protection-SurgeArrest-Performance-P11VT3/dp/B0012YLTR6/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1519618270&sr=8-4&keywords=apc+surge&dpID=41X9mAHskyL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

EDIT: Just to be perfectly clear...Nothing will protect you from a direct hit lightning strike. These are meant to protect against most surges that you will encounter if lightning strikes nearby.

I find that for me, these seem to be a better solution;

APC Power Saving Surge Protector

or

Utilitech Power Saving Surge Protector

There is a set of outlets that are controlled by either your tv or pc and a set that are always on. This is good because you want your tv and game systems and such to be cut off with the tv but you want a dvr to stay on to keep recording shows. Or your monitors and peripherals to turn off with pc but router and modem to stay on.

I bought two of the APC ones on clearance at Best Buy and have saved about 8-10 a month on my power bill. The UT you can buy in store at Lowe's and is essentially the same. I recommend either.

here is what i used:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00XJKOCBG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_ep_dp_5s0HAbREM7Z6Y the lights make sure its set to cool white if you are buying your selfnow the cable for the top most light is a bit short so u can always cut and solder a bit from the bottom light to the top one if you don't want the mess that i havealthough i did try to make it as neatly as possible.for securing the wires i just used clear 4inch zip ties and tucked them behind the frame inside.https://www.amazon.com/Belkin-8-Outlet-Conserve-Protector-F7C01008q/dp/B003P2UMNK/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1540851234&sr=1-1-spell&keywords=remote+controll+surge+protector got this surge protector it comes with 6 outlets which are controlled by a remote so you can turn on all the cases with 1 button

https://www.amazon.com/Gorilla-Tough-Double-Mounting-Inches/dp/B00OXVG9FW to secure the lights i used this double sided tape

and a bit of weather seal to keep the dust out on all 4 sides u can pick some up at home depot or fleet farm just make sure its 5/16th size

will be posting a big figure unboxing a bit later and how they all look inside the case.

​

Edit: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40275846/ forgot to link the bottom shelf so here it is pretty sturdy for the price

I really really want it!

Science/Gardens: Because bugs

Writing: Because they are food like and cute

Movie: Its a classic

Book: Cuz its John Green

Spirituality: It smells nice

Art Supplies: I love deco paint pens

Math: Because they talk about science and math stuffs

Travel: Because you always need one

Food: You need to live out your childhood dreams sometimes

Nature/outdoors: Because Nature can be scary and filled with "Nope"

Fun stuff:

• If your not already watching you should be
  
• Its good to have something to do with friends

Wire up an arcade button for talkback! Always wanted a cool big red button for tb. Also having a mounted jack for 1/8" to plug in a phone to listen to would be cool. As well as phone charger off to the side not in the way.

Also, I'm a big fan of this ADJ 8 outlet switcher. You can put all of your gear on flip switches right in front of you so now you don't have to give your desk a reacharound every time you wanna turn on your speakers! haha I bought one years ago and love it, tho I'm sure there are newer models that might have a phone charger built in, you'd hafta look around.

This is the receiver that is often recommended around here. It'll future proof you for when you do upgrade but it's the top of your budget.

If you're looking for a simpler option - this one is pretty bare-bones.

The watts per channel doesn't matter nearly as much as you would think. If you're driving your old HTIB Onkyo speakers, just make sure your impedance matches and you're all set as long as you're not looking to drive them to ear-splitting levels constantly.

Without using something like a Harmony remote to turn on and off all your devices, the easiest way to power on/off your receiver is using a smart power strip. (That was just the first Amazon listing, you can poke around for more offerings if you want).

Another option would be to add an Amazon Echo/Dot to your set up. It would allow you to add and control a smart plug, and be able to control your Hue system as well (Although, the plug would still not be accessible from the Hue app). In my opinion, the best bang for your buck smart plug that works with the Echo is the Quirky Pivot Power Genius. It is a little finicky to set up, once set up though it works pretty flawlessly in my experience. We have had ours set up for about a year now and have had to reset it once that I can recall.

I'd suggest looking for one that shows an indicator whether or not that surge protector is still good.

You'll find them like this - https://www.amazon.ca/APC-P11VT3-11-Outlet-3020j-Protector/dp/B0012YLTR6/

Also take a look at the writeup by /u/hyperintake92 that he posted in this thread. Gives some good info on what to look for, for a surge protector.

As a note, I did very minimal investigation on that APC power bar. Was just the first one I saw that had a surge status light on it. I'm by no way saying that's the one for you, but I'm also not saying it's bad, lol.

Edit: Looked up the spec sheet on it; turns out it's actually a solid surge bar with some nice safety features built in. Link here

There are tons of reasons, it could be bad grounding in the amp somewhere, it could be capacitors or tubes gone microphonic, etc, (Not sure if it's tube or solid state). Do you have a good power filter on the amp and pedals? I don't know what is the best out there, but I have a furman like this: https://www.amazon.com/Furman-SS6B-Plug-Surge-Protector/dp/B0002D017M/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1475258359&sr=8-3&keywords=furman+power+conditioner that I like. that may be all you need, but I'd suggest at least looking to replace your tubes also, see if one is microphonic (You can also test this by getting a pencil and gently tapping hte tubes to see if you get weird noises in the tube when you do it. There are a few good videos on the internet showing microphonic tube testing.

If you're in the market for a new surge protector, then I'd HIGHLY recommend this for powering down your Pi if the surge protector isn't too out of the way:

https://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-Individually-Controlled-TLP76MSG/dp/B0068LACFI/

Great quality and after you shut down, just simply flick the switch to power it off and flick it on when you want to play it again. It's also great for phone chargers and the like.

just go with the canakit on Amazon ($60 to $80). They typically include a GOOD power supply. ($9 for just the ps)

do NOT cheap out on the pi power supply, or SD card.


octopi can work with USB webcams, which you can often find at thrift stores or rummage sale for cheap. I am using a PS3 (4?,) webcam on mine. found several for $1 to $5

the pi-cam is nice but getting it pointed where you need it to look can be a pain.

the Arducam $12 (and up) is a cheaper alternative to the official pi cam $25? But you may also want an extended camera ribbon cable. $10


I use the smartpi case for my pi that comes with a small case for the fragile camera. ($10, or so)

Building Block Compatible SmartiPi Raspberry Pi B+,2, 3, and Pi 3 B+ case w/Camera case and GoPro Compatible Mount - Blue https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00UDP0B06

and a cheap tripod you can print or buy to point the pi at the printer.

alternative (or extra) is to use a security cam like a Wyze Camera $25, and use that to monitor the printer.

I use both the pi-cam and wyze, from different directions to keep an eye on my printer.

the wyze can also be seen from your phone easily, and has a smoke detector feature.


if you want to get fancy, I have an Alexa enabled smart outlet, I can use to remotely power on and off the printer, cameras, and lights.

with some of these smart plugs, octopi can turn them on and off, which is nice, not sure if that works with this one.

Smart Power Strip WiFi Plug TECKIN Multiple Outlet Surge Protector USB Bar Remote Control Timing Schedule Compatible with Alexa Echo
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FM3P87S/

I use the USB ports to power my pis. and each port, USB, and AC can be toggled individually

it's over kill. but handy.

----

good luck.

These look amazing. But they're over $20 after shipping, and you didn't mention a limit, so I'm going to assume that's way over.

This, on the other hand, was one of the first gifts anyone on this sub sent me, and it is fantastic. If someone else requests this, or if the winner happens to be an add-on item and you need a little extra something, get this, and do not feel bad about it for one minute.

Hey-O! Liberia RPCV 2010-2012. Congratulations! Liberia is a great country to serve in, and has AMAZING staff. The last time I went to do a short response service half of my luggage was coffee and food stuff. I think most of us brought a bunch of stuff we never used the first time. You can find most things in country.

​

https://www.amazon.com/Belkin-BZ103050-TVL-Surge-Protector-Charger/dp/B0015DYMVO/ref=asc_df_B0015DYMVO/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=167140365824&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=11117789773407407661&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9025395&hvtargid=aud-467077737785:pla-308916274448&psc=1

​

I cant recommend that thing enough. I used it every time I was near electricity to power everything at once. I still use it in my house today. I also strongly encourage a kindle and try and pirate a bunch of books that you can share.

​

Computer is definitely nice to have for entertainment, but I never really used mine for work or project related things.

Linen clothes for work. Stuff that looks professional, but breathes.

Reach out if you have any other questions!

So it's possible. It's not an out of the box thing though. There's a Pivot Power Genius that you can control with Stringify to power things from a flow, but you'd still need to effectively push the power button on your computer. Pivot Power works best for things that, once you plug the in they're on like a coffee maker.

I think what you'd really want is to use a rasberry pi that's running all the time with an HTTP listener (that maker would trigger) that would execute a WOL (wake-on-lan) command to their computer. It's typically an option in your BIOS... you send the WOL "magic packet" to the computer's MAC address. See also this resource

To answer '1', your speed would likely drop using the APC protector that is only rated at 10/100. It's possible that it won't and that they couldn't get high enough speeds to certify as 10/100/1000 but may still get pretty close.

​

To answer '2', yes you can absolutely use both cables. For short runs you won't notice any difference in speeds by mixing the cables. CAT6 is the same connections but using better shielding and twists the already twisted pairs to assist in being affected by interference over long distances.

​

To add a another option, you could use an in-line surge protector that is dedicated solely to the CAT connection. You connect both of your cables at either end and connect the ground cable to the ground prong on your outlet using a power cable that has the ground plug on it. https://www.amazon.com/APC-PNET1GB-ProtectNet-Standalone-Protector/dp/B000BKUSS8/ref=asc_df_B000BKUSS8/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=167126093426&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=505423349040086280&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9026802&hvtargid=pla-314322209240&psc=1

Small wind:
Ask your dad to give a practical example on how to apply Betz's Law to your own backyard.
(And don't forget to 'innocently' ask how he is so sure the windspeed is as he claims it is).

Small solar:
PVwatts gives the kWh-numbers for your location.
'Soft costs' like permits and installation, needed for 'grid-tied', make it very expensive, you could look into a small-ish DIY 'off-the-grid' system with a battery to power only the bicycle-shed (and the freezer inside).
(You and your family do ride a bike for <5 mile trips, right?).

Energy efficiency is the biggest winner for the lowest dollar amount.
Install triple paned windows, and half a meter of insulation in every wall, ceiling and floor.
If you have mechanical ventilation, make sure it has a heat-exchanger (and CO2-sensor for lowest safe level).

Get a solar hot water panel for your shower etc, and if you have the space available, a shower drain recovery system.
For more solar fun: Build it Solar.

Electric vehicle (E-car, E-moped or E-bike), google-fu the fuel-type of power generators for your area/state. Even if it is coal, the efficiency is likely to be better than your own internal combustion engine, and the dirty exhaust fumes are not released in the middle of a bunch of people in town/campus.

Get a Kill-a-Watt, and measure all electrical appliances, in 'on', 'standby' and 'off'.
If there are vampire loads, connect them to a 'switched' power-bar.

This is a monster but it works really well for me... i can pull more then i though i could, and we have very similar TV Fool reports.. if you go outside make sure to get a surge protector www.amazon.com/dp/B0016AIYU6/ (in line link didn't work) This is great since your signals are from all over... mount it as high as you can and try with and without the amplifier to see what works best fro you.

I mounted my motherboard and components to a 1/4" piece of MDF which was then mounted on the bottom of my cab. I attached the motherboard to the 1/4" piece of MDF with nylon spacers and pan head sheet metal screws. This allowed for air to get underneath the motherboard. I didn't bother with fiber washers or anything.

Depending on how much space you have in your cab, you might need less fans than you think.

As far as speakers go, you are better off buying cheap car speakers and wiring them to an amp. This allows you more flexibility with mounting. If you do want to use the 2.1 speaker system you have, you can use a smart power strip to power everything on, like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Smart-Strip-4941-Autoswitching-Technology/dp/B000P1QJXQ/

And yes ipac2 is good for 2 player setup. You can just wire up an arcade button to turn on/off your computer.

Lots of good suggestions in here. A couple specifics from my trip:

• This flashlight Tiny, rugged, and amazingly bright for just a single AA battery. Spendy, but worth it.
  
• A mini surge protector to go with your travel adapter (kit). Share it in airports when there's only one wall socket.
  
• An unlocked iPhone or Andriod smart phone. You'll have travel apps, wi-fi access for Tripadvisor and Wikitravel, digital guidebooks if you need them, and plenty of podcasts, music, and movies for those long bus rides. Oh yeah, it's a phone, too. Seriously, after my passport, this is the most important thing in my travel bag.

The worst offenders all revolve around an entertainment center. Which is why one of these bad boy surge protectors were made. Connect your TV in as the master unit, then plug in your game system, speakers, cable box, etc...

this surge protector specifically cuts power when it's off, but better, it will purposefully cut off those "phantom power" units that are joint to the master outlet. And then the green ones are for anything that needs dedicated power regardless of master being on. AND you don't need to physically unplug everything, which is awesome.

So I unplug my toaster, lamps, etc...but I just keep this surge protector for my entertainment center and boom no worries. Definitely worth the $30 bucks and my electric bill is like $20/mo, already paid itself off.

I would highly recommend investing in a high quality surge protector. I am an IT guy and would recommend either an APC Surge Strip or a Kill-A-Watt Surge Strip.

APC makes a solid product that we sell and recommend to all of our customers from home users to enterprise businesses. I use an APC Surge Strip on my entertainment center and PC setup. (Runs about $5000 worth of equipment)

I personally use the Kill-A-Watt for my grow room because of the extra display features and built in EMI filter to reduce line noise. (Runs about $2500 worth of equipment)

Did you shut off or unplug all other electronics within the vicinity of the speakers while they are powered on? I would be curious if you still get the noise. If no, power on each item 1 by 1 to see if that is causing the interference to start, and then if feasible, relocate.

If that doesn't work or isn't an option, you could try an RFI/EMI filter to see if it helps. You can try a more cost effective option like this, which depending on how strong it is may do the trick. I had a similar issue from time to time with a vintage receiver and this helped in my case.

Furman Power Conditioner (SS6B) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002D017M/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_.wx2DbB440QBE

You could also try a ferrite core filter than snaps onto the power cord itself.

Hope this helps!

Now that you mention it, I'd be curious too. I'll tally it up and get back to you all.

Edit: here it is!


Thing |Price | Quantity
---|---|----
Belkin Power Strip | 30 | 1
Raspberry Pi 3 B+ | 38.30 | 2
Miuzei Raspberry Pi Cooling Case Kit | 25.99 | 2
Netgear 8 Port Gigabit Switch | 17.99 | 1
WD 2 TB External Hard Drive | 59.99 | 4
KingDian 8GB SSD | 10 | 1
Mitac PD12TI CC Mini-ITX Motherboard w/ Intel Atom D2500 CPU | 149.99 | 1
Mini-Box picoPSU-80 80w 12v PSU | 28.95 | 1
Sabrent 12v AC power supply | 10.98 | 1


Total: $616.45

I was doing pretty good until I got to the damn WD hard drives. I suspect I paid way too much for how good they are. Probably could have saved some money by making an enclosure and using real hard drives or something

I'd just get a new PSU (power box) equal or better than yours. Remove old power box AND check motherboard/ports/spots for scorch marks. (If that's so, you need a new board).

Plug new power source into board, and connect your hard drive mouse and keyboard (nothing else) and boot up. While booting, watch the BIOS for issues and sit there and sniff - any smells coming from anyone? Run the computer doing some average things, surfing, playing video, sound - any smells there? Check your usb ports, all of them...Ok? Good.

Power down, and connect anyone else who hasn't connected power wise. Like CDROM or something else. Reboot, sniff, drive for a bit, see how that goes.

AND NEVER PLUG STRAIGHT INTO A WALL. The electricity in a house fluctuates wayyy too much. Your pc wants smooth predictable feed, not twitchy. Get a good power strip (I use this http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-Outlet-Pivot-Surge-Protector/dp/B000JE9LD4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1415402649&sr=8-1&keywords=electronics+power+strip) and it helps smooth it a bit, plus has a surge protector that will save your machine.

So: new PSU (look in your case right now and tell us what you have)
Power strip http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-Outlet-Pivot-Surge-Protector/dp/B000JE9LD4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1415402649&sr=8-1&keywords=electronics+power+strip so you don't make smoke again.

don't feel too bad, I once plugged a machine into a strip (that was over loaded) at work, booted up and POOF fried the PSU, all the magic smoke left.

An easier route than doing monitor surgery (motherboards make it easier by having a header), I went with one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003P2UMNK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have all of my monitors, DAC, speakers and subwoofer on it. I'd imagine you could pop open the remote housing and wire up MX switches to the PCB pretty easily (and now it's sounding like not such a bad idea to do with mine...)

I don't, but if you're interested in a good deal, this seems like a better one.

Quirky PPVG-WH01 Pivot Power Genius, Works with Amazon Alexa https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GN92MC6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_tICBzbGC5B007

You mean like this one? Probably better to a buy professionally made one in the case of high energy mains wiring like this. That said, always respect the maximum current draw of both the house wiring and the power strip - or you'll have a well cooked small apartment.

I'm using SmartThings and I love it. Though I couldn't tell you the differences since I don't use Wink directly.

I have several Link bulbs, so those should work. And your GoControl kit is all zwave, so it should be fine. I have several of their contact and motion sensors on mine, though I'm unsure about the siren.

I don't know about the power strip though... can't find anyone discussing it on the SmartThings forum. You might try emailing support, they should know if it's supported.

Is it this one: Quirky PPVG-WH01 Pivot Power Genius if so, let me know if you get it working. Seems to be the best price on a smart switch yet.

Regarding your last point, it's always a good idea to bring a compact power strip with you when travelling. Something like this or this, though you may need a 3-prong to 2-prong converter for some places in Japan. They are great for nights when you have to charge multiple devices and make you a hero at airports.

I suppose you could do that, but it's definitely not ideal. You'd be essentially drawing power for up to 10 devices off of one outlet if you plug the 10 switch PDU into one of the outlets of the power conditioner. I assume it would probably be ok since both devices are rated at 15A, but I can't find any information on what one individual outlet on a power conditioner/strip is rated for.

If you're absolutely dead set on getting the 10 switch PDU and you still want a minimum level of filtering and surge protection, I would probably get something like this Furman power strip and plug the PDU into it. It still offers a standard level of EMI/RFI filtering and standard level surge protection and it's only $34. Plus, it has a built in circuit breaker so it would shut off in the event that anything did get overloaded. Along the same vein, this one has slightly better filtering and better surge protection for $43 and this one is the top-of-the-line one for both filtering and surge protection for $90. I would go with one of those if you want the filtering. (probably the $43 one if it were me)

Alternatively, you could forego the filtering and just get one of these for $10. That would at least give you the surge protection. The difference being, without the filtering you might notice a hum in the speakers or pick up radio stations in your equipment, etc. The filtering just lowers your noise floor to some extent and helps keep unwanted interference out. If you never use a microphone or electric guitar/amplifier you might not need it (except for the speakers). I would say surge protection is a must though.

Edit: I just found this two-outlet surge protector that has almost double the joules rating for surge protection as the $10 one-outlet surge protector I mentioned earlier and it offers EMI/RFI filtering (probably not as good of filtering as the Furman ones, but it still has some). That would probably be a good choice also.

Sorry for the wall of text, there are just so many options!

Strongly recommend the Belkin 3-outlet 2.1A power strip. It comes with two USB ports, is very compact, and comes with a pivoting head so you can fit it into any outlet situation. Please be careful to get the 2.1A model, especially if you have a tablet. Double check, but most electronics now are dual voltage and will be marked 110-240V to indicate that. Phone/laptop/tablet/camera chargers, electric toothbrush, etc. are commonly dual voltage. If you find that you only have, say, an electric razor that needs US juice, you're probably better off replacing the razor. Just get a plug adaptor, which will cover you in Western Europe except for UK and Switzerland. The simpler the plug adaptor, the better it will hold, as the multi-country ones have lots of internal prongs that you don't need.

http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-SurgePlus-3-Outlet-Charger-Protector/dp/B00ATZJ5YS/

Are you powering up from a full shutdown? If so, you could enable the 'power on after power failure' in the bios and use a remote like the Harmony home control to switch on the outlet that the computer is plugged into. You'll get some bonus vampire power savings when the computer is off too...

You could also do a similar thing with a smart power strip that has a control outlet and a switched outlet (like this) so that your HPTC receives power when, for example, you turn your TV on.

Or if you want to get goofier, you could hack a wireless doorbell to work as a power switch for your computer.

Also, it sounds like you just need to bend the contacts in the case's power switch connector to make better contact with the mobo pins.

Hey no worries at all, we all have to learn at some point. this is part of the enjoyment with turntables for me, the tinkering. I don't have the exact model of turntable you have but does it have something that looks like this? https://imgur.com/a/FNvhJFu The silver thing is a ground connector. you just need to get a copper wire and connect it to that and then connect the wire to a metal pipe, OR VERY CAREFULLY touch it to a screw on a power outlet. DO NOT PUT IT IN THE OUTLET just touching the screw.

Also, does the hum go away if you touch the metal ground connector with your hand. Humans are usually grounded so we can ground the Turntable if we touch a metal part on it. That is a good was to test it is a grounding issue.

Also some other things to try. Try it in a different area with a different outlet. Some outlets are not grounded. You can buy a surge protector that will tell you if the current is grounded too. https://www.amazon.com/Belkin-12-Outlet-Pivot-Plug-Protector-BP112230-08/dp/B000JE9LD4/ref=sr_1_6?crid=10011EKJFWK26&keywords=grounded+surge+protector&qid=1557767088&s=gateway&sprefix=grounded+sur%2Caps%2C132&sr=8-6

Another thing to test. Does it hum when you plug the turntable in and don't have the needle down or does it only hum if you have the needle on a record. If it hums with the needle NOT on a record it is for sure a grounding issue. If it only hums when the needle is on the record then it might be the cable or bad connectors on the turntable.

I think you are worried about lightning protection? I wouldn't worry about it on a direct buried cable, but if you want to be safe get this

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000BKUSS8/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1503629636&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=cat+6+lightning+protection&dpPl=1&dpID=31T2csu01XL&ref=plSrch

And if it were me, I wouldn't run 5 cables from your switch direct buried. I would run 2 and use 1 (the 2nd is just a backup) and connect to another switch in the other room. This gives you flexibility to do whatever you want in the new place. Your ISP is probably feeding you 50-80 megs or so? You can easily cover the whole pipe with a single 100 meg cable. You don't need to homerun al your drops

Pop one of these in the wall

(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00006B81D/ref=psdc_761520_t3_B00006BBAB)

Then, try to match the the amount of power that the computer would draw, a donor computer would be great for this, ask around and promise that the data will be wiped (use DBAN for this) the promise of assured data destruction makes businesses happy and open to giving you old equipment... Any way try to blow the fuse

Huge improvement, well done!

Two thoughts to offer:

• velcro > zipties, because velcro is reusable and won't cut up your hands. Prob not an issue here tbh. This seems to be a holy war issue in /r/cableporn!
  
• They make power strips / surge suppressors where they both lay flat against the wall AND rotate -- if you ever replace the power, keep an eye out for those. I use one of these and love it for that feature
  
  Happy gaming!

As requested, here's the composition of the rack:

• NavePoint 12U Network Rack
  
• TP-Link TL-SG1024: 24 port rackmount switch
  
• TP-Link TL-SG1016PE: 16 port rackmount power over ethernet switch (needed for the Wi-Fi access points)
  
• TP-Link TL-R600VPN: Rackmount router w/ dual-WAN and VPN
  
• Rackmount Power w/ surge protection
  
• Rack shelf: Used to hold modem and NAS
  
• Patch Panel: 24-port Cat6 patch panel (wires go in the pack via punchdown connection, and you run patch cables to the switches)
  
• 12" Patch cables: For connecting between the patch panel, swicthes, other on-rack devices
  
• Synology 416play NAS: Movies, music, pictures, etc. 32 TB in all.
  
  Elsewhere in the house/other useful parts:
  
  
• Keystone Cat6 jacks: one per bedroom, 4 in my home office, 4 in the media room (not built yet), 3 in the family room
  
• 1-, 2-, 3-, and 4-hole keystone wall plates: Buy the number of holes you want and just pop in the keystone jacks
  
• Blank keystone inserts: For when you have too many holes in the keystone plates
  
• Ubiquiti AC Pro x 3: Wi-Fi access points, roughly center of the house on each floor (basement, first, second)
  
• Punchdown tool: For doing the punchdown connections on the patch panel and on each of the keystone Cat6 plugs in each room
  
• Extra rack screws and washers
  
• J-Hook: There are two hooks on each wall, holding service loops for the Cat6 and Coax, respectively.
  
  Useful things I learned:
  
  
• I was originally going to run the wires myself, but never could find the time. Also Cat6 is expensive when not purchased in wholesale quantities (< 10,000 ft). So we hired a local electrician to run the actual wires. It took two of them about 1.5 days to run everything. This was well worth the money, since the project would have taken many months to do in the evenings/on weekends with a toddler running around.
  
• I did all the wall terminations. Since they were punchdowns, it was easy and took one evening after work. The electricians would have charged me another half-day of labor.
  
• I did all the network rack work. This also took one evening after work.
  
• Do NOT buy electrical/networking equipment from a big box hardware store. Always go to a specialized retailer, like an electrician supply store. Their prices will be 1/20th that of the big box store, you won't have to have anything shipped, and their employees actually know what they are talking about. So if you're looking for something that you don't know the name of, you can usually describe it.
  
• Newer construction may have fire breaks/blocks/stops which prevent fire and gases from traveling up the inside of the walls. This makes fire move more slowly and give you more time to evacuate. However, it also means you might need to drill holes/patch walls in order to run wires vertically.
  
• Put in a service loop. If you ever need to re-terminate for any reason (like replacing a patch panel), it will give you extra cable to work with. Do the same thing inside your walls behind the wall plates, since you might have to do the same thing there as well.
  
• Buy networking gear that is rated for the same speed (i.e., gigabit). Your network will only be as fast as the slowest part of it.
  
• Watch out for network loops. This is really easy to do and will cause your router to crash or perform suboptimally. I spent >2 hours debugging on of these as a result of connecting my router to itself by way of both switches.

https://www.amazon.com/Belkin-8-Outlet-Conserve-Protector-F7C01008q/dp/B003P2UMNK

You could get something like that.

https://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-Isobar-Protector-ISOBAR8RM/dp/B00005122S - More expensive alternative if you don't want the wireless ability but would like noise suppression. Tripp Lite is also the best company about honoring their warranty in the event of damage.

It definitely is hard to make up your mind sometimes, especially once you catch the home theater bug. Take your time and read reviews. This is a great forum that will be able to answer all your question about everything home theater. (https://www.avsforum.com/forum/index.php) In my theater I use pretty high end protectors from Brick Wall. Everywhere else I use these, which have gotten good reviews: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0012YLTR6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I know you're saying that you've managed the cables in the last 2... but i see lots of dangly bits... could i recommend some good cable management sleeves? and a good remote-shutoff surge protector? and some grommeting?

Balloons are fun ! :D I think we should both be gifted something useful, such as this power outlet. I don't know about you, but I know I always lose those USB blocks haha. I hope your birthday is wonderful <3

Shelves... buy some rack mount shelves and put your gear on it. I personally dig these but you can get some lighter duty shelves for about $40. A rackmount PDU is also pretty awesome.

1. Yes, setting the gain knob on the sub to 1/8 of maximum would work. It would be worth doing some testing since you might be able to go higher depending on your source material
   
   
2. A power strip with a resettable circuit breaker would work; Furman makes various products like this which are designed specifically for use with audio and include some extra filtering circuitry; something like https://www.amazon.com/Furman-SS6B-Plug-Surge-Protector/dp/B0002D017M or https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003BQ91Y6/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1?pf_rd_p=1944687562&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0002D017M&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=ETAW7VAVA9MJKWH1T8DZ

Said this before but if you are at a hostel extra chargers, iPhone and android wires and this bad boy ( https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ATZJ5YS/ ) can make you best of friends with your hostel mates.

It's not either of the two you posted, but I have this and it's been great (plus, I make many friends at the airport):

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00ATZJ5YS/

It should be pretty easy to build. It's about as uncomplicated as any from-scratch build can be.

This guide here is pretty good although the computer he's building is a little more complicated than this one.

Since you're going to be using a stock cooler you can skip over that bit and refer to this guide here (but don't be as rough with the parts as he is).

You'll only be using one stick of RAM so when you get to that part you can just pick a RAM slot and stick it in, it doesn't matter which one.

The graphics card does't require extra power so you can ignore the part where he plugs in power to the graphics card.

As for accessories -

If you're building completely from scratch you'll also need a mouse, keyboard, monitor and operating system (OS). A DVD drive isn't technically necessary, but it's handy to have. Especially if you're getting the OS on disk like in the secondary parts list below.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
Optical Drive | LG GH24NSC0B DVD/CD Writer | $14.88 @ OutletPC
Operating System | Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit | $88.58 @ OutletPC
Monitor | Acer G226HQLBbd 21.5" 1920x1080 60Hz Monitor | $79.99 @ NCIX US
Keyboard | Logitech MK120 Wired Slim Keyboard w/Optical Mouse | $14.33 @ OutletPC
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total (before mail-in rebates) | $207.78
| Mail-in rebates | -$10.00
| Total | $197.78
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-12-29 20:38 EST-0500 |

Some other things to consider purchasing are

An anti-static wrist strap

and

A chunky surge protector to protect your investment

Edit: and a wifi adapter if you need one

Ah, didn't realize that zigbee didn't integrate directly with HA. I'm using these for my outlet needs. Wifi network sees it as one device so it's light on the network. I'm able to control each plug individually but the USB outlets are all or nothing. I haven't done so yet, but the plan is to reflash them with custom firmware. From what I heard, it's pretty easy.

> "if there was some lesser-known secret I hadn't heard of or some crazy trick to fix it or something."

Nope.

Speaking as someone who's worked in the IT industry for 20+ years... the "secret" really is simple (for pretty much all electronic devices)

1.) Make sure you have good, clean, reliable power (IE = use a surge-protector or battery backup). Even a single time of plugging your power-cord into a "dirty" outlet can damage it. You may consider a small/portable surge protector such as this Belkin one.

2.) Treat your cables gently. Never pull/yank on them. Always pull using the base of the plug (never pull on the cable itself).

Also.. never fold/tightly wrap cables. Any extreme bending (especially at critical junction points, like where the cables meets the square/brick) can results in shorts or internal wire breakage.

Is that 206 the only filter? I would definitely suggesting upgrading!

Also consider getting one of these. Definitely awesome for doing maintenance.

Here are some links for the product in the above comment for different countries:

Amazon Smile Link: Belkin 3-Outlet Surge Protector


|Country|Link|Charity Links|
|:-----------|:------------|:------------|
|USA|smile.amazon.com|EFF|
|France|www.amazon.fr||
|Japan|www.amazon.co.jp||
|Canada|www.amazon.ca||




To help add charity links, please have a look at this thread.

This bot is currently in testing so let me know what you think by voting (or commenting). The thread for feature requests can be found here.

I have done this numerous times and you can put as large a fan as have the ability to cut out. The top rear of the cabinet will be best and shouldn't affect the TV.

Look through your old electronics for a 12V transformer you can butcher or output from the PC. The xBox probably only heats up when running but the DirectTV box likely runs hot all the time. You can look at buying a Smart power strip like this and tell the fan to run only when the TV is on.

If you had a receiver, some models have switched outlets to turn on equipment when it is running. (Check your direct TV box for this as well) But that would only turn it on with the cable box which you might not run with the PC.

My original plan was to build a small Ryzen server to run some VMs on. That plan eventually turned into looking at small racks and deciding I want to run ethernet throughout the house, so naturally I need it all to come together at one location. I bought a 6u rack (can technically hold 8u), a pdu, a tplink patch panel, and I got a free switch poe from Aerohive that I plan on using to power some security cameras. I found a 3u short rack mount computer case that can be mounted "backwards", which helps with air flow in these short racks and allows easy access to all of the io ports.

My Ryzen idea turned into a Theadripper build because of some crazy deals I got, and ended up being its own stand alone build. So I still don't really have a machine setup in the 3u case. I have a Dell board installed with an i7, but the psu has some weird proprietary connectors and the cables are too short for where the psu mounts, so I'll just look into replacing the board and psu at some point in the near future. I then plan on running proxmox and having this run part of a test lab, and maybe eventually act as a router.

I really, really like the pdu, but it's way over kill for this thing, so I'll probably just replace it with a nice surge protector, which will plug into an external battery backup.

I installed two exhaust fans into the top of the rack which run directly off the pdu. I could mount the patch panel 1u higher but the cables running into it would clash with the extra long screws the fans came with, so I will probably Dremel those screws in half when I get time.

The rack itself isn't bad. I had to get the first one replaced because it got destroyed during shipping. Other than having to tighten a few screws on the second one, works very well and came in great shape. I like this rack because it can be mounted on a wall or you can mount wheels to the bottom, which is comes with, and it looks nice while not weighing a million pounds.

Parts I'm using so far:

• Rack: V7 RMWC6U-1N
  
• Patch panel: TRENDnet 24-Port Cat5/5e Patch Panel
  
• PDU: CyberPower CPS1215RMS Surge Protector
  
• Fans: AC Infinity Axial 1225
  
• 3U case: PLINKUSA RACKBUY 3U
  

You can buy adapters that can be a temporary solution till you move back to your place.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00166TT3G/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1420042081&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX200_QL40

These are 3 prong to 2 prong outlet adapters. To install them you take off the center screw on the outlet without taking off the face plate. Next plugin the adapter and a screw the small tab on them to the faceplate with the screw that was removed. If you have a good surge protector it should have an indicator light that tells you if you have a ground connection from the outlet with the adapter. Looks like this http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000JE9LD4/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?qid=1420042570&sr=8-3&pi=AC_SY200_QL40#immersive-view_1420042585566

If you dont feel comfortable doing this turn off the power before hand and make sure its off by using a volt meter or a small appliance.

I love this one. Amazing protection for a rather decent cost. It's got very sturdy build quality as well. $300,000 in protection if it doesn't protect whatever's on it.

Along those lines:

If an outlet isn't "working" plug in something to check. A working item, such as a lamp or a fan is a great indicator that the outlet is receiving power.

There are a variety of reasons that a particular outlet wouldn't be receiving power, so it helps to double check.

Always check the switch; power strip/surge protector, switched outlet, breaker, etc, etc - this goes with the thing about checking the power.

If the problem outlet isn't properly grounded, that may cause an issue (not an electrician).

OP could try another AC to USB adapter (commonly provided with smart phones). Pretty much any (powered) USB source should work to charge your device, which is why I carry one of these with my gadgets.

I bought a CyberPower CPS1215RMS which is plugged into a APC 1500 (SMT1500) for surge and BBU. I got the APC for free from work...I'm also on a budget. The CPS1215RMS has been fine for me and after one incident at work where I accidentally bumped/flipped an uncovered switch on a PDU and cycled a full HP2920 switch stack I greatly appreciate having covers on PDU power switches. Thanks to that mistake we have redundant PSU's on those stacks now so it all worked out : )

Tripp lite, in my experience, make solid and reliable gear. If you get either of the one's you've linked you'll be happy. The only thing I'd say is one has a 15 ft. cord, which is alot of cable to hide somewhere or bundle up. The 6 ft. cords are typically plenty.

Agreed, labeling them is the best way to do it, even when they're plugged in. For my wall warts, I have them attached to a power strip with these 1ft extension cords so I can actually fit more than one in a strip. All of my electronics I don't use very often (old video game systems, VCRs, old towers, etc) get plugged into one of these power strips so they don't leach power when off. Each switch has a label for the device plugged into it and each cord plugged into it is also labeled. I have all the extenders labeled as well. This way no matter where I am in the power chain, I know what's plugged into what. The only thing that isn't labeled is the powerstrips ...yet.

I use one of these, I have my amp set as the "control" and my pedal board plugged in to one of the switched outlets.

It might not be the best of you have a ton of pedals, but for my home setup it works great and I can use the other "hot" outlets for other stuff like charging my phone etc.

Nice cooler. Got an H7 for my birthday last month. Love it. Dropped my cpu temp by 15'c

I plan on replacing the stock fan with a corsair LL 120 once it gets here.

As for surge protector..

I suggest the [Belkin BP112230-08 PivotPlug 12-Outlet Surge Protector] (https://www.amazon.ca/Belkin-BP112230-08-PivotPlug-12-Outlet-Protector/dp/B000JE9LD4/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1521674293&sr=8-13&keywords=belkin)

This.

But it looks like you have a lot of things to plug in, so I recommend this one. I use it at my place, and I love that it has the tilting plugs. Can fit some many more things.

If he already ran cat5, install a switch in the shop and connect the cat5 to the switch (as well as connecting it to a LAN port on the router in the house). In the shop, you can add an access point for him to hang off of the switch to provide better wifi in the shop.

Where does the shop get power from? If it has it's own panel, I recommend getting some inline cat5 protectors and put them on both sides of the cat5 run. When extending networks to other buildings, it is best to use fiber, but that does complicate things and increase price.

https://www.amazon.com/APC-PNET1GB-ProtectNet-Standalone-Protector/dp/B000BKUSS8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481391077&sr=8-1&keywords=inline+cat5+protector

I recycled an old 12V 1A transformer. After cutting the barrel connector I soldered the female half of the fan extension cable that came with one of Noctuas (kept only the black and yellow +12V wires).

Of course you can also buy the whole thing on amazon for $11 but where's the fun!

I then connected the fans power supply to a smart power strip piloted by the ThinkPad charger so, when I shutdown or put the laptop to sleep the external fans (along with my external monitors and audio amplifier) shutdown as well.

That would work, but it needs to be done safely. A power strip with individual switches is safer.

> I plan on taking this with me on a cruise in a month, and am hoping it will be fine: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ATZJ5YS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_tUWyCb702R174

This is the best one.

Do you have any recommendations? I’m upgrading my tv to a 55” 4K. I have a surge, but don’t know if it’s good enough. How many joules do you think it should protect against? I don’t know that much about surges. Here’s what I have now:

https://www.amazon.com/Belkin-12-Outlet-Pivot-Plug-Protector-BP112230-08/dp/B000JE9LD4/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_img_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=JZ2QRMSZ2A011RPQ7N1Z

The Vita charger is a standard USB charger, you can buy it for like $2, but I suggest you upgrade to a better charger like this.

The problem is the USB cable which is proprietary and isn't necessary compatible with every charger, there is a small pin on the cable, so you may need to scratch it a little bit. The cable itself is not cheap either. The original cable goes for $10. You can get OEM cable for $2 example. IMO, since you are only going to use the cable for charging, don't overpay.

I've had great success with a Tripp Lite Isobar 2 along with a mega long power strip. It's essentially a 1:1 transformer for galvanic isolation, along with a fuse. Bonus $10k insurance for any gear damaged by a power surge for peace of mind.

Make sure all your gear is on the same circuit to avoid hum and noise problems. This is where the mega long power strip comes in.

Your friendly reminder to use a surge protector, and that surge protectors only last a few years (or one major surge). I like this one because it shows you when you are protected by surges with an indicator light. When the surge protection wears out, the light will shut off and you should replace it. It also comes with a $300,000 equipment warranty.

https://www.amazon.com/Belkin-12-Outlet-Pivot-Plug-Protector-BP112230-08/dp/B000JE9LD4/ref=sr_1_4?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1467360925&sr=8-4&keywords=belkin+surge+protector

I know there are some power strips with coax connections to help with surge. I don't know how well they work as I don't use a cable provider for my internet. The optimal solution is to use a media converter to convert the cable link to a fiber connection and either input that into your network or convert back to Ethernet. If you are replacing your ERL then look at the Edgerouter X SFP. You could use this to separate the connection between the modem and your router with the addition of a media converter.

Edit: There are these that might help with the circuit entering the house. You have to connect them to your home ground connection but they are suppose to help.

Agreed. Something like this I think is perfect: www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000JE9LD4/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?qid=1373057937&sr=8-3&pi=SL75

I really wouldn't be playing games on the plane. More for doing some light productivity (Word, Excel, Visual Studio) or possibly videos, but for videos I have the iPad with 8-ish hours battery life.

For any real work or gameplay, you're correct I'd be tethered to a wall.

Flying Virgin America though, they have the power outlets next to every seat, even in coach, so there's that. I'm not sure how many other airlines have that.

You can definitely eke out another 30-60 minutes by dropping the brightness quite a bit. Windows 10 makes this easy with the Action Center where there is a shortcut to cycle through display modes.

Basically, if you can wait, wait. As with most tech, the model you buy is always obsolete a few months later.

I always carry a portable Belkin 3-Outlet mini-surge protector (Amazon link) in my backpack. That way, if the power outlet at the airport or coffee shop is in use, I ask one of the people plugged in if I can interrupt their work for a few seconds to add the surge protector and get myself some juice.

If you really need a mobile productivity machine, I'd say wait for the new MacBooks which Apple should release soon. They'll get 8 hours of battery life easily, however for gaming they may not be optimal. I think the current MacBooks are using nVidia, so there's a small chance they switch to AMD for the next round as they seem to flip flop now and then between refreshes. Ideally, nVidia releases the GTX 1050 and Apple actually uses them.

Was curious to hear what people's setups are like regarding surge protectors/power strips. I'm currently shopping for some surge protectors, something like this. Was wondering if people just plug everything into one. I'm talking about the TV, desktop computer, XBOX and other consoles, maybe even a laptop, printer, and the audio gear such as headphone amp + dac and speaker amps, etc. What do you guys use? Do you guys use a separate surge protector solely for your audio gear? Does it even matter, or should I just go for a 10+ outlet one and plug everything in and leave it at that?

https://www.globalindustrial.com/p/electrical/power-strips/surge-protectors/ul100bd-multi-outlet-power-unit-125v-15a-9-14l-5-outlets-15-cord

The above link is a 5 outlet strip with a circuit-breaker that is push-back-in to reset, but no switch.

I've worked with several supervisors who would refuse to have anything mission-critical on a power-strip that had a switch - either someone stepping on it under a desk, or someone setting something down on top of it could switch it "off" at an inopportune moment.

I've found the easiest to find are the 3 to4-ft long wiremold strips with outlets spaced every 4 to 6 inches, rack-mount strip that still have a switch but have it under a cover that requires unclipping before you can manipulate the switch, and the good old industrial supply places where you will pay 2 to 3 times what the hardware store will charge but find exactly what you desire as one of the 200 power-strip options.

Some of the lightning protection devices have hefty earth connectors, for example: http://www.amazon.com/APC-PNET1GB-ProtectNet-Standalone-Protector/dp/B000BKUSS8

I assume this is to provide a more attractive path. In the case of the media converter solution you just need to ensure they have similar earth connections (or at least the 'upstream' one)

Desktop is always the better choice if you don't need portability, and even then you're better off getting a cheap laptop for portability and a desktop for gaming (the price ends up being around the same.) One outlet or five outlets, if it's in a bedroom then it's probably going to be coming off one circuit breaker anyway. Maybe don't try to run the PS4/XBox/PC and air conditioner all at the same time doing intense gaming in the middle of August. Other than that you should be okay, just buy a decent surge suppressor.

Buy this.

I got mine for $25 and this thing is the best surge protector you can get for stuff behind your entertainment system.

Use 1 timer and a power strip or do like I did and get a smart power strip so you can program each outlet for whatever you want.

Something like this

https://www.amazon.com/Protector-Compatible-TECKIN-Multiple-Charging/dp/B07FM3P87S/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1542469367&sr=8-4&keywords=wifi+power+strip

8 AWG is way overkill. I have a dedicated 15 amp outlet to my rack. What I did was just run the equivalent ground sized on that service back to the panel. 15 amp outlets use 14/2, so I just ran a 14 AWG THHN wire back to the grounding bar of my service. Some will recommend running "one up" (if you run 14/2, run a 12 awg ground) on the ground based on the service, but meh. This will clear any static that builds up on it, and will clear any faults that hit the rack just as good as the existing 14/2. I think it makes more sense on bigger installations, not simple networking equipment.

You can ask COX about getting a drop into that room, but they probably won't do it for you unless you get TV service. Personally, I wouldn't worry about it, but I understand what you are saying. I haven't done anything with my coax, but since I have fiber to the home, all the TV is IP based and I can just run the televisions off the cat 5 jacks.

I would get a PDU for your rack, it will simplify everything when you put it in, and it has a 10 foot cable. I have it run into my UPS and my UPS plugged into the wall.

http://www.amazon.com/CyberPower-CPS-1215RMS-Rackmount-Power-Surge/dp/B00077INZU/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1459167383&sr=1-1&keywords=cyberpower+pdu%5C

You need a smart power strip.

Then you plug your harmony hub into a red outlet or leave it plugged into a separate source, plug your TV into the Blue outlet, and plug all your switched loads into the green outlets.

Program a watch tv activity to TURN THE TV ON FIRST WITH A DELAY OF 5 SECONDS!, Very important!

Then allow it to turn on the rest of your equipment. It works very well.

Keep in mind, old av receivers require a standby current to keep their settings once their super capacitor or internal battery goes dead. This is rarely a user replaceable item, so once it dies, it dies, and the receiver forgets about settings every time power is pulled.

Snow snow go away.
[Cuz they say two thousand zero zero party over,
Oops out of time
So tonight I'm gonna party like it's 1999] (http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-SurgePlus-3-Outlet-Charger-Protector/dp/B00ATZJ5YS/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=EQJTOLVDS2H1&coliid=IKOYC27QU2BWO)

I like this Belkin power strip on Amazon much more than the concept. It swivels and the cord is 8 feet long! It's awesome, I have four at my house.

I have this and it works great: https://www.amazon.com/Belkin-8-Outlet-Conserve-Protector-F7C01008q/dp/B003P2UMNK

What does the switch on the wall control? If you plan to repurpose that switch, what are you giving up?

> Furman manufacture a sequencer that does exactly this, with three separate timed events in sequence

Another option is a "smart" power strip. They have a current sensor on one outlet and then turn some other outlets on/off. When you switch off the "master" device, a few seconds later it will cut power to the other devices. Some example models:

• Tripp Lite AV88SATG
  
• APC P8GT
  
• Bits Limited SCG-3MVR Smart Strip
  
  I have an older APC model than the above, but they look to be very similar. It has a current sensitivity adjustment for the master outlet, which is nice, although I'd also like some control over the timing.
  
  This approach only gives you the proper power-on sequence, obviously, as it's always reacting to the "master" device, so it can't turn off the audio equipment until after it detects you've turned off the computer.

Makes sense. I used the smart plugs for nightlights and such throughout the house.

I think this is the power strip. https://www.amazon.com/TECKIN-Multiple-Protector-Bar，Remote-Compatible/dp/B07FM3P87S/ref=mp_s_a_1_2_sspa?keywords=smart+power+strip&qid=1556247426&s=gateway&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1

I have my lights, circulation pump, and air pump on a timer. Works great.

I suggest splurging on a decent UPS. Not only will it have surge protection, but allow the devices to be shut down without data corruption or loss. UPS's also clean the electric up by taking the jitter (peaks and troughs) out and leveling the signal. Thus easier on the devices.

You can even buy them with rg6/59 surge protection.They make inline ones. https://www.amazon.com/TII-Broadband-Cable-Lightning-Protector/dp/B0016AIYU6

Yeah, I use something kinda similar to this: Autoswitching Strip Thingie

Rig the Pi/PC/etc with an external switch, and then plug it into the 'master outlet'. When you power on the Pi, that triggers the other outlets into powering up, and then your monitor, speakers, marquee, etc all power up. Pretty nifty.

>Every surge protector I’ve found that has Ethernet protection drops speeds to 100 base t, so that’s not going to work.

Really? Cause gig ones are easy to come-by. Don't know why the title is in Spanish.... https://smile.amazon.com/APC-PNET1GB-ProtectNet-Standalone-Protector/dp/B000BKUSS8/

I've used these though and gigabit works fine if your cabling is good.

I work in restaurant IT, and I can assure you that the Belkin Pivot-Plug is, above and beyond, the best surge protector.

I would suggest something like this for the speed control: http://www.ebay.com/itm/400298584224



There are heaps of different fan speed control options for computers, just adapt one to your needs.



To switch them on you might want something like this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002K8S2J6?pc_redir=1398262650&robot_redir=1

Yep I live my WiFi strip,

Smart Power Strip WiFi Power Bar 5ft  Extension Cord Compatible with Alexa,Echo,Google Home and IFTTT, TECKIN Surge Protector with 4 USB Charging Ports and Smart AC Plugs for Multi Outlets https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FM3P87S/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_1Fy3CbBJMYKYR

Definitely purchase the seeds on your wish list!

I want the travel charger for both USB ports and plugs! that's on my "1. Practical" list.

twinsies ! (My autocorrect keeps wanting to say twin dies D:)

Triplite makes excellent surge protectors and aren't terribly expensive. I bought 3 of these and they work well.

I’d s try an smart strip first before bringing in an electrician to solve the problem. See if that solves your issue first.

Maybe something like this: Smart Strip LCG-3MVR Energy Saving Surge Protector with Autoswitching Technology, 10-Outlet https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0006PUDQK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_ybNOBb1X7NFK8

Wire your charging stand so the switch is in the stand, then you'll have the one cord from the stand to the outlet and you don't have to try to find the outlet made of unobtanium.

Or, if you want, you can hide this for best aesthetics, and use the master switch or the individual switches as you wish.

Or try this device or this sort of switch at the wall.

New to /r/EDC, here's my start:

1. Notebook, puzzles, & book I'm currently reading (A Short History of Nearly Everything)
   
   
2. Gloves
   
   
3. Beanie
   
   
4. Nalgene
   
   
5. Firefox-branded Ogio backpack
   
   
6. Meds
   
   
7. mini-USB cable
   
   
8. Gerber multi-tool + Leatherman Freestyle CX
   
   
9. Kobalt flashlight
   
   
10. Belkin mini-surge + USB
    
    
11. Klipsch Image S4 headphones
    
    
12. Case for business cards
    
    
13. Spare earbuds
    
    
14. Contacts + glasses
    
    
15. Zune HD (yes, a Zune)
    
    
16. Spare 8GB flash drive
    
    
17. Nike sunglasses
    
    Items 18-24 are always in my pockets (+/- a few extras occassionally)
    
    
18. Chapstick
    
    
19. Keys
    
    
20. Gerber pocketknife
    
    
21. Gum (always always always)
    
    
22. 8GB flash drive
    
    
23. Money clip (credit/debit cards, license, a few business cards)
    
    
24. Fob for office
    
    
25. (Not pictured) HTC Inspire 4G
    
    Very open to suggestions/critiques. I really enjoy seeing all the different EDC collections, from minimalist to zombie apocalypse-ready.
    I'm thinking about putting together a car/bug-out bag, but that'll come later.
    
    EDIT: formatting

You could try this bad boy or something similar. It has two fans on the top that pull out the heat. From there it's up to you where to build ducts to move the heat, whether its out the door or somewhere else. Make sure to add netting to the end of whatever duct you put outside to help cut down on bugs (I also have this mounted inside to help with power cable management)

Another thing to check is if you have another room that's more insulated from heat than one with a glass sliding door. I currently have limited space in my apartment, but have blackout curtains on the windows by my gear to help cut down on other sources of heat, I also have an air conditioner nearby that detects the ambient temp and kicks on only when needed (also monitor the humidity in this room to make sure your gear is safe).

The hard truth of it though is that for each BTU your gear puts out you'll have to pay for the same BTU output from your A/C

While there are screw in bulbs, they are meant for nano tanks mostly. With that budget have you considered T5 and cheap LED lights? I’d recommend the Current USA with four of these T5 HO fixtures

With these lights you’ll for sure grow any coral you want easily. You can put the T5 on these wifi controlled power strips so you can set them on timers and the LED has built in programming.

For what kind of outlet/amperage?

I've got two of these and they work great, but if you can use a 30A one you could find some much better deals on eBay for used enterprise ones.

Skip this. Spend a bit more and get a superior surge protector. 4320 joules, 12 outlets. I have a few of them in use throughout my house and they're all rock solid. The swivel outlets are an excellent feature. Rosewill makes the same thing as well; sometimes they go on sale at newegg.

Well like I said it's possible that you really did have a surge that damaged equipment. But the real questions are 1) how likely is it to happen 2) would a regular surge protector like this $20 APC model have prevented damage? 3) does spending more money actually buy you more protection?

Also you may be interested to know that your "APC BackUPS Pro 1500" only provides 354 joules of surge protection. The cheap model I mentioned above is almost 10x better.

I'm not saying that damage from power surges doesn't happen: I'm saying that expensive protection gear is probably not worth the cash.

Since you seem to know a bit more than I do about this stuff, what's your opinion on this? I'm thinking of buying it, I could use a good surge protector. Thanks for any opinions

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000JE9LD4/ref=ox_sc_act_title_8?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

I would highly recommend not doing this. A power sensing strip is cheap, and in the scenario I posted in another comment, would pay for itself very quickly in terms of energy saved.

option 1

option 2

I'd trust either of these, both a respectable names in the power distribution industry.

Also read through this for some other reviews/suggestions.

Thanks, yes exactly. I was just curious to see the filtration but unfortunately they don't list it. Regardless - it works.

Tripp Lite's versions such as this normally have upto 40 db of RFI/EMI filtration which is a pretty big notch!

They also make these too if you don't want a power bar.

I bought this one myself and really like it: http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-BP112230-08-Pivot-Plug-Surge-Protector/dp/B000JE9LD4/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1345835250&sr=8-3&keywords=surge+protector

The outlets on the side pivot up and down, so it accommodates power blocks pretty well.

Any chance you could comment on whether this power conditioner will actually provide any benefit?

Bought it after a quick google search because I needed something ASAP and a couple sites recommended it.

My satellite guy put in a "coax grounding block" (link) for his stuff, then ran a ground wire to a place and grounded it properly. Is there a cable box outside your house, or does the wire just come in from the pole directly in to your house?

You might want to go the extra step with something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/TII-Broadband-Satellite-Lightning-Protector/dp/B0016AIYU6/ref=sr_1_6?crid=DH4A4R3UW240&keywords=coaxial+grounding+block&qid=1563563175&s=electronics&sprefix=coaxial+ground%2Celectronics%2C156&sr=1-6

You would need to find something that would fit the cable coming in to your house.

Hopefully somebody with more practical experience can weigh in.

A furman is the one that we went with.

https://www.amazon.com/Furman-SS6B-Power-Conditioner/dp/B0002D017M/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=power+conditioner&qid=1566859493&s=gateway&sr=8-3

Hopefully this one will do the trick for this go around. Anyway, thanks again for all your advice! Helped us out a lot

What you want is a Power Distribution Unit or PDU. They come in all sizes from a hand full of sockets to a lot of sockets. Something like this Tripp-Lite will work.

Thanks for the lengthy response.
The circuit the fridge is on has a gfci within the system but I don't know if the fridge bypasses it.
I will look at it tomorrow.
Would an ac line filter (something like this Tripp Lite Isobar 2 Outlet Surge Protector/Suppressor, Wall Mount Direct Plug-in, & $10K INSURANCE (ULTRABLOK) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00006B81D/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_0IUZzbX9QTFX2) show that the ac supply is not the problem?

Might I suggest adding a surge protector inside your mirror to protect your Pi and Monitor from basic surges? Something like this:

http://amzn.com/B00006B81E

Or do the splitting with a 2 way box like this (It also will take more of a hit than the previous one):

http://amzn.com/B00006B81D


I notice your weather was Philly (South Jersey here!) so thunderstorms may not be the biggest concern, but I think it would be worth adding.

Along with this, if you're willing to spend a little bit of money you could consider getting a basic rack mount PDU like Tripplite PDU which might allow you to consolidate all the power closer to the source and let you route/bundle it a bit cleaner - instead of having all the wires reaching back to the bottom of the rack.

I put in a dedicated GFCI by my rack with one of the outlets used for a power rack strip (like this www.amazon.com/dp/B00KFZ98YO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_SauWAbC9Y266D) which is for filters, heaters, etc. The other outlet is for a generic Chinese-made WiFi enabled power strip so I can individually program light times. Good setup and not too expensive (compared to professional equipment).

I whole-heartedly agree with the TP-Link advice. They JUST WORK...PERIOD. You can do a search on Amazon for smart power strip. This one is Amazon's Choice. Good ratings but not near as many reviewers

https://www.amazon.com/Protector-Compatible-TECKIN-Multiple-Extension/dp/B07FM3P87S/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1537840288&sr=8-7&keywords=smart+power+strip

​

https://www.amazon.com/Smart-Wi-Fi-Power-Strip-TP-Link/dp/B07G95FFN3/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1537840422&sr=8-4&keywords=tp-link+smart+power+strip

This would be essential for a custom or regular sized desktop for wireless internet in dorms or places where you have no Ethernet access.

This is also essential. It's an amazing surge protector for the price to keep your electronics safe.

http://www.amazon.com/TLP76MSG-Switched-Outlet-Conserve-Protector/dp/B0068LACFI/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1416590629&sr=8-5&keywords=tripp+lite

I have 2 of these mounted on the inside of my stand. AWESOME time saver.

Would this still be an issue if I were only plugging in EVGA computer PSUs? Those come with overcurrent protection I believe and won't pull more than what they're rated at. If not, would any of these work?

​

https://www.amazon.ca/Bestten-Outlet-Rack-Mount-Aluminum-Protector/dp/B01DKDI9VU

https://www.amazon.ca/ADJ-Products-PC-100A-8-Channel-Center/dp/B00KFZ98YO/

https://www.amazon.ca/Cyberpower-CPS1215RM-Rackmount-Power-Strip/dp/B00077IG3O

​

Or even a cheap thing like this? https://www.amazon.ca/AmazonBasics-6-Outlet-Surge-Protector-Power/dp/B00TP1C1UC

​

Thank you!

I bought an APC one for like $18 on Amazon I think, do brands matter

Edit: I think this one, looks like it: APC P11VT3 11-Outlet 3020j Surge Protector https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0012YLTR6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_oUoxCb20MT4W7

You can get the surge protectors with the plugs on the back. And if that doesn't fit, grab some 1 ft extension cords.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00077INZU/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

​

Since I plug into a UPS anyway, I bought this power strip and label what each switch does. I love it.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KFZ98YO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Belkin makes a mini surge protector that converts a single US 3-prong outlet into 3 outlets plus 2 more USB charging-only ports. The 3 prongs also rotate to help make it fit in oddly spaced areas.

I fly over 40 weeks a year and attend conferences, so that adapter has saved me plenty. Although there was one time when I was sharing with two other random people and had to unplug them both when I was leaving but they were not!

Agree. And instead of the power strip, buy a real surge protector. Not Wal-Mart crap either, but one that is used in a commercial office environment for individual workstations - at the very least.

Something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/APC-P11VT3-Performance-SurgeArrest-Protection/dp/B0012YLTR6

Mine is similar, but the outlets swivel to allow room for stuff like OP.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000JE9LD4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_9Jy7AbRB5QC6X

This is great. Only thing is the price is throwing me off. Either Amazon is low balling the original price or Newegg is jacking up the regular to make the sale price more appealing..

Either way I'm getting this. Thank you OP!

Why not use a PC?

To your question: a smart strip will work. Something like this

Be careful about using a splitter. The splitter itself has to be 220-compatible.

For example, I have this Belkin travel power splitter but it cannot be used outside North America.

EDIT: What I have is a bunch of these travel adpaters. They are not particularly small, but they are cheap. They will work with any device that is 120/220 compatible, like most chargers for electronics (but probably not your alarm clock radio).

Here you go: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006PUDQK/ (this specific one is no longer available, sadly)

I have a smaller one in our bedroom for a similar setup. No complaints. Of course, couldn't tell you if any money is REALLY saved or if it has paid for itself yet. But the theory is sound.

If you search for "smart strip" or smart power strip or something like that, there are a few others out there.

Or just buy a power strip that doesn't suck monkey nuts:

http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-Outlet-Pivot-Surge-Protector/dp/B000JE9LD4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1398438555&sr=8-2&keywords=power+strip

http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-BE112230-08-12-Outlet-Protector-Protection/dp/B000J2EN4S/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1398438555&sr=8-7&keywords=power+strip


My fav:

http://www.amazon.com/Fellowes-Mighty-Surge-Protector-99090/dp/B00006B8K2/ref=sr_1_17?ie=UTF8&qid=1398438566&sr=8-17&keywords=power+strip

Also saw this
https://www.amazon.com/Furman-Standard-Conditioning-Outlets-Spacing/dp/B0014598WQ

Now I'm still having trouble understanding the benefit of the APC or Cyberpower over something like the TPLink below.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000AI0N2?ref_=pe_623860_70668520

Can you also explain how these work with modern day devices and having multiple hooked up drawing power? If I have my Sub, AVR, TV, PS4, Switch, etc that like 5-6 devices all pulling energy. I assume most of these surge units just plug into a standard wall socket and and provide enough juice for all devices without causing one to shut down or function incorrectly due to lack of juice.

Thanks for the advice!

I have one of these Belkin surge protectors: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000JE9LD4/ref=aw_d_pd_electronics

and one of these APC Surgearrest surge protectors: http://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0012YLTR6/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1397065424&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40

As a side note, would my electrician be okay with me running the Romex (not connected on either end?

I have like, 5 of there. If you need to plug into a power strip, these are the way to go. Otherwise, use a Furman or a rackmount power thing. These are cheap and useful : https://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-Network-Grade-Wide-Spaced-RS1215-RA/dp/B00006B834/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1483140763&sr=8-6&keywords=rack+power

Looks like Amazon has a better price.

I have a 12 outlet version and it's a great device!

Maybe something like this for peace of mind?

http://www.amazon.com/Furman-PST-2-6-Power-Station/dp/B0009GH13Y/ref=zg_bs_11975661_7

or simply a decent surge protector like

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002D017M/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2X5H3Q9X2KAV3

A power conditioner can lessen this effect of the hissing. It will not eliminated it, but lessen it. But if it is not annoying. I would just let it along. Something like this.

https://www.amazon.com/Furman-SS6B-Plug-Surge-Protector/dp/B0002D017M/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3T51229Q7HX8I&keywords=power+conditioner&qid=1557245947&s=electronics&sprefix=power+condition%2Caps%2C347&sr=1-3#customerReviews

I'm going to assume that this computer is an HTPC, and that it doesn't need to be powered on unless the TV is also powered on, and that the TV/receiver are used exclusively for the HTPC.

The way I solved this had nothing to do with Linux config at all. I just use a smart power strip. It detects when the HTPC is powered off, and then also powers off the TV and the receiver. And then when I turn the HTPC on, the power strip turns on the TV and receiver. Probably not the type of answer you were looking for, but it's low tech, it works, and it saves energy. Make sure you use hibernate (or power off) instead of sleep.

This isn't the exact power strip I use, but it's an example of what I'm talking about: https://www.amazon.com/TrickleStar-Outlet-Advanced-PowerStrip-Joules/dp/B00JPDYYSM/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1505688796&sr=8-3

My brother and his family were struggling with their new 1 tb cap with Comcast. He discovered the rest of the family wasn't always backing out of apps like Vue/Pandora/Netflix before shutting off the tv because they were expecting the hdmi cec to put the fire tvs to sleep. Either the FireTV or tv hdmi cec wasn't working correctly but he would turn on a tv later and find apps that had been running for hours while everyone was sleeping or at work/school. He added a smart power strip to every tv which shuts off power to FireTV when the tv gets turned off. It does take the FireTVs a little extra time to power up vs. waking up from sleep but it has solved his particular cap issue. I think this is the brand strip he bought: https://www.amazon.com/Smart-Strip-SCG-3M-Autoswitching-Technology/dp/B000P1QJXQ/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1482162910&sr=8-3&keywords=smart+power+strip

I considered building one using:

• 1. An Arduino to sense the signal
     
     
• 2. Belkin Green Powerstrip
     
     If I had more time, I could have finished it. I was tweaking the audio detection algorithm and had a circuit drawn out for the 12V turn-on signal used in the remote. (It's a very simple PCB in the remote)
     
     I was using a line level signal for input, so it didn't really need any conditioning. The driver circuit to handle the turn-on wasn't very complicated (a transistor used as a switch to pull-up the push button switch input to 12V). The chip in the remote could be purchased and wired up stand-alone without modding the remote, but it seemed like more work to me.
     
     If there are any commercial solutions, AFAIK they were really expensive and not readily available.
     
     

OK. Cool. I do the same.

So then, connect the AVR to the TV using one of those switching power strips. They're usually marketed as "power saving power strips". With a quick look I found this one on Amazon.ca for C$38.

Another: https://www.amazon.ca/CyberPower-P705G-Energy-Saving-Protector/dp/B01G6VTIDG/

I love this for my PAX travels. http://amazon.com/Belkin-SurgePlus-3-Outlet-Charger-Protector/dp/B00ATZJ5YS/

Your speaker need to be powered somehow. Once you have the figured out you could try a smart power strip like this: http://www.amazon.com/Smart-Strip-Protector-Autoswitching-Technology/dp/B0006PUDQK

Every company makes ther power adapter to try and be the best, by doing that there all different. What you need it a power strip that can use any and all of them this is what I use in my game room and all through my house, it saves your life. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000JE9LD4?psc=1&th=1

Take a look at smart power strips like this one. Without cracking one open, I bet there is a hall effect sensor on the master outlet that controls a bank of relays on the switched outlets. Just connect anything like a receiver or TV to the master and the speakers to the switched.

I love this thing

Belkin 3-Outlet Mini Travel Swivel Charger Surge Protector with Dual USB Ports

I love my Belkin travel strip

Look for a master-controlled power strip. It's a normal power strip except that one outlet is the master, and when its power consumption goes above a threshold then it turns on the other outlets. That way when the TV is off as the master, the other outlets are off. When you press the remote and the TV goes on it uses more power, triggering the strip to turn on the other outlets. They are readily available and work really well. I have one for my entertainment center and one for my desk. https://www.amazon.com/TrickleStar-Outlet-Advanced-PowerStrip-Joules/dp/B00JPDYYSM

A "Smart Strip" is a popular option...
http://amazon.com/dp/B000P1QJXQ

It has 1 "control" outlet that you would plug your PC into. When you turn on the PC, the power strip turns on 3 other outlets (monitor, marquee lights, powered speakers). When you turn the PC off, it cuts power to the 3 other outlets.

To make turning the PC on/off more convenient from outside the cabinet, you can disconnect the PC start button from the motherboard, which is just a momentary contact switch and replace it with really long wires and a momentary contact switch on the outside of the cabinet. Note that windows is designed to shut down when you press the power switch so it works out great.

This is the switch I used. It mounts in the spot where the original cabinet's toggle power switch was located...

Radio Shack #275-609
http://ebay.com/itm/331798753279

For wire, I just picked up a roll of cheap, thin speaker wire (two-conductor).

Note that the surge protector cord is only 4 foot long, so you might need a heavy-duty extension cord. I recommend appliance extension cords that are sold at Home Depot and Lowes. They come in shorter lengths.

EDIT: Another (more expensive) option is a USB triggered power strip.
http://amazon.com/dp/B002PX78XW

It works the same way as the "Smart Strip" above except that there's a USB cable that plugs into the PC. When the PC is powered on, the USB port gets power and triggers the power strip to turn on the rest of the outlets. Note that this will only work if your PC does NOT keep the USB ports always powered on. Some motherboards can be configured to have "USB standby power on/off" but some are always on with no option to turn it off.

this is a great surge protector