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Or you could buy one designed to bolt right in!

This actually exists as a product, albeit for use in the entertainment industry, which also uses 19" racks for a variety of applications.

Can I suggest fitting one of these in your data centre racks?

http://www.canford.co.uk/commerce/resources/catdet ails/2457.pdf

or maybe even one of these...

http://www.canford.co.uk/commerce/resources/catdet ails/2458.pdf

Can I suggest fitting one of these in your data centre racks?

http://www.canford.co.uk/commerce/resources/catdet ails/2457.pdf

or maybe even one of these...

http://www.canford.co.uk/commerce/resources/catdet ails/2458.pdf

I used to work in a student union, where everything had to be moveable and secure, so we flight cased everything and mounted it with racking. The best company was probably Canford audio ( http://www.canford.co.uk/commerce/category_2001128 _2000087.aspx )

I just bought some book shelf brackets yesterday - they could be used to hold 1U or even 2U rackmount kit safely. Cost me under £10 for two wall mounts and the brackets.

Depends on what kit you want to mount of course - I cant see a fridge working well on it's side

I know the question is being asked from the US, but I'm guessing there are /.ers in the UK who'd want to know about this kinda thing too, especially with the future possibilities of Access Radio opening up the airwaves to more non-profit organisations.

In order to set up a small scale radio station in the UK (or indeed anywhere else), there are number of things that you need:

People: A radio station needs a number of people to operate. You really can't just go it alone. You need people to present, you need people with technical knowledge to build and maintain some sort of studio, as well as know how to operate broadcast equipment. You need people to deal with the financial side of things, you need people to deal with record companies and other such outside organisations. In the student scenario, it is probably best to establish a society whose goal is to create a fully operational student radio station, which puts some basic organisational mechanics in place and provides a focus for all students interested in the enterprise.

Backing: All small scale radio ventures will need some sort of backing, both financial and in terms of general support. In the student case, this will likely be the student's union, who need to be persuaded to cough up at least some of the money needed, and help deal with issues like mounting antenna on buildings, and finding a suitable location for setting up a studio.

Licensing: Once you have people and backing, you need a license. In the UK, the Radio Authority is responsible for licensing all types of radio station. Small scale stations can currently apply for the various Restricted Service Licenses available, typically short-term (one month) FM licenses or long-term Low Power AM licenses. You need to research the different license available and decide which one suits you best. Music that is to be played on air also has to be licensed, both by PPL for record company royalties and PRS for artist royalites. Music licensing is dependent on the profit/turnover of a station as well as the type of broadcast license it holds, so music licensing should be a consideration in working out these factors.

Equipment: This is the expensive bit. A radio station will need some sort of studio from which to broadcast, which will minimally need CD players, a minidisc player (for jingles, trails, call signs, pre-recorded material, interviews, etc), a microphone, and a mixer to bring it all together. For short-term licenses it may be practical to hire out a complete kit. Long-term stations will need to investigating buying or building various of the bits needed. Equipment extends beyond the studio though. A transmitter will also be required, and intermediate kit between studio and transmitter will also be required. Places that specialise in radio studio and broadcast equipment include Alice and Radica. Canford also sell a huge range of audio and related equipment, from CD decks to rack bolts and everything in-between.

Content: Once a radio station has all the people, support, licensing, and equipment it needs to get off the ground, the final vital component is the content itself. Some of this needs to be obtained, for example a predominantly music-based station will need to obtain CDs to play on air (although music licensing does mean you can use your own CDs, as long as they are not pirated, afaik). Other content will have to be created, such as jingles, trails, call signs (the bits that say 'This is EnterStationNameHere broadcasting on SomeFrequency' which must be broadcast every fifteen minutes by law). Another major problem faced by small-scale stations is being able to provide round-the-clock broadcasts and being able to provide news content. IRN can provide the news (I forget the url, it's nearly 4 in the morning :-| ), however the option persued by most student radio stations in the UK is SBN, who provide overnight sustain programming as well as hourly news bulletins.

Well, I've tried to cover most the issues that a small radio station has to deal with, although none of them in particularly much detail. There's a whole lot more to it, and it does involve a fair whack of work, but it is great great fun, and I thoroughly recommend getting involved in projects like this to anyone who has the opportunity. I started out presenting a show at my college radio in my first year at uni, in my second year my involvement mushroomed. Now, as I approach third year (in about a week :-) ), we are poised on doing a spectacular outside broadcast, I'm running round like a headless chicken trying to make sure things work, and we look set to gain a big influx of Freshers to help the continuation of our station for many years to come.

What more can I say. It's nearly 4 in the morning nd I'm about to drop off to sleep, so I think I'll stop here. Hope I've given y'all some useful info to chew on :-)

Phil Stewart
RSL Development Officer, IT Manager, Library Manager, Presenter, and Random Bod at IC Radio, the student radio station of Imperial College, London.

Oh yeah, and occasionally I study for my degree :-)

Now if only IBM can port linux to Canford Audio's rackmounted fridge and develop an essential-sounding app for it ("network coolant level monitor"?) then this BOFH is made.