MOTM

>>>>
On a related not, how hard would it be to make the size of the
PowerOne supply optional in a 900 or 950 (or offer an "empty" module
and let you source your own PowerOnes)?  I have 2 of the stock units
sitting here from the ones I upgraded, but I probably would have just
gotten bigger ones to start with if it had been an option.  I will
probably turn one of them into a bench supply, but here again, it
would be nice to be able to order the various parts separately.


I have to agree that power becomes a real problem in larger systems. I'm
not a big fan of front-mounted power modules anyway,  but I lack the
engineering chops to improvise (at least, safely). Yet having a lot of
front panel space taken up with multiple 3u-wide 9xx supplies and power
cords running out of them drives me crazy. I wish the was a single,
internal MOTM-approved "big honkin' power supply" kit, maybe with a
single 1u-wide power switch & multiple panel up front. It's not even a
matter of money, it's just the real estate, and having to turn on five
or six switches to power up the cabinet, that's discouraging. I think
patchcords are beautiful, but power cords wrapping around all the sides
are ugly.

--- In motm@yahoogroups.com, "Tkacs, Ken" <ken.tkacs@...> wrote:
>
> 
> I have to agree that power becomes a real problem in larger systems. I'm
> not a big fan of front-mounted power modules anyway,  but I lack the
> engineering chops to improvise (at least, safely). Yet having a lot of
> front panel space taken up with multiple 3u-wide 9xx supplies and power
> cords running out of them drives me crazy. I wish the was a single,
> internal MOTM-approved "big honkin' power supply" kit, maybe with a
> single 1u-wide power switch & multiple panel up front. It's not even a
> matter of money, it's just the real estate, and having to turn on five
> or six switches to power up the cabinet, that's discouraging. I think
> patchcords are beautiful, but power cords wrapping around all the sides
> are ugly.
>

I spec'd out my cabinets so that I could mount the PS in the back just
so I wouldn't lose all that module space.  It added 2 rack rails to
the price, but I ended up mounting a piece of board in between the
rails along with the power module, and that became the base for the
960 distribution board, so it was doubly worth it.  

(And to tie this back to the original question, by mounting the rails
midway in the cabinet I was able to guarantee that all the power
cables from the modules were able to reach the terminals.)