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my psc cart's sex change operation


jawharp

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hey everyone,

i've spent the passed few years doing and redoing my psc cart to make it more usable. i just finished up a job and started by saying "maybe i'll add a usb keyboard to my setup," which led me to taking apart my entire cart and taking a saw to it. i figured i'd try to document the process in case anyone else was using a psc cart and needed some ideas for redoing it.

the way i see it there's 2 kinds of sound carts: the tall ones and the short ones. the psc cart is a tall one the way people usually have it set up. i wanted everything lower and a smaller size all around.

i unfortunately dont have a picture of the original cart all assembled, but here's what i started with:

1originalbase.jpg

that's the old base with the handle and top section and all hooks removed. the mixer usually sat on top of the shelf that's on top in this picture, with the 2 recorders on the top shelves on the handle.

3originaltop.jpg

here's the cart with the top shelf lowered. i flipped the handle around and rested my old psc cart top on it. i decided the mixer would go on a slider on the top big shelf, and i would replace my old cart top with a starcase aluminum rack bolted onto the old handle.

4reversedwheelwells.jpg

I flipped the wheel wells around so they were on the inside of the back vertical piece, saving an inch of clearance on the back of the cart.

5diagonalsupport.jpg

I added diagonal support from the old supports from the psc cart. i eventually cut off that excess that you see on top.

6handleparts.jpg

since the cart was now missing a handle, i designed a new one and cut some aluminum pieces for it. i had to cut it all by hand in my apartment. it worked, but i think i'll be picking aluminum burrs out of my feet for the next year or 2.

7assembledhandle.jpg

here's the handle assembled. there's still excess pipe in this picture. i still need to get it to a friend of mine so he can weld it all together for me into one piece.

8starcaserack.jpg

here's the starcase rack assembled and resting on top for sizing. the one i ordered turned out to be 2 spaces taller than i needed so i later cut it down so the cart was shorter.

9starcasewgear.jpg

sizing up the gear. i used my old brackets from the psc cart that i made to bolt it all down on this cart.

910slider.jpg

here's the mixer with the rackman slider in place. for the rear mounts for the slider i had to make little right angles with 1RU screw holes on them mounted to the top shelf.

911casebrackets.jpg

when it came time to finally mount the rack to the cart, to my dismay, i had to grind more aluminum in my apartment.

912diagonalsupport.jpg

here are the mounting plates for the rack in place. i also used the extra piece from the old PSC diagonal support to add additional support for the rack.

913finishedframe.jpg

here's everything assembled with the rack shortened. i haven't cabled anything yet or figured out what i'm doing for antennas, hooks, sides, etc, but this is pretty much it for the frame. all in all it stands at 53 inches tall.

it's by far the most i've changed the original psc layout. hopefully this helps anyone who has a psc cart and wants to change it, but not break the bank doing it.

ill update again soon.

joe

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That basic PSC design seems to lend itself really well to simple hotrodding. I'm curious why you didn't support the front of the upper rack by connecting it to the front uprights? It seems like you'd have a lot of flex in that rack if it was loaded up and you did some off-roading with the cart. Very nice work though, all the nicer since you have no shop to do it in!

phil p

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You have really done a nice job --- I feel your pain at having to fabricate aluminum brackets, handles and so forth by hand, I have done a lot of this in the past. One thing I do question, though, comes from the early statement you made about short carts and tall carts:

"the way i see it there's 2 kinds of sound carts: the tall ones and the short ones. the psc cart is a tall one the way people usually have it set up. i wanted everything lower and a smaller size all around."

It looks like you're winding up with a very tall cart, considerably taller than even the original PSC cart (which I consider to be a short cart).

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Why, thank you, Jeff. Here's a nice wider version of the same pic. I was working on a Korean movie shot around Seattle called

when I took this picture. Late Autumn, btw, was Korean above the line, and it was one of the most interesting and rewarding movies I've ever done. I shared the mix with Tom Taylor of Spokane, Washington.

post-52-0-39487900-1333757343.jpg

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Nice work, Joe. I chopped my PSC cart as well. I took about ten inches off the top and made a wooden rack box for the recorders and the Venue. I found that including a top shelf with a 2 inch lip around it is handy for my netbook and stuff.

NIce job bob

Looks familiar. I lowered the mixer shelf on my psc cart. And i put a tough cases( not very tough at all- but very light) rack case on top. Having the two inch lip on the very top is a good idea. This is as tall as the cart can be and still load upright into my van.

Future plan is to lower the mixer shelf 3 more inches and rebuild the "rackbox" on top with 80/20 materials.

post-89-0-40812400-1333761383.jpg

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i'm glad to see so many people working on psc's design. at 53 inches, the newer version of mine is coming in a few inches shorter than my old version. it looks very misleading in my pictures. i'm starting to think cause of the small psc wheels. i really wanted mine to be even shorter but the audio ltd quadbox led me to make it a bit taller.

thanks for all the responses. i'll post again soon,

joe

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