How To: Terminate A Chassis Mount PowerCON

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We get a plethora of comments across our social media channels on terminating PowerCON connectors. We figured we would take a moment to just show you! We offer most of the tools and items on our website to do this yourself. Alternatively, we can make them for you to add into any existing panel or rig. Should you need a powerCON panel assembly made, to whatever length you’d like, you can explore our website – https://btpa.com/Patch-Panels/wired-panel-whips-/power/

Tools Needed:

Items Needed:

Assembly Instructions

Determine length of cable tail needed – use wire cutters to cut the opposite end of line cord that isn’t needed.

We recommend plugging the cable tail into the gear it is mating with and running it as you would on the pedalboard or within the rack. Generally we suggest adding 1-2 inches for wiggle room at the very least.

Cut off point of SCDR boot just enough to fit the line cord. Slide this onto cable with the large open side facing stub ended portion of the cable where the powerCON will go

Using outer jacket stripping tool (TL-0021 recommended) cut off 1” of the outer jacket. Be careful to not score the conductor subunit jackets

Outer jacket strip length of power cable when terminating powerCON Chassis connectors

Use wire strippers. Set the wire strippers to the appropriate AWG of the cable you are using (if necessary). Strip back ¼” to expose conductor

Conductor jacket stip length for terminating powerCON chassis connectors

Use the appropriate quick connect terminals for your cable’s wire gauge. Crimp to cable using designated crimping tool

Using pliers, grab the insulation of the quick connector and attach the wire to the appropriately designated tab on the powerCON. IT IS IMPORTANT TO MATCH THE CORRECT WIRE COLOR TO THE CORRECT TERMINAL TO AVOID DAMAGE TO YOUR EQUIPMENT:

BLACK WIRE – L TERMINAL
WHITE WIRE – N TERMINAL
GREEN WIRE – GROUND TERMINAL

Diagram showing the correct powerCON terminals pertaining to power wire

Slide boot onto back of connector to cover terminals

BTPA M32 Mixer Fly Rack

Introducing: The BTPA Mixer Fly Rack – Now In Stock

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Our Midas M32C Mixer Fly Racks Are Now Readily In Stock!

If you have been following along on our socials, you have probably noticed a lot of renditions of fly racks that are centered around the Midas M32C/DL32 ecosystem of gear. We took the two main options/versions we had been making of these and created them as a full turnkey, tour ready, stocked item! This includes the fly rack, foamed Pelican case, Midas gear, wireless router, input split, and all necessary cabling. A fully functioning, show ready, fly rack right out of the box!

The racks are readily available on our website as two options:
– Outputs 1-8 routed to IEM multipin – https://btpa.com/Rig-Building/fly-racks/BT-M3201-KIT
– Outputs 1-12 routed to IEM Multipin – https://btpa.com/Rig-Building/fly-racks/BT-M3202-KIT

More on the differences between these two options below.

If you aren’t already, be sure to follow along on our socials!

Overall Purpose Of The BTPA Mixer Fly Rack

These mixer fly racks are centered around the Midas M32C mixer and Midas DL32 stagebox. They are typically used as mixers for in ear monitor systems. One main feature of these racks is the input split that is hand-wired on the back of the rack. This takes up to 32 channels of stage inputs as individual XLRs and splits them between the DL32 in the rack & front of house. This allows the user to mix their own ears without effecting the sound going to FOH.

The overall goal that is accomplished with these racks is to provide a consistent, road worthy, mixer rack that allows the artist to quickly setup and teardown for a quick changeover. The rack features flyable dimensions & falls under the typical max flying weight of 70lbs.

Overview of the Mixer Fly Rack

Front view of the BTPA Mixer Fly rack centered around the Midas M32C and Midas DL32 units

Front Of The Rack (from Top to Bottom)

  • Midas M32C – Mixer “brain” of the rack
  • Cable Gland Panel – All 32 inputs fed from the input split to the DL32
  • Midas DL32 – Digital snake for all I/O
  • Rack Shelf – Wireless Router for remote controlling the M32C

Back Of the Rack – Top Panel

The top panel on the back of the rack features a 1U panel that we refer to as the “output panel.” This is the only variance between the two options of M32 mixer racks on our website. The variance is the channel amount that is routed to the BT39 multipin output connector. It is either CH 1-8 or CH 1-12 from the DL32’s outputs. In other words, it sets you up for an IEM rack with 4 stereo transmitters or 6 stereo transmitters.

The first connection on this panel is a BT39CM multipin connector. This is a 39 pin connector that mates with widely used 39 pin connectors within the professional A/V world (W1 and Amphenol MP-6216-39P-C). As mentioned above, depending on the mixer rack option selected, it is wired with 8 or 12 channels.

The next connections on the panel are the remaining DL32’s outputs (either CH 9-16 or CH 13-16). This allows you to easily patch into these outputs on the panel and save wear and tear on the DL32 itself. These are typically used for fills, hard-wired monitors (i.e. drums), etc.

Next, an XLR Female for talkback. This goes directly to the M32C’s talkback input. It converts it from a 1/4″ to XLR as well, score!

Finally, the etherCON ports. The first we cover is the AES50B, which goes the the AES50B port of the DL32. In the event FOH is using a Midas/Behringer system that is AES50 compatible, you can forgo the analog input split on the rack and run a single. shielded, etherCON to FOH to accomplish the input split. A cable like this one – https://btpa.com/ETHERCON9-XXX.html

The remaining etherCON port(s) that are labeled “NET” are direct lines to the wireless router within the rack. These serve as hard-lines to the router. Perhaps you need a bit wider range of WiFi at a specific show – you can patch the laptop/tablet directly to the router OR you can plug in an Access Point. You can also connect an existing network within your setup (i.e. wireless Frequency management).

Back of the Rack – Input Split

The bottom 3U panel of this rack features an input split. These are configured with (32) Neutrik XLR female inputs wired as a passive split (no lifts or transformers) to (1) 100 pin multipin output for FOH & hard-wired cable tails that feed the inputs of the DL32 on the front of the rack. This allows you to mix your own ears without affecting the signal going to FOH. It also is a very key component to provided a consistent mix each and every night – all while getting in and out as fast as humanly possible.

The Power!

You will notice on this rack that there is no sort of power conditioner or power strip and only a single powerCON input on the back. This is because all of the gear inside of the rack is rated 100-240V. Adding a power conditioner or strip will negate this functionality. This is why we forgo the strip/conditioner and terminate everything directly to the powerCON input. This allows for 100-240V use on tour without the need for any sort of voltage step up/down transformers.

Disclaimer: we still recommend using some sort of power conditioning and surge suppression exterior to the rack. If you are loading your fly racks into a “mother” case stateside, we recommend putting one in this rack.

The powerCON connectors used are the “XX” series of powerCON that utilize their Circuit Breaking technology to be able to mate under load.

Wireless Network & Serial Numbers

These racks come installed with a wireless dual band router. These come already configured with a wireless network. A digital and printed copy of the network login information and serial numbers are included.

What’s In The Box?

All necessary cabling is also included in the box. The cabling included is:

  • (1) BT39CF to XLR Fan cable. This cable is for connecting the output section to the IEM rack. The cable provided comes at 5ft long
  • (1) 100 pin female to XLR Male Fan. This cable is for connecting the output of the input split to FOH. This cable comes at 15ft long
  • (1) PowerCON In to Male Edison power cable – 15ft long
  • All racks come with custom foamed Pelican Air 1637 cases from Circle Three Designs

Setting the MIDI Channel + Programming The Lehele 3 At 1

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The LEHLE SGoS line of devices are a great piece of gear that can easily adapt to your guitar rig. These low profile switchers have an array of options in terms of I/O. To take things a step further, these devices are MIDI programmable, which is a bit rare in the word of input or A/B switchers. Their MIDI capability, low weight, and compact form make these great for mounting in fly racks.

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