Over the last three years, I’ve obsessively pondered the best cart layout.  On “Honey, Don’t!”, I realized that though I love my full size 48” cart, having a smaller rig would allow me to move faster between setups.  I’d like to tell you about it in case it’s helpful.  I’ll list the products that I used and tell you the good and the bad.  I had many hard lessons on this build, and since one of the reasons I started this blog is to try to prevent others from “suffering as I have” (my inner monologue is pretty melodramatic), I’m going to make sure you know what went well and where I feel I made a mistake.  Let’s get into it.

Proaim Soundchief OG Cart

I liked the idea of an upright cart to make maneuvering easier.  As I’ve thought and rethought my setup as a programmer, I’ve moved towards rack based control (the Apex Processor Unit) over consoles since they are smaller, lightweight, powerful, and easier to protect from the elements.  I deep dove on this one for MONTHS.  I sought out every upright cart that google or friends could make me aware of. I waffled between getting a cart that was essentially a host for an existing rack case or a cart with the rack built into it.  I decided on the latter.  I bought the Soundchief OG because I had a great experience with the Proaim Victor cart I have and the Soundchief was ridiculously cheap and seemed to fill my needs.  Let’s just get this over with since I don’t like writing about products I dislike: The cheap price was a warning I should have listened to.  

On paper, it had everything I needed- it is a 14U metal rack mount upright with large trail bike wheels, a top work surface, two baby pins and two cable hooks.  The problems stem from two main things:

1. The cart is clearly made without the level of craftsmanship I received on the Victor.  It’s steel, not folded aluminum, and gives the vibe of being more “hand made”.  Assembling the cart is too difficult since very few pieces seem to be manufactured precisely.  I don’t think it will fall apart at all.  But the amount of time I spent hitting things, twisting things and realizing symmetrical pieces were not made identically is frustrating.  
2. Documentation failed to say that certain parts of the cart that I needed- the middle shelf and the rack rails themselves- would have structural supports that made it so you can’t fit a standard width rack unit where those supports are.  On a rack cart.  This was almost literally maddening for me and resulted in way too many hours thinking and rethinking my plan to install my gear. 

I could go on and on about the faults I found here, but I shouldn’t.  In retrospect, I think I should have bought the next up in the line, the Soundchief Pro, which appears to be using the current standards and methods of the good Proaim equipment.  Yes, it’s well over twice the cost, but I spent more than that in my time.  But…since I’m nothing if not stubborn to a fault, I decided to try and see if I could make it work.  Eventually (yesterday, way too late in the day for me) I succeeded.

Wheel Upgrade

The front swivel casters that come with the Soundchief are good…for indoors.  In the desert, they are tragic and result in you needing to tip the cart back every time you need to move it.  I had a welder add large swivel plates so I could add some thicc foam filled tires that still swivel and lock.  The cart rear wheels are variable height so it’s easy to adjust.

Control Input: Penn Elcom R1291K/2L Sliding Rack Drawer

This was a product that was exactly what it promised.  It both locks closed and open, which is super useful on set.  I used two of them to hold my control input devices so I could just slide out from the rack and use the shelves as a tiny work table.  I love this and am so happy it works well.  If you care what is on the two shelves:

• CMDKey for Eos and a Nanokontrol2 for fader control.  The Nano is plugged into a JOSC MIDI Bridge to translate MIDI into OSC.  (JOSC MIDI Bridge isn’t on the sliding shelf.)
• JOSC and 24 button Keys for macros (not shown in the photos) and a mouse.
• I wanted to have a sliding keyboard shelf, but the structural impediments I mentioned above prevent it.  I’m not bitter.

Network/Nodes

I used a low-cost rack shelf to hold the Netron EN4 (node) and Netgear M4250 (switch).  Easy and very little drama to install with the addition of velcro to attach the items to the shelf.  The node is great and the switch is phenomenal.

Power

I used an Ecoflow River 2 Pro that was broken out by a Pyle 1U rack power distro.  The Ecoflow is awesome.  The Pyle is effective, but the rack mount hols are made to line up across rack receivers.  It’s challenging to describe, but the holes in rack rails have a pattern that is a standard.  This unit needs to SPAN two spaces.  But it was fine because of two things:

1. The cart had so many limited areas in the rack space that I could afford to offset the unit.
2. It is thankfully a very narrow body, so it easily slipped past some of the many obstacle to racking a standard width piece of gear.

So don’t buy the Pyle unless you also make the mistake of buying the cart.

Monitor

I love this new addition to my kit.  The Lilliput TK1560/T 15.6” Touch screen monitor is perfect for my needs.  It’s 1000 nits bright, has touch capability, is instantly recognized by Eos and is IP65 rated.  Heck yeah!  Only weird thing is to get touch function, they give you a custom USB A to USB A cable.  I dislike having difficult-to-source-locally cables in my kit.  I used a Kupo knuckle/baby receiver mount to make use of the Vesa mount on the back of the monitor and mount to an Impact 9” baby Wall Plate I bolted to the top of the cart to receive it.

Umbrella

Barely worth mentioning, but I have a grip head to hold on to my umbrella when in use.  The umbrella has two 23” Velcro cable ties mounted to the side of the cart to hold it during transit.

Storage

I had originally planned to use a 3U rack drawer, but that plan didn’t survive contact with the cart.  So I got a Milwaukee Packout Large Portable Tool Box to hold everything.  Packout is both a great product and it is compatible with the clever mounting boxes/protection our Best Boy created for our Stardust (and other gadgets).  I like it quite a bit, but I see myself adding little organizational stuff to the interior to keep things from becoming a pile.

Storage Pt 2

On the sides of the Packout, I’ve hung Velcro Easy Hang Strap, which are rated for a fair amount of weight and come with dog clips.  I’ve also added some carabiners for future needs.  Can’t have enough places to hang things on set!

Baby extender

Speaking of wireless, I added a baby extender that goes about 4-5’, which gets me above head height for good transmission.

Assorted Gear for Assembly

• So many velcro cable ties.  So. Many.  
• Corrugated plastic to lift the control surface items so my wrists aren’t uncomfortable.  
• I used a TON of 2” velcro.  
• There is a clever item that is a cloth zip for cables to dress them.  My friend gave me two, so I don’t know where they come from, but they are pretty sweet.
• A four port Anker USB hub to expand the connections of the APU.  It’s challenging to only have 4 USB A ports in lighting.  I love the addition of USB C, but so many lighting accessories are still made with USB A.

If You Decide To Buy This Cart

If cost is one of your highest priorities, I’ve obviously made this work. The APU and the rack mount drawers both need front and back rack mounting and the cart (like many) does not have rear rack rails.  I overthought this WAY too much.  Eventually, I bought two 8U rack rails (“free floating” if you will).  They mount to the APU for bottom stability (which sits on the middle shelf) and eventually I’ll add a 2U Rack Spacer to stabilize the top more.  That said, they are currently working well without.

To-Do List

I had to leave town immediately after getting the cart to this point.  When I return, I’m going to sew a nylon wrap for the cart secured by magnetics (the cart is steel) to prevent wind and rain access.  I’m ordering a 2U mesh cover for the front of the APU to limit dust intake when in use.  And I still need to figure out a tiny light for the CMDkeys.  Other than that- I think it’s pretty solid.

Conclusions

My number one lesson is don’t try to be cheap on something you use at work every day.  But the process of solving the problems, when it wasn’t maddening because of limited time, was pretty engaging.  I was able to use an earlier rough layout of the cart on set back in September.  It was much easier to maneuver around and shows promise.  

Got a setup?  Share it in the comments!  Pictures are appreciated and please tell us about your favorite solutions you’ve found.

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Mark LaPierre is a programmer in film and television based out of Albuquerque.  He grew up in live entertainment and has been a designer/programmer for musicals, concert dance, live music, circus and corporate.  Mark is a proud member of IATSE and an ETC Eos trainer.  If you enjoy his content, please consider commenting on his posts on the website to appease the Algorithm.