28 February 2026
Building a Comms Rack from Scratch
From fibre and network switches to Artist matrices and Bolero antennas — a walkthrough of how we design, build, and test a touring-grade comms rack.
Every TOMCOMM. rack is built with one principle in mind: it has to work perfectly, every single time, in any venue, with zero troubleshooting on site.
The process starts with system design. We map out every intercom channel, every user, and every connection point before a single cable is terminated. This planning phase is critical — it's where we identify potential issues and design them out before they ever reach a venue.
Our standard touring rack includes a Riedel Artist matrix, Bolero antenna distribution, network switching, power distribution, and fibre connectivity. Everything is mounted in a compact, flight-cased rack that can be deployed in minutes.
Cable management is something we take seriously. Every cable is cut to length, labelled, and routed cleanly. There are no loose ends, no cable ties holding things together as an afterthought. A well-built rack is a reliable rack.
Before any rack leaves our workshop, it goes through a full system test. Every channel is checked, every beltpack is registered, and every antenna is verified. We simulate the full deployment and run through failure scenarios to ensure redundancy is working.
The result is a rack that a crew member can wheel into any venue, connect power and fibre, and have a fully operational comms system within 30 minutes.
